Fullerton retains legacy from the old days

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Singapore

A renovation project may have transformed the Fullerton Singapore into a luxurious hotel, but the building still preserves its historical heritage and grand, neo-Palladian architecture.

Nestling in the heart of the civic district, the seven-story historical landmark was designed by Shanghai-based architecture firm Keys & Dowdeswell and was originally built in 1928.

The building, named after the first governor of the Straits Settlement of Singapore, Sir Robert Fullerton, used to be a fort, built to defend the city at the Singapore River. From a fort, it became a building that housed institutions that played a pivotal role in the history of Singapore, namely the General Post Office, the Chamber of Commerce and The Singapore Club, an elite prestigious British club during the colonial era.

Under the ownership of Hong Kong-based property developer Sino Land Company and a sister company to The Far East Organization of Singapore, a US$400 million renovation project was carried out in the mid-90s with Los Angeles-based Hirsch Bedner Associates as the hotel's design team.

The project not only preserved the building's architectural splendor, with its cornices, coffered ceilings and Doric columns, but also transformed the Fullerton Singapore into a luxurious 400-room hotel.

The Fullerton's neocolonial architecture is blended, in the interior, with contemporary Asian ambience.

"Everything inside the building had been changed and the space had been reconfigured," said hotel marketing communications manager Rennie Loh, adding that because of the unique structure, the hotel had around 99 room configurations.

A grand staircase was built to add grandeur to the atrium lobby area, where stone, marble and wood are the main elements.

During daylight, the atrium courtyard is illuminated by natural sunlight that penetrates through the glass-paneled roof. The roof incorporates Japanese rice paper, sandwiched between the (glass) panels to help filter the light and create an attractive, warm light.

The atrium courtyard, which is also one of the hotel's dining areas, has an oriental twist with the use of bamboo plants for decoration and with warm, earthy-colored furniture and other modern Asian interior elements, they blend nicely with the New Asia interior design concept -- one that reflects multicultural Singapore.

The hotel's suites include the Palladian (once the office of former minister of finance Dr. Hon Sui Sen), the loft, the Fullerton, the Governor's and the Far East Suite (this presidential suite used to be the card room of the elite Singapore Town Club).

The walls along the corridor leading to the guest rooms are embellished with old photographs. "... to evoke a sense of nostalgia and to let guests know what the area used to be like in the past," said Loh.

The hotel's infinity-edge pool has a magnificent view of the waterfront, city skyscrapers and the building's Doric columns. The pool is lined with a transparent glass border so as to create the impression that the water blends into the river.

As for the Singapore Club, besides the additional designer lamps, the room remains pretty much the same and is now a function room for seminars, meetings and wedding parties.

The hotel's dining areas include the Lighthouse on the eighth floor. It used to be a real lighthouse that guided mail ships to the building. The restaurant is one of the hotel's fine-dining spots and is exposed to a spectacular view to the harbor.

Its Town restaurant and bar offers four different concepts for dining, namely Japanese/Chinese, Italian, Asian and Pacific rim cuisines. These themes are delicately "isolated", so as to avoid any confusion in the interior of the restaurant.

The hotel's Post bar offers a hip ambience for drinking and enjoying music, while its Jade Chinese restaurant greets guests with a Yin and Yang main entrance that leads to a classy interior. Loh said that nothing much had been changed and its Chinese old coin panels were still in situ.

Apart from the inside dining areas, the hotel is also linked to One Fullerton, a waterfront dining and entertainment complex, located right opposite the building and accessible via an underground travelator.

The hotel also has a private club, the Straits Club. It is equipped with a reading room and bar and here some museum-quality rare wines are being cellared.

As a reminder of what the building used to be like, the hotel's function rooms are named after the building's old tenants, including the General Post Office, Economic Development Board, Trade Development Board and the Inland Revenue. One function room is called the Monday Meeting room because in the old days, those governmental institutions used to hold a meeting there every Monday. The function rooms are interestingly embellished with old letters, contracts, maps and photographs.

To reach the hotel's ballroom, guests must descend a staircase as the venue is located on the lower ground floor. Loh explained that the area used to be a ship tunnel, where mail ships docked alongside and postal workers would drag mail bags in from the ships prior to sorting the mail.

Indeed, the building has a rich background and it is not surprising that many, especially those who used to work or post their mail there, have developed a kind of emotional attachment to the building. "... (after the renovation project was completed) many came to the hotel with their grandchildren, curious to show them the location of their old office or where they used to mail their letters," Loh explained with a grin.