Singapore heritage buildings: Good example for Jakarta

Although younger than the 478-year-old Jakarta, the city-state of Singapore, which began as a British colonial trading port in 1819, boasts numerous carefully conserved buildings. The Jakarta Post's Damar Harsanto took a look at Singapore's respect for its architectural heritage during a recent visit.

Ten years ago, the Fullerton building -- formerly the General Post Office -- on the banks of the Singapore River was not very different from the old buildings lining the Kalibesar River in Kota, West Jakarta.

But today the building is the image of an immaculately managed heritage building. After the last occupant vacated the building in 1996, it was converted into a luxury hotel, while not losing its historical flavor.

The Fullerton Hotel is now one of the top hotels in Singapore and the region, with room rates of between S$490 (equivalent to US$306 or Rp 3.1 million) and S$5,880 per night.

"What a great architectural challenge it was to transform the different rooms in the old post office into hotel rooms and suites, while maintaining the original shapes and ornaments in the rooms. Every room is unique," said the hotel's marketing director, Susie Lim-Kannan.

Each of the hotel's 400 rooms and suites, which opened to the public in early 2001, is unique.

The Post observed that some of the rooms still have huge pillars and decorated window frames from the original rooms of the post office.

All heritage buildings in the city-state seem to get equally serious treatment, as the government requires developers restoring old buildings to follow guidelines set by the National Heritage Board.

Some of the guidelines enforced by the Singapore governmental institution overseeing urban development, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Center, require developers to follow certain procedures in conserving the first floors of heritage buildings, windows and door frames.

The integration of restored buildings with their surroundings is also a focus of attention.

In restoring the area along the river, which has become a center for commercial and trade, the Singapore government began with a massive cleanup of the Singapore River that began in the 1970s.

The URA described the challenging work of cleaning up the river as "dragging out waste weighing as much as 32 elephants".

The river cleanup was followed by resettling street hawkers and squatters to other areas of the city-state, which was completed in 1987 when the government released a million fish into the river.

A display at the URA Center, titled "Marrying the old and new", states that new developments fronting the river can be no taller than four stories, while buildings further from the river's edge can be as tall as 10 stories.

"It is a deliberate effort to preserve the scale and character of the place," the display says.

Another good example of well-preserved heritage buildings is the Far East Square, which houses spacious walkways with vintage old buildings serving as eateries and restaurants.

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Did you know ...

*Similar to the demolition of the historic Des Indes hotel in Harmoni, Central Jakarta, Singapore bulldozed its oldest boys' school, the Raffles Institution (built in 1837-1841), to make way for the city's tallest hotel and a megashopping mall, Raffles City (1986).

*Like the demolition of most of the Chinese-style Candranaya homes on Jl. Gajah Mada, some traditional buildings such as Chinese-style shop-houses have been demolished to make way for high-rise residential towers to accommodate Singapore's growing population.