URA Aims To Conserve Up To 228 Katong/Joo Chiat Buildings

Source : The Business Times, October 2, 2007

More developers, owners expending resources to buy and restore their old buildings: Mah Bow Tan

THE East Coast may be a hive of new construction activity right now, but the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is also working to keep some old buildings conserved for posterity.

AHA winners: The National Parks Board's Visitor Centre on Pulau Ubin (left) by architects/engineers CPG Consultants and contractor Precise Development, and the National Museum of Singapore by architects CPG Consultants with W Architects, engineers CPG Consultants and contractor Sato Kogyo

Minister of National Development Mah Bow Tan revealed yesterday that the planning authority was looking at conserving up to 228 buildings in the Katong/Joo Chiat area. The URA is seeking feedback from the owners.

Related Link - http://www.ura.gov.sg/pr/text/2007/pr07-105a.html
Full Text of Mr Mah's Speech

The area already has 700 gazetted conservation buildings. Most of the additional buildings under consideration are shophouses or terrace houses. The addition will make Katong/Joo Chiat one of the larger clusters of conserved residential buildings.

Mr Mah said: 'The aim of this conservation proposal is to complete conservation of the street block and add to the critical mass of heritage buildings and rich architectural diversity in Katong and Joo Chiat.'

Mr Mah was speaking at the presentation ceremony of the URA Architectural Heritage Awards (AHA) 2007. Awards were presented to the owners, architects, engineers and contractors of six buildings. These were:

# National Museum of Singapore;

# The 1930s holiday home on Pulau Ubin of the former chief surveyor, Landon Williams;

# Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa;

# National University of Law, Bukit Timah Campus;

# 13 Martaban Road, Balestier;

# and 62 Niven Road, Mount Sophia.

Since the awards' inception in 1995, a total of 77 buildings have received the AHA.

Mr Mah said: 'Increasingly, more and more enlightened developers and owners have willingly expended resources to buy and restore their conservation buildings for the benefit of the larger society and our future generations.'

One such person is Lyn Lee, who together with her husband bought a house on Tembeling Road six years ago for about $800,000 and then spent another $500,000 on restoring it. This house and others like it on the same road are now being considered for conservation - and Ms Lee is all for it.

Getting conservation status will increase the value of the building as its future is guaranteed. But more important for Ms Lee is that the conservation status means owners who want to alter their homes beyond conservation guidelines will not be allowed to do so.

'Right now, there is a beautiful symmetry to the street,' she explained. This sense of identity of place is exactly what URA hopes to do by restoring or creating 'markers' in housing estates as well. Mr Mah also said that apart from plans to rejuvenate Queenstown, the government is proposing to build a 4.9km promenade to link Punggol Point and Sungei Serangoon to enhance the 'rustic coastal character'.

Other areas being looked at include Woodlands, Siglap Village and Upper Serangoon Road. Mr Mah said these projects could be completed by around 2009-2010.