LThe Blair Plain Conservation Area is a compact cluster of two- and three-storey shophouses and terrace houses of various architectural styles. Apart from some commercial activities along Kampong Bahru Road and Neil Road, the area is primarily a quiet residential neighbourhood hugging the narrow inner streets of Blair Road and Everton Road. Its ambience and varied architectural styles are relatively similar to that found in the Emerald Hill conservation area.
The History
Historically, the area was once a part of Spottiswoode Park, a residential area with scattered bungalows. Both the park and the road running through the park to Neil Road were named after the Spottiswoode family who ran an early merchant firm in 1824. The location of the park and the Spottiswoode House were found in the 1881 map of the Tanjong Pagar and the north side of the new harbour. The residential area could have developed due to its close proximity to the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company.
Blair Road, which was laid in 1900, was named after John Blair, a senior officer with the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company in the 1880s. The 1881 map also showed that there were buildings along Kampong Bahru Road, Spottiswoode Park Road and Everton Road. These buildings which are of the Early shophouse style are still standing today. The terrace houses along Blair Road are of a later period and were built in the 1920s.
The Buildings
The Blair Plain Conservation Area has a rich array of architectural styles ranging from the Early shophouse to the Modern shophouse. The Early shophouses found mainly along Kampong Bahru Road have very simple architectural design with single window openings on the second storey front façade. The Transitional and Late style terrace houses found along Blair Road have an eclectic mixture of Chinese, Malay and European design elements with some Art Deco and Modern styles along Kampong Bahru Road and Everton Road.
The Chinese influence on the building architectural styles are represented by the following elements: the courtyard plan in the interior of the house, the round gable ends of the pitch roofs, bat wing-shaped air vents above the first storey windows, and friezes of coloured ceramic chips of dragons, phoenixes and flowers. The Malay influence can be identified by the timber fretwork of the roof eaves, fascia boards and balustrades design. The European influence is dominant in the fanlights, French windows, Portuguese jalousie (shuttered windows), plasterworks, panelled pintu besar (main door) and pintu pagar (door gate). The Colonial influence is seen in the Corinthian pilasters on the upper storeys.
The Legacy
157 Neil Road [was officially opened in September 2008 as The Baba House. Once the ancestral home of a Straits Chinese family, it is now a heritage house which facilitates appreciation, reflection and research into the Straits Chinese history and culture. This is articulated primarily through architectural conservation of the townhouse, and restoration of interiors including furnishing, household materials and decorative features.
Another house of note would be 66 Spottiswoode Park Road, where the original decorated façade of the building – a rich Chinese fresco of simulated brick, calligraphy and rectangular panels of traditional ‘bird and flower’ paintings was uncovered when the over painting was removed as part of on-going restoration works. It is currently the only known example of an intact 19th century decorative scheme to have survived in Singapore.
Additionally, Blair Plain boasts a number of URA Architectural Heritage Award winners that have undertaken high quality restoration projects in the area over the years.
149 Neil Road: http://www.ura.gov.sg/conservation/149nel.htm
55 Spottiswoode Park Road:http://www.ura.gov.sg/conservation/55spottiswoode.htm
64-1 Spottiswoode Park Road: http://www.ura.gov.sg/conservation/64spottis.htm
153 Neil Road: http://www.ura.gov.sg/conservation/153neilrd.htm
55 Blair Road http://www.ura.gov.sg/conservation/55blairrd.htm
59 Blair Road http://www.ura.gov.sg/conservation/59blair.htm
Gazetted on 25 October 1991 for conservation
(Click on the above image to view the map in PDF format)
Located along Neil Road, the area was given conservation status on 2 October 2000. It contains a three-storey Victorian building. It was built in 1912 to house the Fairfield Methodist Girls' School. It is now integrated with the new Cantonment Complex for the Police.
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