Introduction

It is my pleasure to join you this afternoon for the Architectural Heritage Awards. 

We have come a long way. 2022 marks the 28th year since the Architectural Heritage Awards was first launched.

Notably, this is the first set of awards to be given under the recently revised scheme, which is more inclusive. Under our revised scheme, the emphasis has been expanded beyond technical restoration to recognise the intangible outcomes of creating long-term value for the community, and the upkeep and management of the buildings. It also recognises the important contribution of a wider range of related professional expertise such as M&E engineers, interior designers and lighting designers.

This year’s winning projects embody these values and so much more. Many of them are not just well-restored, but also contribute to the wider appreciation for our heritage and showcase long-term commitment to building management. I am happy to celebrate these achievements, made possible through the expertise, dedication and passion of the multi-disciplinary project teams, with you. 

Inaugural Architectural Heritage Legacy award and 2022 AHA winners

Now this year, we are introducing a new award – known as the Architectural Heritage Legacy Award. Through this new award, we want to recognise past Architectural Heritage Award winners who have maintained their developments very well for at least 10 years. 

I am happy to announce that the inaugural legacy award goes to the team behind The Fullerton Heritage. Clifford Pier, the building that we are in right now, is an integral part of this development.

Over the past twenty years, Sino Group, the owner of The Fullerton Heritage, has shown very strong commitment to maintaining the buildings as heritage icons, with its rigorous maintenance regime. 

‘Heritage’ is one of the six brand values that anchor their work, and we can see it clearly in the range of public community programmes and outreach that are organised by The Fullerton Heritage. These include The Fullerton Heritage Gallery and free guided tours, as well as small but important touches such as the red postal pillar box set up in the hotel to celebrate the history of our postal service.

The Fullerton Heritage is a superb demonstration of how a well-managed heritage site can grow in architectural, cultural, social and economic value, and become even more well-loved over time. Great job to The Fullerton Hotel Management Team and congratulations once again!

Next, I would like to congratulate our other three Architectural Heritage award winners. St James Power Station led by Ar. Mok Wei Wei from W Architects and with Mr Wong Chung Wan from MAEK Consulting as the material specialist. Its recent round of restoration involving extensive historical research and interdisciplinary skills, including working with a masonry specialist firm to restore its distinctive red brick facade, is testament to the progress made in local conservation expertise over the past decade.

Second, is the Raffles Hotel. It is an iconic national monument that has been restored based on the latest best practices, and with a heritage management plan to guide its long-term maintenance. This is thanks to the multi-disciplinary team including Ar. Low Soo Sing from AEDAS, conservation specialist Mr Ho Weng Hin, and specialised tradespeople restoring the stained glass and statues within the development.

Third, would be 5 and 7 Gallop Road. Deep research and site interpretation by a very competent team including Ar. Tan Kay Ngee, landscaping consultant Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl, as well as plasterwork and glass specialised tradespeople, have enhanced visitor experience for the new uses at these sites.

I would also like to congratulate the teams behind the two special mentions – Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital and 292 Joo Chiat Road. The project teams showcased long-term commitment to keep the history of these buildings alive, through the incorporation of a community-led heritage gallery and implementation of a building management plan at the two projects respectively.

Some of these projects were recipients of heritage awards previously. We are recognising them again today as we believe that conserved buildings are always a work in progress, and new techniques developed within the industry over time can continually be applied to enhance buildings that are already very outstanding. 
Architectural Heritage Season (AHS)

I am pleased to share that the Architectural Heritage Season is back again after the pandemic. This time as a month-long festival with a series of tours and talks lined up for the professional industry. I encourage everyone to join in these activities to learn more about this year’s winning projects, and to exchange ideas and knowledge with one other. 

This year, we also mark a significant milestone with the completion of the series of Conservation Technical Handbooks produced with the local chapter of the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS SG). I would like to thank Dr Kevin Tan, Founding President of ICOMOS Singapore, and Dr Yeo Kang Shua, current President of ICOMOS Singapore, and the members for coming on board this journey with us to upskill the built environment sector. 

The 8-volume series, published progressively over the past five years, complements the URA conservation guidelines by sharing best practices and promoting greater understanding of restoration techniques in our local context.

Furthering this effort to build professional capability, ICOMOS will be launching a training programme based on these handbooks as part of the Architectural Heritage Season.

Forward SG

Our goal for such capability building is really to allow the wider public to enjoy and to benefit from our conserved buildings. 

Such efforts cannot just come from the Government. They need to be ground-up and driven by industry and stakeholders like yourselves, with the interest and passion to showcase the character and stories of various historic precincts. We want to partner you and make these tools and knowledge available to you, to manage and to enhance various precincts for continued footfall and vibrancy.

For example, my colleague MOS Dr Faishal Ibrahim and the Kampong Gelam Alliance (KGA), they have been reaching out to stakeholders in the precinct to find out their aspirations for Kampong Gelam,and work out the various ways in which different groups can partner us to contribute to sustain and celebrate its heritage and history. They will be developing a Place Plan to guide the development of Kampong Gelam in the coming years as a centre of community, heritage and enterprise. 

Today, we are at a crossroads, having to strike a balance in development in land-scarce Singapore while always ensuring that we conserve and protect our built heritage. 

Many of you would have joined and contributed to the engagement in URA’s Long-Term Plan Review and visited our recently concluded exhibition. The ideas and feedback were useful to give us greater insights to guide our long-term efforts to protect, enhance and sensitively integrate built heritage that we cherish into our built environment. 

Even though we have 7,200 conserved buildings and structures that connect us to our past, we continually recognise the need to rejuvenate our spaces to meet the aspirations of our people. Where the physical form of a building is not as critical, we will celebrate the memories behind these buildings through various forms of heritage interpretation, such as integrating artefacts and including heritage markers into new developments.

The Forward Singapore exercise builds on the efforts of the Long-Term Plan Review, and furthers the conversation on how our social compact must also evolve and respond to both new opportunities and emerging challenges. From that evolved social compact on many fronts, will naturally come changes to the way we do things, and changes to the way our policies are made. 

I welcome everyone to come together, participate actively, and share your thoughts on your individual values and aspirations, what we want to see for Singapore’s future, what we should prioritise, and what each of us can contribute to get there, for our built heritage. 

Conclusion

On that note, I want to once again congratulate all award winners – we hold you up, and put you up as people that we celebrate, and we hope that the industry will benefit from your sharing and benefit from the work that you do. Congratulations once again to all our winners, and thank you to all our partners for being here today, and for your invaluable contributions in helping to shape Singapore’s heritage landscape. Thank you.