Conserved Building
21 Admiralty Road West
Applicable Guidelines
Other Building Guidelines
Conservation Area
Former Royal Malayan Naval Base “Kd Malaya” Admin Block Conservation Area
Historic address: 21 Admiralty Road West
Former Royal Malayan Naval Base Administrative Block
The History
In the mid-1930s, the British developed a naval base for the Royal Navy at the northern coast of Singapore to defend both Singapore and Malaya.
After the Royal Navy started to recruit locals from Singapore and Malaya, the Malayan Naval Force was established in 1948. It was later redesignated as the Royal Malayan Navy in 1952.
The Admin Block for the Royal Malayan Navy was completed in 1953 as part of a self-contained cluster where construction began in 1951 under the larger colonial base expansion programme.
Of interest is, the Royal Malayan Navy base had different names in the past:
• Her Majesty Royal Malayan Base during colonial times; and
• Kapal di-Raja (KD) Malaya after Malaya gained independence from Britain in 1957
When Singapore gained independence from Malaysia in 1965, both governments agreed to the continued use of the KD Malaya premises by the Malaysian Navy. After the use ceased and the site handed back to the Singapore government in December 1997, the buildings were retrofitted and housed the Admiralty West Prison from 2001 to 2018.
The Building
The conserved symmetrical Admin Block of about 60m length, consists of a 3-storey central tower flanked by 2-storey wings with open corridors which used to serve as a viewing galleries for parades and ceremonies.
The Art Deco-inspired building was designed with an understated elegance featuring tropical architecture elements such as rounded concrete canopies and rectangular timber vents.
Together with the generous foreground, distinct rubble stone retaining wall and twin granite finish staircases, the simple but stately conserved building capitalised on the terrain and view.
The Legacy
The conserved Admin Block is set to take on a new role as part of an integrated development in the Woodlands North Coast development plan bring together sports, community, healthcare, and social services to serve residents and the wider community.
Guidelines and Procedures
All proposed works will need to comply with the Conservation Guidelines and the Specific Restoration Guidelines (SRG). Conservation Permission is required before all additions & alteration works and operations of new use can begin.
Residential Fronts are characterised by timber casement windows flanking a double-leafed timber door. All buildings with residential front which is existing and/or identified in the 'Specific Restoration Guidelines', regardless of land use zoning, shall be retained and restored.
Any proposed additions and alterations to this conserved building are subject to evaluation. Please submit your proposal for URA's review.
Apply for Specific Restoration Guidelines (SRG) (opens in new tab)
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