Let's Learn About Architecture: National Design Centre

The National Design Centre, Singapore edition

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Designed, illustrated and edited by Althea Chan, Grace Wong, Roxanne Then, Shoon & Toh Sing Ru

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Hello!

We are a group of architecture students from the Singapore University of Technology and Design. This storybook is published as part of the school outreach programme to teach primary school students the basics of architecture through the example of National Design Centre in Singapore.

Through this book, we hope to introduce the students some architectural history and the importance of conservation that they may be able to appreciate the buildings around them.

Lastly, we would like to thank Assistant Professor Dr Yeo Kang Shua for guiding us in this, and everyone else who has made this possible.

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Buildings are all around us. They provide us with basic needs of shelter and security. Cities like Singapore are made up of many kinds of buildings, both big and small.

This is what makes cities exciting and unique.

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Before we learn about the National Design Centre, let’s first look at what makes up a building. Buildings are made up of many different parts. All buildings will have windows, doors, walls, floor, ceilings and roofs.

Ceiling

Roof

Wall

Window

Door

Floor

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Hi, I’m Windy the Window. I am usually referred to as an opening in a wall or the roof of a building.

I am traditionally made out of wood material, but after iron was popularised, sometimes I am made out of metal as well.

I am also usually fitted with glass to allow natural lighting into the building whilst having more control over the elements.

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Horizontal Fenestration

When grouped with my friends, we are referred to as ‘Fenestration’ which means the organisation of windows.

Vertical Fenestration

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Hi! I am Wally the wall. I am used as structure to hold the building up, and to make rooms, separating the public from the private. I like to give people a sense of security.

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I can be found in a variety of materials, varying in colour and texture. Just now I was in concrete, now I am in timber!

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ZZ

ZZ

When I lie down, I will turn into a floor, which forms the surface that you walk on in buildings.Â

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Here, I am also available in multiple materials, colours and texture. Now I’m in bricks and mortar which is masonry!

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Hi, I’m Dorothy, the door!

I am usually referred to as the entrance of the building.

I am used to signify the transition of a certain space, whether from the outsidein or inside room-room conditions.

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Based on that, I am found in a variety of shape and sizes and materials too!

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I’m Ceilia the ceiling, and I am usually referred to as the surface above your head in rooms.

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Sometimes I cover up all the mechanical and electrical parts so you don’t see them.

But if not, I provide shelter and distinction between floors.

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I’m Roof. I am the shelter that covers all of those things on the exterior of the building.

I am used to distinguish buildings and I shelter all the internal parts from the weather!

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I am also made out of different materials, such as ceramic, wood, metal and even dried grass!

Thatched Roof

Metal Roof

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That is about it for the basic building parts.

Now lets have a closer look at how all this applies to the National Design Centre!

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Hi, I am the National Design Centre! You can find me along Middle Road and Queen Street .

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I have many friends nearby! My college friends NAFA and LASALLE, my bookworm friend Bras Basah Complex, and of course, many multi racial friends in the form of churches and temples. My smartest friend is the National Library,and together, we all are the Bras Basah-Bugis Arts and Cultural District!

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Before I was the National Design Centre, I was also a convent, and schools for arts, as well as performing arts.

Image Source: StateOfBuildings.sg

1879 Saint Anthony’s Church

1995-2004 Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Image Source: Lee Kip Lin Collection, National Library Board

1995-2009 Chinese Opera Institute

2014-Present National Design Centre

Image Source: Lai Yew Seng Pte Ltd

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Because of that, I’m actually made of a number of Architectural styles : Pre-war Art Deco, Postwar Modernism, and Contemporary!

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The Art Deco group is observed mainly from i

In my case, you can see it on one of my facades through the window details as well as the use of arches, and also, the roof and eaves!

its decorative art style and geometric shapes.

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Hi! I am Archie the arch. We are popularly found in Christian places of worship, along with my art motifs and ornamentation friends!

We also formed a crucial part of the Art Deco period.

This was because the Art Deco styles favoured smooth lines, geometric shapes and streamlined forms. Hence, I was a part of the NDC since its days of a convent.

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Hi! I am the Art-Deco style timber window!

Just like the arches, we existed since the beginning of its convent days.

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In 1948, after World War 2, the Art Deco blocks were upgraded with an additional 3rd storey to make room for schools.

Roofs with overhanging eaves were also added as cultural infusion betwen the traditional Malay architecture and Colonial architecture.

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That’s all about the Art Deco Style.

Let’s move on to the next style found in NDC, which is the Modernism Style!!

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Due to the damage suffered by the building in World War II, when we were re-adapted, the designers did me up in a modernist style.

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This can be seen on my faรงade facing Middle Road, with ribbon windows. They are without ornamentation, clean and have smooth materiality!

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Remember how the organization of windows was called fenestrations? The windows in NDC are horizontal fenestrations called ‘ribbon windows’, which is 1 of the 5 points of architecture.

I am Le Corbusier, one of the pioneers of modernist architecture and I wrote “5 Points towards a New Architecture”

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Located at 2 junctions, I have a chamfered corner at the intersection to signify my frontage. I am known as the ‘Corner Condition’.

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Image Source: SCDA Architects

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In 2009, the building was rebranded as the National Design Centre as part of Design Singapore, and went through a process of restoration and adaptive-reuse by SCDA’s Chan Soo Kian.

The facades were restored, while SCDA introduced some interior additions from a more contemporary style for the new purpose as a public building rather than a private school.

Lets have a look at what the changes were in this new time period!

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Hi! I’m Glenda the glass, a building material that can be used in a variety of ways.

In the NDC, I am used to form the glass roof for the central atrium space which was initially the convents’ parade square.

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With me, you can enjoy exhibits at the atrium, with similar natural lighting as in the past, minus the hot and humid weather of Singapore! Aircon! Yay!

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It’s me next! I am Metal Mesh Mike!

I am often made of aluminium and am silvery grey in colour. I come as a solid, or as a perforated panel.

In NDC’s case, I am perforated. I am used in many different ways in the NDC.

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I am used around the fire stairway on the exterior of the building.

By using me instead of a wall, I soften the look of the NDC.

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I am similarly used to wrap around the interior space, as a box-like sculpture around the main stairs as well. I create a sense of movement when people walk by as the holes are covered and a silhouette is seen instead

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Lastly, I am used in the auditorium space.

As it used to be a chapel, there are many Christian Iconographies around so I have to be careful to avoid them. By not blocking them, I am respectful to NDC’s history!

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In total, I have a combined history of 120 years (That’s quite a lot considering Singaspore’s age!)

...and a combination of 3 time periods –pre-war art deco, post-war modernism and contemporary!

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Because of my historical and cultural significance, I am a conserved building in Singapore.

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Thank you for taking time to learn about me, and I hope you’ll continue to learn more about the buildings around you and appreciate and conserve others, just like me!

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Bye!

For more information, scan the QR Code on the left to visit our Minecraft build of the National Design Centre.

Alternatively, you can also find us on our Instagram: instagram.com/llaa.ndc