Clifford House was a historic building on the waterfront at Collyer Quay in Singapore. Completed and opened as the St. Helen's Court in 1916, it initially housed the offices of the Asiatic Petroleum Company. In 1936, it was renamed the Shell House. However, following the completion of the nearby Shell House skyscraper in 1960, the building was renamed the Clifford House. It was demolished to make way for the Clifford Centre in 1974.
History
editThe Malaya Tribune reported in January 1916 that the then-under construction St. Helen's Court, which was to serve as the premises of both the Asiatic Petroleum Company and the Straits Steamship Company, was "sure to prove an important pivot of local shipping business when completed."[1] The five-storey building was completed in 1916. It had 12,635 sqft of floor space and a frontage of 113 ft facing Collyer Quay.[2] The Asiatic Petroleum Company moved its offices into the building in July 1916.[3] Achitectural historian Julian Davison wrote in an article for BiblioAsia, published by the National Library Board, that the building "definitely put both Winchester House and The Arcade in the shade."[4] A "violent" squall on the evening of 11 April 1918 damaged some of the building's French tiles.[5]
By 1922, the consulate of the Netherlands was housed in the building.[6] In January 1927, the consulate of Norway moved into the building.[7] The consulate of the Netherlands relocated to 11 d'Almeida Street in November 1928.[8] In 1936, the building was renamed Shell House.[9] The Asiatic Petroleum Company acquired all their offices in the building to Change Alley.[10] The Malayan Petroleum Board, which replaced the Singapore Petroleum Board on 1 October 1945, had its offices in the building.[11] In 1948, a radio-telephone link between the offices of the General Electric Company in Shell House and on Pulau Bukom and Pulau Samboe was established.[12] The building was heavily damaged in a fire on 13 August 1949. R. W. Hooper, manager of the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company, which had its offices in the building, claimed that by the time he had arrived, the beams of the building's annexe had been "destroyed" and the Chinese-tiled roof had alreaady fell in. The first floor of the annexe, which housed the company's records on Chinese crews, "appeared gutted and charred". However, it was later found that the records had survived the fire.[13]
Following the completion of the Shell House skyscraper, also on Collyer Quay, in 1960, the building was renamed Clifford House.[14] In the same year, the Singapore Club moved into its fourth floor.[15] The Trade Room of the Malayan Stock Exchange, housed in the building, was officially opened by then-Minister for Finance Goh Keng Swee on 18 February 1961.[16] Benteng, a company selling electronic and photographic products, opened a showroom in the building on 26 February 1965.[17] In February 1968, it was announced that Trans Australia Airlines had moved its Southeast Asia offices to the Clifford House from its former premises in Hong Kong.[18] In August, the Clifford House, the Airways House and the then-vacant plot of land in between Clifford House and the Shell House was put up for sale. Its occupants then included British Information Services in addition to the trading room.[2] The properties were acquired by Singapore Land & Investments who planned to redevelop them into a "modern arcade and office block".[19]
In 1971, it was announced that the Clifford House would be demolished to make way for a $35 million 29-storey skyscraper.[20] The new building, named Clifford Centre was to be completed by 1973, replacing the now-"archaic" Clifford House.[21]
References
edit- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/maltribune19160121-1.2.91
- ^ a b https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19680803-1.2.91
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19160729-1.2.37
- ^ https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/vol-8/issue-2/jul-2012/singapore-waterfront-skyline/
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/singfreepressb19180411-1.2.52
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/singfreepresswk19221207-1.2.80
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19270117-1.2.26
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19281106-1.2.29
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/singstandard19520627-1.2.135
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19360207-1.2.77
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19451001-1.2.25
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/freepress19480324-1.2.52
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19490814-1.2.31
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19610726-1.2.135.7
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/newnation19710728-1.2.52.3
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19610219-1.2.41
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19650226-1.2.107.3
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19680212-1.2.45
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19700302-1.2.94
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/newnation19711023-1.2.56.5.1
- ^ https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/page/straitstimes19720324-1.1.15