FROM an old mission school and church to former brothels and clandestine homes of mistresses, this year's URA Architectural Heritage Awards stand out for the wide range of historical sites among its seven winners.
Now in its 12th year, the annual accolades by the Urban Redevelopment Authority recognise owners, architects, engineers and contractors who have gone the extra mile to restore and conserve buildings with a strong heritage.
To date, 71 projects have received the awards.
This year's winners include the old St Andrew's School, the Church of the Ascension and a colonial bungalow now used as a clubhouse for luxury condominium Draycott8.
Four shophouse projects were also lauded for their conservation efforts. These include the New Majestic Hotel and Empire Lofts in the Chinatown area as well as commercial and residential projects in Tan Quee Lan Street and Blair Road.
The awards are also divided into two categories: Category A is for national monuments and assesses if buildings adhere to quality restoration principles; Category B assesses projects on both the quality of restoration as well as the innovation of new elements.
The St Andrew's projects, New Majestic Hotel, Empire Lofts and Draycott 8 clubhouse fall into Category A while the remaining sites are in Category B.
Mr Loh Lik Peng, owner of the Majestic Hotel, says: 'It's such a good thing to find a building with original features in a usable state. A lot of the details we managed to keep added a lot of value to the building.'
It was also announced at the awards ceremony, which took place at the Arts House on Monday, that selected post-war buildings at the former University of Singapore's Bukit Timah campus and the Customs Harbour Branch building next to Clifford Pier will be conserved.
About 6,560 buildings have been gazetted by the URA for conservation so far. In addition, 50 buildings with national historical significance have been gazetted as national monuments.
In July this year, the URA's conservation programme was honoured with the international Urban Land Institute (ULI) Award for Excellence: Asia Pacific.
ULI is a non-profit education and research institute for land use and real estate development disciplines.
'Perhaps to a layman, you would appreciate a project only where everything is new,' says Mr Ler Seng Ann, director of URA's conservation and development services. 'But there's a story and history to be told through conserved buildings.'
Life! looks at the seven winners.
mayyip@sph.com.sg
