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Stamford House

Stamford House is an ornate building of Victorian design located at Stamford Road. It was built in 1904 by R. A. J. Bidwell, the architect behind local landmarks such as the Goodwood Park Hotel and Raffles Hotel. It was restored by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in mid-1994 at a cost of S$13 million and managed by Pidemco Land.

Background
The building was originally built for Seth Paul for his tenant, the retail firm Whiteaway Laidlaw & Co, who carried out their business there. The Stamford House was originally known as the Oranje Building and served as an annexe to the Raffles Hotel. In 1933, it became the Oranje Hotel and was probably used by the Japanese forces as such during World War II. Basco Enterprises acquired it in 1963 and later renamed it Stamford House after refurbishment. Together with Shaw Building, it was once the shopping hub of Singapore.

It was later acquired by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in 1984, which took steps to preserve it. In May 1991, a decision was made to forgo preserving the similarly rustic 4 storey Eu Court homes and conserve Stamford House instead as the later had more potential for commercial purposes.

Description
The building's characteristic gold tinted detailing was only revealed during restoration work between 1991 and 1994. These included a floral frieze for which no historical records were found; granite columns carved out of a single granite slab; and cast-iron grilles in the same floral design as the frieze.

Stamford House, Stamford Road.
Completed: 1904.
Architect: R. A. J. Bidwell (of Swan & Maclaren).
Owner: Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).



Author
Bonny Tan



References
Edwards, N., & Keys, P. (1988). Singapore: A guide to buildings, streets, places. Singapore: Times Book International.
(Call no.: RSING 915.957 EDW)

Tyers, R. K. (1993). Ray Tyers' Singapore: Then and now. Singapore: Landmark Books.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 TYE)

$10m plan to convert Stamford House into shopping centre. (1991, December 2). The Straits Times, p. 19.

Bachtiar, Ida. (1994, May 22). Stamford House $13-m later. The Sunday Times, Sunday Plus, Upfront, p. 4.

Yeo, S. (1994, May 22). Cosiness is part of plan. The Sunday Times, Sunday Plus, Upfront, p. 4. 

The information in this article is valid as at 2002 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Architecture and Landscape>>Building Types>>Historic Buildings
Historic buildings--Singapore
Arts>>Architecture>>Public and commercial buildings

Librarian Recommendations
>> Stamford Road


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