Walkway at Singapore General Hospital by Jeremy San

Completion: 1950s

Architect: Public Works Department, Singapore

The Singapore General Hospital (SGH) has its origins as a military infirmary in the early colonial days, and has been located at the Outram site since 1882. After more than a century of laissez-faire attitude towards public welfare, the post-war colonial government initiated a series of “cradle-to-grave” socialist programmes including the Medical Plan. A major project was the modernisation and expansion of SGH. For the first time in Singapore’s history, patients were no longer segregated according to gender or economic status, but according to ailments under specialised medical units.

Executed in phases from 1951 till 1960, the expansion was undertaken by Public Works Department (PWD) under architect K.A. Brundle. Modern facilities and quarters were introduced without demolishing existing buildings nor disrupting daily operations. The simple, even austere new additions—underpinned by principles of economy, ease of construction, and rational design—nonetheless projected a progressive image through the white cubic architectural language of High Modernism. Privacy, security, and discretion were poetically translated into the design of the hostel for female trainee nurses, including a sheltered walkway between the entrance gates and the building. Slender steel columns supported a thin concrete shell roof, while perforated screens of fair-faced brick stopped short of the canopy, allowing soft daylight to filter through. The pavilion-like structure was a delightful masterpiece of materiality and light. SGH underwent further restructuring and redevelopment in the post-independence decades. Unfortunately, much of its post-war built heritage was demolished in the process, including the walkway.

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Approximate Size: 1 m x 1.244 m. Framed.

This is the original print that was exhibited at “Moderns in Our Midst: A Photographic Tribute to Singapore’s Modern Architectural Heritage” in 2015.

UV Printing on 3 mm white DIBOND with 10 mm square aluminium channel on 4 sides. Print does not feature the artist's signature. No other framing options available. No certificate of authenticity provided.

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