Old Supreme Court

As modern as Singapore may be to many it is the older buildings that hold much charm. Amidst the surrounding and backdrops of skyscrapers and futuristic buildings are places that we can take a trip into Singapore history and appreciate the rare ‘classical’ architecture that we have.

The Old Supreme court used to be on the former house of James Clarke of the Guthrie and Company Ltd. It was built in 1823, and then later remodeled to be used as the London Hotel.

It went through a series of name changes, Hotel de l'Esperance and thereafter the Hotel de l'Europe. The hotel was demolished in 1900 and rebuilt as the Grand Hotel de l'Europe (completed in 1905), otherwise known as the Adis Building after its owner.

It was in 1935 that the government acquired the land site for the Supreme Court building. Designed by Frank Dorrington Ward. He was the then chief architect of the Public Works Department. He modeled it after the Old Bailey in London. And was done at a cost of $1,750,000.

An interesting fact is that the foundation stone, which was also the largest stone available in Malaysia at that time contains beneath it a time capsule. Inside this time capsule holds six Singaporean newspapers dated 31 March 1937, and a handful of coins of the Straits Settlements. The capsule is due to be retrieved only in the year 3000.

The building was completed and on the 3^rd August 1939 was officially declared open by the Governor of the Straits Settlements, Sir Shenton Thomas.

Another note is the use of the building as a site for war crime trials for the Japanese Military after the War in 1946.

United Engineers, responsible for the construction of the building, modelled Corinthian columns and classical architecture. There were also murals found in the interior of the building done by Italian artists.

Cavalieri Rudolfo from Milan (Italy) designed the Corinthian and Ionic columns, which were made from gypsum plaster and these belonged to 2 classical orders of the Roman and Greek architecture.

The Tympanum is one of the key features, it has many figures and the one, which stands out most, is that of Justice, unlike the American version which is blindfolded, this one is not. This sculpture stands 2.7m tall and has a weight of 4 tons. This was also the work of Cavalieri Rudolfo.

It is currently undergoing restoration and renovation and will become the National Art Gallery by 2014.