Old station, new platforms

For 78 years, the terminal building at Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, with its distinctive Art Deco exterior, soaring interior and air of fading grandeur, has been a special place to begin or end a journey to Malaysia.

But with the announcement last month that the Malayan Railway (KTM) station in Keppel Road will move to Woodlands by July next year, the landmark building from colonial times is at a crossroads.

It would not be journey's end as the building will be conserved, given its historical significance. However, there is no news yet of how it will be used once it is inoperative.

Life! asked more than 10 creative folks for their ideas.

Some point out that the building is a transport of delight in its own right. Ms Maria Warner Wong, design director of Warner Wong Design/Wow Architects, says its conservation 'should be handled with utmost care and not developed as a commercial venture like other historic buildings'.

‘It's better to do nothing than to ruin the building through commercialisation,' she says.

Others want it to make tracks in new directions.

ART GALLERY/PERFORMANCE SPACE

This is the most popular suggestion from the experts Life! spoke to.

Mr Ken Koo, president of red dot Asia, the regional chapter of an international award in design with headquarters in Germany, suggests that train carriages be used as galleries or performance spaces, with the tracks still in use. 'The train can take exhibitions and performances to Gillman Heights and the Portsdown area, where the track runs through. Visitors can hop on and off at any stop.'

Ms Kelley Cheng, editor-in-chief of Singapore Architect magazine and a creative director, sees the station as an alternative art gallery. 'Alternative art spaces are of critical importance as there are a lot of exhibitions nowadays that do not fit in a museum or a small art gallery. The station can be a good medium-size art space.'

Mr Jerry de Souza, creative director of Spa Esprit Group which turned colonial-era barracks at Dempsey into spa-cafe-bar House, says: 'With the high ceiling and large space, the acoustics will be perfect for live concerts.'

Look Architects managing director Look Boon Gee says the central waiting hall is suitable for site-specific performances. 'The tracks can be transformed into an alternative fashion runway or as an outdoor exhibition space that can accommodate large-scale art installations.'

Dr Kevin Tan, president of the Singapore Heritage Society, also suggested it be turned into a performance venue. 'I hope it will not be turned into another seafood restaurant or a spa. The building should be respected and should form the key feature of the new use.'

MUSEUM

In keeping with the original spirit of the building, Dr Milton Tan, associate professor of architecture at the National University of Singapore, suggests turning the station into a transport and travel museum.

‘It will be an historical archive and a showcase of transport from the Singapore and international perspectives of the past, present and future,' he says.

'The grand hall of the station should be kept as the entrance hall of the museum, with new gallery spaces built on the site of the existing platforms adjoining the main hall.'

Besides Dr Tan, there is a group on networking site Facebook that hopes that the station will be turned into a museum. It now has more than 690 members.

One such member is Ms Mabel Tay, publicist for Old School, which revamped the former Methodist Girls' School on Mount Sophia into an artistic hub.

‘The cavernous grand plaza with its high ceiling lends itself to this adaptive use. With a nice little restaurant within the property and clever use of the old rail platforms and tracks, the station can turn into a museum, sort of Museed'Orsay meets Fondation Cartier.'

Both are art museums in Paris. Musee d'Orsay is housed in a former railway station.

MARKET SPACE

Mr Chris Lee, founder and creative director of design firm Asylum Creative and president of the non-profit The Design Society, thinks that the station and tracks are an 'exciting space'.

He says the train carriages can be a long Sunday market space, with some carriages turned into cafes, bars and restaurants. 'My idea is to have a few carriages in clusters and make that into a 'train village'.'

Architect Randy Chan from Zarch Collaboratives says that while the station can serve as a gallery, the tracks and its surroundings can serve as a green strip for cyclists. 'It will be lovely to have green activities - maybe a mobile market running along the track that transverse from place to place,' he adds.

Two Straits Times readers recently wrote to the Forum page also suggesting that the land on which the track runs be turned into a green path for cyclists, and linked to existing Park Connector Networks.

BOUTIQUE HOTEL

SCDA Architects' Chan Soo Khian says he loves the Art Deco facade and the spacious interiors.

‘The station can be turned into a boutique hotel with an added block of hotel rooms,' he suggests. 'There could be an upmarket gourmet market and eatery with book shops - specialised retail and restaurants off the main spaces very much like the Grand Central Station in New York.

‘(Plus) some clubs and live entertainment in the hotel lobby so as to have activities in the spaces late into the night.'

TRANSPORT STATION

While trains will no longer leave from this station, two architects feel that the station can remain what it is.

Mr Richard Hassell from architecture firm Woha says: 'It is a very good Art Deco building, and very well-designed as a naturally ventilated tropical train station. Train stations are one of the few buildings that really don't go out of date.'

He adds that the station can continue to serve as a stop for a high-speed train network to the rest of Asia. 'It would be perfectly located in the heart of the city, just as Eurostar leaves from the city centres of Paris, Brussels and London.'

Timur Designs' Chan Wai Kin says if the station is properly linked with other developments around it, 'it can become a bustling hub much like Grand Central Station in New York City - the railway track can even be conserved to allow a short section of the light rapid transit (LRT) to function'.

He adds: 'That will give enough reason to also conserve the two platforms which have a very distinctive roof eave detail.'

Source : The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Reprinted with permission.