Виктория Театр и Концертный Зал: История и Архитектура Сингапура

Historic theatre and concert hall in Singapore

The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall is a performing arts centre in the Central Area of Singapore, situated along Empress Place. It is a complex of two buildings and a clock tower joined together by a common corridor; the oldest part of the building was first built in 1862, and the complex was completed in 1909. The complex has undergone a number of renovations and refurbishment, mostly recently in 2010 when the complex was closed for a four year renovation project. It reopened on 15 July 2014. The buildings in the complex have been used for a number of purposes, such as public events, political meetings, exhibitions, musical and stage performances, and for a brief period as a hospital. The concert hall is used as a performance venue by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO), and the complex is managed by Arts House Limited. The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall was gazetted as a national monument on 14 February 1992.

The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall first began as the Town Hall in 1862. In the early 1900s, a second public hall was built next to it joined by a clock tower to form a larger complex.

The Town Hall was originally built to replace the older Assembly Rooms, where local operas and dramas were held but had fallen into disrepair. The foundation stone was laid in 1855, and the building completed in 1862. The foundation stone was laid on the occasion of King Edward VII's coronation celebration on 10 August 1902, and the new building was built between 1903 and 1905 next to the Town Hall. The plan of the memorial hall was initially drawn up by Major Alexander Murray and the Public Works Department, which included the reconstruction of the front elevation of the old town hall on similar lines to the facade of the new memorial hall, which was later on modified by R. A. J. Bidwell of Swan and Maclaren.

The Victoria Memorial Hall was officially opened by the Governor of the Straits Settlements, Sir John Anderson, on 18 October 1905. The renovated Town Hall was reopened on 11 February 1909. The Pirates of Penzance was the first performance to be staged in the renovated building when it reopened. On 6 February 1919, the centenary of Singapore's founding, a statue of Stamford Raffles by T. Woolner was moved from the Padang to the front of the Memorial Hall. The statue was complemented with a new semicircular colonnade and a pool.

In World War II, the memorial hall was used as a hospital for victims of bombing raids by Japanese forces during the Battle of Singapore before their successful occupation of the colony. During the occupation, the buildings themselves escaped major physical damage, although the colonnade was destroyed and Raffles's statue moved to the National Museum. The statue was returned to its original site in 1946. In that year Seven Keys to Baldpate was staged, which was Kenneth Williams' début. In 1947 the Straits Settlements coat of arms that was hung on the tympanum of both wings of the building was replaced by the newly formed coat of arms of the Crown Colony of Singapore. It was brought down in 1959 to make a plaster cast of the coat of arms of Singapore, which was topped off with two flagpoles with the flag of Singapore on them. A number of significant civic as well as historical events were held on the premises. The Memorial Hall was the venue for Japanese war crimes trials from 1946 to 1947. From 1948 onward, the Hall was used during elections as the centre for the briefing of election officials and the counting of ballot papers. On 21 November 1954, it was the venue of the People's Action Party's founding. Two public meetings of the Rendel Commission were held 1953 and 1955 in the hall to review the Constitution of the Colony of Singapore in preparation for its independence. at which time it was renamed the Victoria Concert Hall. Additional works up to the 1980s added a gallery to the Concert Hall, increasing seating capacity and enclosing the second storey balconies on the front and back facades with glass.

In June 2010, Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall were closed for major renovations. The S$180 million refurbishment was undertaken by W Architects, and Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB) Singapore as the project manager and quantity surveyor, with Architectural Restoration Consultants Pte Ltd (ARC) as its conservator and Arup Singapore Pte Ltd as acoustician and theatre planner. The refurbishment repaired and updated the buildings to meet contemporary standards. The façade of the buildings is retained, and some elements belonging to the original 1905 structure restored. This includes reinstating the central passageway between the theatre and the concert hall, which leads to the Arts House. New spaces were created to accommodate building services and for commercial rental and amenities like a café. While the significant interior features of the concert hall were retained, most of the theatre (save the façade) was completely demolished during the renovations. The building now has extra new spaces for the public, performers and support crew. The theatre has new changing rooms and a loading bay, while the central atrium has been opened up and has become an additional area for hosting arts activities. The roof level of the theatre was raised to match that of the concert hall, and the extra space under the roof houses a new dance studio. Prior to its refurbishment, the theatre had a stage of 167.28 square metres in size, and the concert hall a stage that could be expanded up to 139.76 square metres. The concert hall was considered the venue with the best acoustics in the city, and was the main performance venue for the SSO until the completion of the Esplanade Theatres on the Bay in 2002 when the orchestra moved its home base to take advantage of superior acoustics and facilities brought about by technological and architectural advances over the years.