Architecture
Palmer and Turner came to Johor Bahru in 1939 and then to Singapore in 1940 from Shanghai via Hong Kong. The firm was established by Colonel P.O.G. Wakeham in Singapore shortly after World War II. It was probably the longest established and one of the best known architectural firms in Southeast Asia, having been formed in Shanghai circa 1882.
The MacDonald House is one of Palmer and Turner's first buildings in Singapore, and was built for The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. It was the first large office building of the post-war period.
The building was built in a Neo-Georgian style. It is a reinforced concrete framed structure and clad in light red brickwork of fine detail, the last major building of its kind in downtown Singapore. It was the first building to be fully air-conditioned in Malaya. In addition to the ground banking hall, seven floors of staff flats occupied the building. An open well runs through the building, allowing natural light into the inner offices. There are six skylights in the ceiling of the banking hall which thus needs no artificial lighting during the day.
Read more about this topic: Mac Donald House
Famous quotes containing the word architecture:
“The two elements the traveler first captures in the big city are extrahuman architecture and furious rhythm. Geometry and anguish. At first glance, the rhythm may be confused with gaiety, but when you look more closely at the mechanism of social life and the painful slavery of both men and machines, you see that it is nothing but a kind of typical, empty anguish that makes even crime and gangs forgivable means of escape.”
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