National Museum of Singapore - Facilities

Facilities

See also: Singapore History Gallery, Singapore Living Galleries, and Goh Seng Choo Gallery

The museum will have a permanent 2,800 m² gallery space at the new glass clad building within a glass rotunda known as the Singapore History Gallery. It will feature the history of Singapore from the 14th century in a story-telling approach. Images and film can be projected on its 15-metre high cylindrical walls. There will be a narration of the history and display of artistic expressions of the history. Other permanent exhibitions include the Singapore Living Galleries which will feature exhibits of photography, cuisine, film, fashion and other lifestyle artifacts.

A ramp spiral in the new building leads down to an exhibition space holding the nation's treasures which includes the Singapore Stone and 14th century gold ornaments unearthed from nearby Fort Canning Hill in 1928. There will be a 250-seat auditorium known as The Mesh for talks, lectures and workshops for the young and old at the Fort Canning entrance. It will have retail facilities as well as a cafe and a restaurant at the Stamford Road block of the building. Elevators and escalators have been constructed to facilitate the disabled to have access to the museum. An area will feature classrooms and outreach programmes. A vehicular entrance can be accessed by Fort Canning Road at the new building. In the basement, there is a column-free 1,200 m² exhibition gallery for temporary exhibits. It has insulated walls without windows and the space is climatically controlled to protect the exhibits from light and heat or humidity changes.

A resource centre will be housed in the building which will contain old books, photographs, negatives and stamps for public viewing. National Museum introduced a new wireless technology which allow automatic playing of audio and visual material when visitors enter designated zones. The museum has held several temporary exhibitions before its official opening which include a film festival and a men's fashion show, during which the main foyer will feature nude male mannequins.