Architecture
Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church is considered one of the earliest Chinese Christian churches in Singapore. Several features differentiate it from the traditional church. Unlike traditional churches which are oriented east, this church faced constraints imposed by the position of the plot of land. Thus, the main entrances face west.
Also, unlike the traditional church, it does not display a cruciform plan. Instead, the church reflects its Chinese environment and the time in which it was built. The church is a highly mannered, somewhat eccentric building. The body of the church is demarcated at its four corners by large, full-height tapered buttress-like forms, within which access is gained to offices and other accommodation on the upper storeys. These “buttresses” are punctured by rectangular and circular window openings and broken by projecting tiled porch roofs at first storey level.
The church itself is arched, lit through large arched, quasi-Byzantine windows and crowned with a continuous tiled roof loggia. Art Deco was popular in the 1920s and Art Deco features can be seen in the ornate window styles. The roof of the pavilion atop the last storey of the building is distinctly Chinese.
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