Singapore – Once a place of treatment of patients with infectious diseases such as smallpox, tuberculosis and AIDS, the former Middleton Hospital and the transmitted disease center Could pickleball, cafes and art galleries could soon be housed.
A call for tenders for the 91,541.27 m² site at Moulmein Road to use as a lifestyle center on a short -term rental was launched on May 28 by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA).
The uses approved for the site include office spaces, maintained apartments, spa and well-being facilities, and urban agriculture Plots. He is currently zoned for residential use.
Of the 44 buildings of the site, 23 have been saved for potential conservation by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and will be submitted to directives for the addition and alteration of the authority. This involves ensuring the retention of their character and key architectural elements and features.
The other 21 buildings cannot be demolished, but will not be subject to the addition and alteration guidelines.
The ALS said that the site “has served as a pivotal institution in the history of health care of Singapore for over a century”. It was created in 1913 as a hospital in infectious diseases and appointed the Middleton hospital in 1920 after Dr. William Robert Colvin Middleton, defender of public health.
Of the 12,978.88 m² of gross floor surface in the site’s buildings, a maximum of 3,893.66 m² – or around 30% – can be used for retail or food and drinks, or both.
F&B uses, including outdoor refresh areas, cannot form more than half of the 3,893.66 m² allocated.
The ALS said in a press release that he planned that 2 Moulmein Road is “a dynamic life-style center with offers for families and multi-generation communities”.
The successful tenderer will receive a rental five -year -oldWith the option of an extension of four years, subject to government approval.
Based on the URA 2019 Master Plan – a statutory document that guides developments for the next 10 to 15 years – the site is currently zoned for residential use, subject to detailed planning.
When the vacant properties of the State are not intended for immediate development, the ALS, as a guardian of the state lands, can inform them during the interim period.
The other properties of the state that have been converted for the use of lifestyle recently include the old Nan Chiau high school in River Valley, now New Bahru; And the former St Andrew Mission Hospital near Maxwell Road, now Kada.
Bloc 807, the old hospital’s morgue, is one of the 23 buildings envisaged for conservation.Photo: ST file
THE Former Bukit Timah fire station is also transformed into a lifestyle center.
Dr. Yeo Kang Shua, vice-president of the International Council for Monuments and Singapore sites, praised the do that 23 buildings have been reserved for potential conservation, as future work will probably be guided by the competent authorities to avoid a negative impact on the value of the heritage of buildings.
“This gives tenders more transparency and helps moderate the expectations of potential bidders,” he said.
“In a realistic way, certain works will be necessary to make the site adapted to new programs and functions, and the question is how much intervention is too much and the little little – a good balance must be found,” added Dr. Yeo.
He said that the lush and spacious disposition of the hospital is notable because it has given patients fresh air and daylight – elements associated with health and hygiene, even today.
Bloc 804, the administration block of the former Middleton hospital, is one of those who are taken into account for conservation.Photo: Lianhe Zaobao
The concept of such a cultural landscape should be kept on the site, said Dr. Yeo.
Ms. Tricia Song, head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia in CBRE, said that the Directives of addition and alteration by URA for the 23 buildings are probably not assigned to the request of the Site, because the short mandate does not justify capital expenses and redevelopment.
However, Dr. Chua Yang Liang, head of JLL research and advice for Southeast Asia, said that conservation requirements are a double -edged sword for developers – they add complexity, costs and constraints to development plans, but also offer a unique character and heritage value that can become distinctive sales arguments.
Ms. Song said that the site is relatively well located – from a reasonable walk away from Newnea MRT station and flanked by Newna Health City and Balestier Road, which provide a watershed and residential.
If the future hub is well planned with a large and inexpensive or free parking, the location is attractive for fitness, spa and well-being, and sports facilities such as pickleball terrains, which, according to her, lack in the region.
The old hospital housed some of the last nightingale districts of Singapore, which had no subdivision and were designed to be ventilated.Photo: ST file
Ms. Catherine He, research manager at Colliers Singapore, also said that recreational uses would suit the site, because they have relatively lower adjustment costs and comply with the site’s medical inheritance.
“The region is already well served by a number of hotels, details and offices, and therefore these uses are unlikely to be duplicated,” she said.
Dr. Chua added that pre or postnatal care centers and SPA and well-being facilities could generate high demand by completing the existing health ecosystem.
He said that a critical consideration for potential tenderers will be the implications of traffic, because the neonen region “is already undergoing considerable congestion of traffic, which could pose an important operational challenge for certain uses”.
A century health care association
In his 2020 book, land, SLA said that the Middleton hospital had its roots in a variolate hospital and a quarantine establishment that started in the 1870s and was installed in Baleste Plain.
The replacement plans of this installation were drawn up by the British municipal commission in 1905, the infectious disease of diseases which finally opened the site of 2 Moulmein Road in June 1913.
The old emblematic gateway to the Middleton Hospital, which was demolished in 1982 for the work of widening roads.Photo: ST file
In 1985, the hospital fell under the Tan Tock Seng hospital as a department of transmitted diseases, later renamed a center of transmitted diseases.
He played a role in the fight against various infectious diseases – like the Sras epidemic in 2003 – Until December 2018, the date on which it was put out of service and replaced by the National Center for Infectious Diseases, located in Jalan Tan Tock Seng.
SLA said the site supported COVVI-19 operations until it returned to the state in 2023.
The author of heritage and blogger Jerome Lim, who published the SLA book, said that he hoped that in addition to the 23 buildings of the old hospital which were intended for potential conservation, less known aspects as its drainage system will also be preserved.
He said that the drains were “built by the municipality with beautiful masonry and were bordered by ceramic”, a rare characteristic in Singapore.
The former Middleton hospital, illustrated in 2009, took place from 1992 to 2018, the brandable Disease Center.Photo: Lianhe Wanbao
Mr. LIM added that there is also evidence that a double drain system was initially installed in the hospital, which separated the contaminated discharge from the services of the public drainage system, thus preventing the spread of diseases.
He said the site also included certain parts of the hospital’s original fence, which have sharp advice which were intended to prevent the quarantine patients from escaping.
Keep such features would allow future visitors to better appreciate the design of the hospital, he said.
In a declaration published at night on May 28, the ALA said that there are no immediate development plans for the site and that the directives of addition and modification issued for older buildings are intended to “keep the character of the site” while facilitating its provisional use.
SLA said that the site was not actively studied for conservation, and that it will be done when there are development plans.
The SLA call for tenders ends on August 6 and is expected to be awarded on November 30.
- NG Keng Gene is corresponding to the Times Straits, reporting on questions relating to the use of land, town planning and heritage.
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