People's Park Complex being repainted red and white, but not specifically for SG60
People's Park Complex in Chinatown being repainted in red and white on May 20. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
People's Park Complex being repainted red and white, but not specifically for SG60
SINGAPORE – Chinatown's modernist icon People's Park Complex, which is being studied for the possibility of conservation, will sport a fresh red-and-white look later in 2025.
The choice of colours has led some, including one of the building's architects Koh Seow Chuan, to associate it with Singapore's national flag – which is apt, given that works are taking place in 2025, the 60th anniversary of the country's independence.
But 'the colour scheme was not specially chosen to mark SG60', People's Park Complex's managing agent Claire Dixon-Lim told The Straits Times .
It 'was recommended by a designer and approved by the building's management council', she said, adding that the facade rectification and repainting works are slated to be completed before the fourth quarter of 2025, depending on weather conditions.
The mixed-use development , which was completed in 1973, was last repainted in 2009, when its then orange and green facade made way for yellow and green paint coat that is now being painted over.
It had to be repainted as the existing paintwork would be affected facade rectification works that were required.
In November 2024, the Building and Construction Authority had told People's Park Complex's management to carry out a facade inspection, and rectify defects.
Works are slated to take place from Dec 1, 2024, to Aug 15, 2025, Ms Dixon-Lim said in a letter to the development's owners and occupiers in November 2024.
People's Park Complex, a 31-storey strata-titled complex, is currently being studied by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) for conservation.
In February, the agency said that it had completed a structural investigation of the building, which will guide URA's assessment 'in determining the potential of conserving the building vis-a-vis redevelopment plans'.
The complex was one of the first mixed-use commercial and private residential developments in the region . It was also the largest shopping complex in Singapore when it first opened and the first shopping complex in the country with atriums.
Pioneer Singaporean architects William Lim, Tay Kheng Soon and Mr Koh of Design Partnership Architects, known today as DP Architects, were the men behind its design.
Speaking to ST, Mr Koh said that the building's concrete facade was originally unpainted, with an off-form, fair-faced finish that was common in modernist buildings after World War II.
'Fair-faced concrete was in vogue after the war when most countries were poor,' he noted.
Non-profit heritage group Docomomo Singapore said in a paper on the complex that its fair-faced finish adhered to the modernist precept of 'honest material expression'.
This black-and-white photograph from May 1979 shows People's Park Complex's fair-faced concrete facade, before it was painted.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Modernist architecture spans roughly the 1930s to the 1980s, and includes styles such as brutalism, which People's Park Complex is associated with.
Generally, modernist architecture is linked to minimalism, and emphasises function over ornamentation.
Mr Koh said that the building was first painted in the late 1980s . Archival photos from the late 1980s and 19 90s show that the complex had a largely beige colour scheme.
People's Park Complex (left) in March 1996 with a beige-coloured facade.
PHOTO: TNP FILE
This was likely replaced by an orange and green scheme when the building underwent a $15 million facelift that started in 1998.
People's Park Complex, with the Chinese characters zhen zhu fang, or Pearl Square, on its facade, pictured in March 2007 with an orange and green paint scheme.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
The Chinese characters zhen zhu fang, or 'Pearl Square', were presumably added to the building's facade during these works – a nod to the building's location at the foot of Pearl's Hill.
The hill was named after Captain James Pearl, who commanded the Indiana – the ship brought Sir Stamford Raffles, modern Singapore's founder, to the island in 1819.
The Chinese characters zhen zhu fang, or Pearl Square, on the facade of People's Park Complex are often photographed from Temple Street in Chinatown.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
In 2009, the building was again repainted – this time, in a brighter yellow and green scheme.
People's Park Complex undergoing repainting in May 2009, when the orange and green facade (right) made way for a yellow and green scheme (left).
PHOTO: ST FILE
It is this yellow and green scheme that is currently being replaced with a red and white scheme.
The progress of repainting works at People's Park Complex, captured on May 20.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Painters giving a new hue to People's Park Complex on May 20.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Architectural photographer Darren Soh, who has posted photos of the repainting works since early April, said he feels that the bright red being used is a very polarising colour, adding that 'you either love it or you don't'.
'Everything and everyone around People's Park Complex will now have a red hue when light is shining brightly on its facade,' Mr Soh said.
Ng Keng Gene is a correspondent at The Straits Times, reporting on issues relating to land use, urban planning and heritage.
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