history of empress place building
Overlooking the mouth of the Singapore River, the building that now houses the Asian Civilisations Museum had been a government office for the most of its life. The original building was much smaller than it is today, occupying what are our Southeast Asia and West Asia galleries. Designed by colonial engineer JFA McNair in the mid 1860's, and built by convict labour at a cost of £53,000, Government Offices as it was called then, was extended several times. It grew to accommodate practically the entire colonial bureaucracy. The office of the Colonial Secretary was there, as was the Legislative Chamber. The presence of the Surveyor General meant that up till very recently, the building was the locus of the cartographic coordinates of Singapore