Status Complete Architectural style Low-rise Completed 2010 | Type Boutique Hotel Construction started ? | |
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Location 11 Canning Walk, Fort Canning Downtown Core, Singapore | ||
Hotel Fort Canning is a boutique hotel opened in 2010 in Fort Canning Park, Singapore, self-styled as "fashionable" and located near such touristy nightlife areas as Orchard Road and Clarke Quay. The building was the former British Far East Command Headquarters during World War II. The building was restored and reconstructed as a hotel by the prestigious architectural firm DP Architects which sought to maintain the old style colonial glamour and the multi-columned façade of the old headquarters.
Contents
History
The military building was built in 1926 as the Administration Building of the British Far East Command HQ. The General-Officer-Commanding, Lieutenant General Percival, had an office in this building. The building was occupied by the Japanese Military during the Occupation (1942–1945). The British Military took it back after the war and used it as part of the British Military Administration. The building was then taken over by the Singapore Armed Forces when Singapore became independent. In 1970, the building was used by the Singapore Command and Staff College (SCSC). In 1976, the SCSC moved out of the building, and it remained unoccupied until 1995, when it housed the Fort Canning Country Club. The Legends Fort Canning Park took over the premises in November 2002, and in July 2011, it re-opened as Hotel Fort Canning.
Facilities
The hotel has 86 stylised rooms and suites. Hotel Fort Canning's upper floor windows have wide views of Fort Canning Park and the city skyline. The hotel has two outdoor swimming pools filled with water treated by an innovative non-chlorination-based system, with none of the health issues of conventional swimming pools. The hotel has a gym and Chinois Spa @ The Legends
F&B
Hotel Fort Canning offers guest three restaurants
Architecture and conservation
On 15 October 2010 John Miksic, Resident Archaeologist at Fort Canning Park and Associate Professor of the National University of Singapore interred the first artifact in the Hotel’s Lobby Archaeological Pits, which now hold 14th and 19th century artifacts that have been unearthed at Fort Canning Park.
The pits contains ancient local pottery used in everyday life that would have been used to prepare the meals for the royal households of the Majapahit kings who ruled Temasek in the 14th Century. The second pit displays 14th century porcelain, which ancient Chinese traders exchanged for local products. Third pit contains a mixture of locally-made objects and British items from the 19th century, including English porcelain, tiles, bottles, large platters for food, and glass marbles. The fourth pit consists of later 19th century Qing Dynasty Chinese porcelain, which would have been commonly used by both soldiers and civilians in Fort Canning.
Awards
Hotel Fort Canning has won several awards