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  Today Online 29 Jun 07
an abode for the soul
Buildings are more than just bricks and mortar
Tabitha Wang

Straits Times 27 Jun 07
Save Butterfly House? Let this one go
Ho Lee Ling (Ms) New South Wales, Australia

Today Online 21 Jun 07
A home for our heritage
Important historical value in preserving old buildings
Letter from Ken Lee

Channel NewsAsia 19 Jun 07
Butterfly House escapes wrecker's ball

Straits Times Forum 8 Jan 07
Cashin Mansion in our urban village
Letter from Serene Laudene Lee (Ms)

The New Paper 31 Dec 06
Save this 'butterfly' house
This grand old Katong mansion, sold to a private company for $9m, isn't designated for conservation. It has one anxious heritage group harping on this theme
By Ng Tze Yong

THE imposing house at 23 Amber Road has seen better days. The 'Butterfly House', with its unique crescent-shaped verandah, is the forgotten cousin of Singapore's grand dames - the Raffles Hotel, Goodwood Park Hotel and Stamford House. All were designed by Regent Alfred Bidwell, one of Singapore's most famous architects in colonial days.

The house was sold to a private company for about $9 million in August this year, a property search by The New Paper has revealed. It's not clear what plans the new owner has for the house.

When The New Paper tried to interview the new owner - a company with an office near the Farrer Park MRT station, an official of the company declined to comment.

Now a group of Katongites fear the house may be demolished as it has not been designated for conservation by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

BULLDOZERS COMING

They have formed a group called Historic Architecture Rescue Plan (Harp). Its 20-odd members - 'ordinary people who have no knowledge of architectural terms' - call themselves rescuers of old buildings.

'It's not a good sign. The bulldozers are coming soon,' said Mr Terrence Hong, 26, an undergraduate and a founding member of Harp. 'We share a passion for preserving our past. We want to give heritage buildings a voice.'

On Christmas Eve, Harp sent out an e-mail petition, complete with the e-mail addresses of President SR Nathan and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, urging Singaporeans to save the house.

'There is no way you can look at this house and not take a second look. You travel back in time 100 years, and go 'wow...',' said Madam Helen Khoo, a 72-year-old retiree.

SEMI-CIRCULAR VERANDAH

Waves once lapped at the house's backyard. The 'butterfly' - the house's semi-circular verandah - was designed to catch the sea breeze. But after reclamation, the sweeping sea view has been replaced by condominiums and the East Coast Parkway.

The house used to belong to the prominent Cashin family. Cashin Street, off North Bridge Road, was named after Mr Joseph Cashin, a lawyer's clerk who made his fortune investing in legal opium farms in the 1880s. It was just one of about 400 properties he came to own island-wide.

A Chinese family lived in the house but moved out a few years ago. It has been vacant since. When The New Paper visited the house last week, trays of oranges, Sprite cans and incense paper - offerings to the spirits - had been left all around the 1,095 sq m compound, about the size of four basketball courts.

'This magnificent house has become a part of every Katongite,' said long-time Katong resident Miss Irene Low, a 35-year-old scientist. 'But it's not just about Katong. It's about Singapore.'

'We're not silly people being nostalgic about the past,' added Mr Hong. 'How many of us have gone back to the house we were born in only to find that it is gone?'

He believes that if the Government wants to keep Singaporeans in Singapore, it must keep their places of childhood.

'HDB flats and shopping centres are not going to make us stay,' he said. 'We need to remember the places we played in as kids.' But saving houses isn't easy. '

Conservation is an integral part of our city planning,' said a URA spokesman, but it is done on a highly selective basis.' The URA uses a 'win-win approach' to balance the owner's desire to realise the economic potential of his property and society's wish to preserve the past.

'Based on this pragmatic approach, we have carefully evaluated the house and will not be conserving it,' said the URA spokesman. URA added, however, that it 'welcomes' the new owner to a discussion to consider alternatives.

Architecture professor Chan Yew Lih, of the National University of Singapore, believes that the 'Butterfly House' is 'worthy of conservation'. 'It is one of the few remaining seaside houses that the elite of old used as weekend getaways from the crowded city,' she said.

She suggests turning the house into a museum, inn or multi-family housing.

Mr Hong said that while saving old buildings may not make dollars and cents, their social value is priceless. 'They are the storehouses of our memories and our identity,' he said. 'Can anyone say our national identity is less valuable than, say, $800 psf.'

Straits Times Forum 8 Jan 07
Cashin Mansion in our urban village
Letter from Serene Laudene Lee (Ms)

I REFER to the impending demolition of Cashin Mansion at 23 Amber Road and request a moratorium on its demolition so the Urban Redevelopment Authority may reconsider conserving it.

We ask this because the building means something to us; it is part of what makes Singapore our home.

My parents and I moved to Jalan Batu a few years ago and have never felt more at ease. We love it not only for its proximity to town but also its unique mix of old and new. Within a 1km radius of our flat, there are skyscraper condominiums, mid-rise HDB flats like the one we live in, four-storey HDB flats like the one I grew up in, private bungalows and historic private residences like Cashin Mansion.

Each housing type represents an era in Singapore's progress and development, as well the number of generations our family has called Singapore home.

More important, we love how the physical diversity of the neighbourhood promotes interaction between Singaporeans across all ages, and ethnic and socio-economic groups - something we could not experience in our previous neighbourhood where such physical diversity is lacking.

To us, Jalan Batu is our urban village. We know our neighbours and we converse with the shop and foodstall owners.

Even a simple daily routine such as having lunch at the hawker centre at Block 4 is a visual, cultural and gastronomic treat. There are hip LaSalle students with their trendy outfits and outlook on life; working professionals in office attire who, despite the heat and humidity, carpool from the city to patronise stalls that were there even before the hawker centre underwent renovation; retirees who always congregate at the same tables to get their caffeine fix; and everyone else in between.

Cashin Mansion is not just another building worth conserving for its historic and architectural importance. It is an integral part of what keeps our neighbourhood socially alive and vibrant.

We believe that, to keep up with the times, society should not risk becoming overly modernised and culturally sterile.

After all, even the newest buildings we build today will some day become old, but the oldest buildings we preserve today will always remain fondly in style.

Some day, when I walk along the streets of Mountbatten with my children, I will tell them stories of my childhood and that of my parents, grandparents and great grandparents.

I pray we will be able to stop by Cashin Mansion to gaze in awe at how far Singapore has come to be the great nation it is today and the place we affectionately call 'home'.

Channel NewsAsia 19 Jun 07
Butterfly House escapes wrecker's ball

SINGAPORE : A petition by a group of heritage enthusiasts to save the distinctive "Butterfly House" at 23 Amber Road from being demolished has met with some measure of success.

Instead of razing the 95-year-old crescent-shaped two-storey bungalow, its developer, Goodland Group, has agreed to conserve the entrance porch and stair hall and integrate them into the facade of the new 18-storey condo.

This came after a petition was launched in January this year by the 40-strong Historic Architecture Rescue Plan (Harp) - which counts Katong residents among its members - against the demolition.

The bungalow, the only residential property in Singapore with curved wings, was the work of Regent Alfred John Bidwell, the same architect who designed the Raffles Hotel, Goodwood Park and Hotel Victoria Memorial Hall.

So, Harp wrote to the Government and started a website, which garnered even the acknowledgment of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

Calling the petition "well-organised", the URA stepped in, taking four to five months to negotiate with various parties to save the house. "We had to work very hard with the developer to keep part of the bungalow as it is a very tight site," Mrs Teh Lai Yip, URA's deputy director of Conservation and Development Services, said at a media briefing on Monday.

The bungalow takes up most of the 1,095-square-metre site, making it impossible to keep the building in its entirety, unlike other developments (see box), she added.

Various concessions and waivers were granted to include part of the original bungalow. To incorporate both the old and the new, URA allowed a "set-back" - or the space between the building itself and the land boundary - of 4.5m, instead of the 7.2m required for a building of that height.

NParks also reduced the 2m greenery buffer allowance to 1.5m.

"The Land Transport Authority had to be convinced to allow the original porch, which goes right to the road, to be untouched. Usually, new developments are set back from the road," said Mrs Teh.

Additionally, some state land behind the property may also be freed up if more space is needed for the driveway into the car park.

"We believe that the redesign will give the developer's marketing an edge, as it integrates history and unique features that cannot be replicated," said Mrs Teh.

Construction will start soon, with the condo slated to be completed within three years.

For Harp, which has been trying to save the bungalow for the last six months, the outcome is bittersweet.

Although it is glad that the complete destruction of the bungalow was prevented, one member, Mr Terrence Hong, is "quite upset" that only the porch will be retained and not the signature curved wings. "I'm not denying that it is a win-win solution, but we'd rather that they kept the circular wings," he said.

He said that Harp will be making further recommendations to the URA in a bid to save more of the site, such as reusing the floor tiles and grilles.

The outcry also raises the question of why a signature building like 23 Amber Road could have fallen short of protective legislation, said Mr Hong.

"In the future, we would like to see more legislation to protect heritage buildings, and for developers to consider joint ventures when they redevelop heritage buildings."

Plans for 23 Amber Road are currently on display at the URA Centre and are open for public feedback until July 7. - TODAY

Today Online 21 Jun 07
A home for our heritage
Important historical value in preserving old buildings
Letter from Ken Lee

Thank you for your report, "Butterfly House escapes wrecker's ball" (June 19).

To me, this is an important issue concerning the way Singaporeans think about our material history.

This issue is not something that merely concerns "architecture buffs"; it should worry all Singaporeans.

There is important historical value in this house not only because of its designer, age or even its unique architecture. For many residents of Katong like myself, it has gained a life of its own.

During my childhood, my brother and I saw it as an abandoned, haunted house. In my teenage years, I found out that a good friend of my grandparents grew up in the house during the 1930s. This gentleman, Mr Lee Kip Lee, set much of his memoirs — a published book titled Amber Sands — in the house. As I read the book, it opened my eyes to the important human value embodied by this structure.

Recently, I have begun to see the Butterfly House as a reminder of a Katong gradually lost to high-rise developments. Today, it is a grand old dame ageing with quiet dignity.

To lose the house would be akin to losing an actual human being.

Looking at the artist's impression of the projected development soon to rise up around it, I cannot help but agree with the Historic Architecture Rescue Plan's (Harp) view that we need to protect distinctive buildings vital to our heritage.

When will our current craze for integrating the old and the new in such a draconian, absurd fashion end? When will we, as a country, without the help of groups such as Harp, realise the need to preserve the very tangible structures that remind us of our past?

Straits Times 27 Jun 07
Save Butterfly House? Let this one go
Ho Lee Ling (Ms) New South Wales, Australia

I HAVE been following the saga of the 23 Amber Road aka 'The Butterfly House" and the efforts by HARP and URA to save this building.

I admire the passion and organisational skills of HARP, and applaud the URA on negotiating with the developer to save at least the facade of the building.

While I understand that HARP is campaigning for more of the building to be saved, and there is general unhappiness with the design of the hybrid condominium, my feeling is that this is as good as it gets.

I think it is too late for a campaign to save the whole structure. Given that the developer has purchased the land and the building, they are entitled to get the maximum economic value out of it.

While the building is one of few that are distinctive in Singapore, conservation of them is costly and obviously not something which the previous owners were willing or able to do.

I do feel that it is unreasonable to demand that the whole structure be saved unless some other party is willing to bear the costs, and to think of a creative and meaningful way to use the building.

And if the public really wants to save buildings, I think at some point the public or lobbyists will have to raise the funds to do this, and not rely on government funding.

While the 'Butterfly House' may be architecturally significant and important to a large number of people, for me, it does not have the symbolic or social value as a public building such as the National Library in Stamford Road.

Given Singapore's physical limitations and the costs that conservation entails, it is inevitable that we have to be selective in conservation and conservation battles, and I am not fighting for this one.

Today Online 29 Jun 07
an abode for the soul
Buildings are more than just bricks and mortar
Tabitha Wang

My tai tai life is so busy, but every time I drop by the Chinese Swimming Club for a swim, I still pause to gaze at the Butterfly House nearby. What started off as an admiring glance at the unique architecture has now turned into a homage tinged with mourning.

If nothing is done, this butterfly will soon have its wings clipped.

Thanks to the controversy surrounding it, I now know about its pedigree. Designed by Regent Alfred John Bidwell — the architect behind the Raffles Hotel, Goodwood Park Hotel and Victoria Memorial Hall — this is the only residential property in Singapore with curved wings. Pretty impressive.

But for me, at least, that pales in comparison to how the Butterfly House makes me feel. Its curves and impressive entrance take me back to a gentler age — a time when Singapore had a seaside community, when her people valued gracious living and pretty abodes over making money and en bloc sales.

Conservation campaigners have been told they are just being sentimental, and that it makes financial sense to demolish the place.

But what these critics do not realise is a good building is more than just a parcel of land topped by a pile of bricks. It is art, designed to evoke emotions. Good architecture speaks to the heart, not just the mind.

The Butterfly House may just be a simple bungalow, but from the uproar it has caused, it looks like some of us love it in the same way Parisians love the Eiffel Tower or New Yorkers the Empire State Building.

If anything, we are probably more passionate because there are so few of such heritage buildings left in Singapore.

Go down any street corner in Paris or Rome and you will probably stumble upon more than a few charming places. But here, all we have to boast about are some shophouses and pre-war flats.

Even buildings of obvious historical significance such as Alexandra Hospital are not considered heritage monuments, thus facing the threat of the wrecking ball.

Seafront bungalows have made way for walk-up apartments, which themselves have become victims of en-bloc sales. Hardly any building today is more than 20 years old — which is hardly long enough for us to build any emotional attachment to it.

It does not help that the attitude here towards conservation is quite lackadaisical.

Owners do not like their buildings to be declared a heritage site because they think it would lower its value. They do not like that they cannot renovate the buildings their way, coupled with the fact they cannot make a packet from condominium developers hungry for land.

Compare that to the practice in England, where owners apply for conservation status because they know they will be able to sell it off at a premium later to heritage lovers.

The other argument against conservation is Singapore is so small that every bit of land is precious.

To which I say: Is that piece of land so valuable it's worth losing your soul over?

You never see tourists favouring a trip to admire HDB flats over St Andrew's Cathedral. Wedding shoots, for instance, are hardly done in Shenton Way, but instead at places such as Raffles Hotel, The Fullerton, the old Supreme Court and Chijmes.

What is common is they are all situated on prime land, sensitively restored and testaments to the fact "where there's a will, there's a way".

The developers of the Butterfly House say they can only save the back of the building because the wings take up too much space. All it takes is a bit of imagination and smart architects who can look beyond the obvious.

Do not tell me that in our 42 years of independence and education, we have not been able to produce a local Bidwell?

I once asked the chief executive officer of a large property developer why her firm spent money restoring old bungalows in its condo developments, especially since those buildings did not have conservation status. She answered simply: "They add value to the property."

A wise move, indeed. See how the Grand Duchess sold out during the soft launch, aided no doubt by the two Straits Chinese bungalows on the property.

The developers of the Butterfly House would do well to take note. If they don't, they can count on me not buying a condominium unit in that new development.

I cannot bear the thought of looking out of the window every day to see my poor amputated friend lying there with both its limbs chopped off.

Tabitha Wang will be appealing to the Ministry of National Development to save the Butterfly House before the July 7 deadline. Anyone wants to join her?
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