Old Hill Street Police Station

The building went up in 1934 as a police station and barracks and was the largest government building of its day in Singapore, six storeys of neoclassical facade with an internal courtyard. What makes it a landmark now is a later decision: the nine hundred and twenty-seven window shutters were painted in the colours of the rainbow, running through the spectrum across the whole front. It houses government ministries and a public art gallery on the ground floor.

Background

The building stands at 140 Hill Street in the Downtown Core and is known in Malay as Balai Polis Hill Street Lama. Its name changed to the "MITA Building" in 1999 and to the "MICA Building" in 2004, and in November 2012 it went back to Old Hill Street Police Station. The window colours are graded across the six storeys. The windows on the first four storeys all share one strength of colour, while those higher up grow steadily stronger to pick out the cantilevered balconies, one of the more unusual architectural features of the building.

Source: Wikipedia, "Old Hill Street Police Station"

What to look for

• The rainbow shutters - 927 windows painted through the colours of the spectrum.
• The 1934 facade - a six-storey neoclassical government front on the river.
• The courtyard - the internal light well at the centre of the block.
• The river setting - the building on the bank opposite Clarke Quay.

When to go

Year round; the exterior is the point and works at any hour. The ground-floor gallery keeps weekday hours. Evening lighting brings out the colours.

Things to know

It is a working ministry building and only the ground floor is public. The visit is a photograph and ten minutes. The colours are a late addition, not original.

Nearby

The Armenian Church is beside it, and Clarke Quay is across the river.

Key facts