MacDonald House
Address of Location:
40 Orchard Road
Singapore 238837
History of Location:
Macdonald House was built in 1949 to a Neo-Georgian style, and designed by Reginal Eyre of the architectural firm Palmer and Turner. Macdonald House is one of the first high-rise buildings in Orchard Road. Macdonald House was gazetted as a national monument on 2003 with the exterior facade coming under protection.
Transformation through time and space:
1949 - First built and designed by Reginal Eyre of the architectural firm Palmer and Turner in 1949.
1963 - After the Indonesian Government opposed the formation of Malaysia in 1962, the Indonesian military began to release saboteurs into both Singapore and Malaysia with the intent of stirring up racial tensions while at the same time undertaking acts of sabotage to destroy vital installations from 24 September 1963. Later, these saboteurs resorted to exploding bombs indiscriminately to create public alarm and panic. The bombing of the MacDonald House was the 29th, and the most serious of the spat of bombings in Singapore, killing 2 bank employees.
1965 - The external political situation was tense when Indonesian President Sukarno declared a state of Konfrontasi (Confrontation) against Malaysia and initiated military and other actions against the new nation, including the bombing of MacDonald House in Singapore in March 1965 by Indonesian commandos, killing three people.
2002 - On 5 April 2002, the building was put up for sale by tender.
2003 - It was gazetted as a national monument on 10 February 2003 and was sold as a freehold building to Tinifia Investment for S$36 million. Thereafter, it closed its doors for an extensive S$12 million interior renovations job.
2005 - On 23 June 2005, the flagship Orchard Road Branch of Citibank Singapore opened at The MacDonald House, occupying 37000 square feet of space spread over the building's lower four floors, making it the largest wealth management centre in Asia.
Why location was used:
Mac Donald House is used as a bank due to its strategic location at the heart of the city. Therefore, it would be able to garner a high human traffic which is essential for financial services.
PEEs:
Mac Donald House
High Density Landuse
This picture shows a high rise building. This building house banks and offices, and many different people come here every day. This implies that it is a high density building due to its high rise structure so as to allow many people to be in there at each time.
MAC DONALD HOUSE
MIXED LANDUSE
This picture shows MDIS, a professional institute for lifelong learning. MDIS provides well-accredited courses, seminars and management services and opportunities for individuals to develop professionally through academic programmes. This implies that asides from offices, there are also institutes like this for students located in the same building.
This picture shows MDIS, a professional institute for lifelong learning. MDIS provides well-accredited courses, seminars and management services and opportunities for individuals to develop professionally through academic programmes. This implies that asides from offices, there are also institutes like this for students located in the same building.
This picture shows Citibank, one of the many banks in Singapore. The bank offers financial services such as transfers and withdrawals. The building houses a bank and several offices. This implies that this building is for multi-use, it is not only for financial use but also commercial.
MAC DONALD HOUSE
INTERACTION BETWEEN DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES/GENERATIONS
This picture highlights the interaction between different races. It shows men in working uniform chatting with each other at a bus-stop. There are two races here; the tallest man on the left is a Eurasian, while the other two are Indian. This implies that people of different races can get along well with each other and they are most probably waiting for the bus to arrive.
This picture highlights the interaction between different generations. They are most probably mother and son. The mother is holding onto her son’s hand, and talking to him. This implies the close bond between them and the mother might be bringing her son out for a walk along Orchard Road.
Compare & Contrast:
The MacDonald House is similar in the past and now in terms of its purpose of its residence. Initially it was built for a bank which used to be mainly occupied by British, American and Australian companies. Similarly, now it is used to house HSBC on the first few floors of the building, Mccann Worldgroup which occupies the fifth to eighth floors while a beauty/spa operator, Expressions International, takes up the top two floors. This implies that it has been always used for commercial/banking purposes.
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