Boat Quay is a historical

quay A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

in Singapore which is situated upstream from the mouth of the

Singapore River The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper drainage basin, watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Plann ...

on its southern

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

. It spans from the shophouses near

UOB Plaza , image = At Singapore 2023 106.jpg , image_caption = UOB Plaza in 2023 , alternate_names = United Overseas Bank Plaza , location = Downtown Core, Singapore , coordinates = , start_date = Plaza One: 1992 ...

, stretching along one bank of the Singapore River, all the way till Elgin Bridge. It was the busiest part of the old

Port of Singapore The Port of Singapore is the collection of facilities and container terminal, terminals that conduct maritime trade and handle Singapore's harbours and shipping. It has been ranked as the top maritime capital of the world, since 2015. Currently ...

, handling three-quarters of all shipping business during the 1860s. Because the south of the river here resembles the belly of a

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

, which according to Chinese belief is where wealth and prosperity lay, many shophouses were built, crowded into the area. Though serving aquatic trade is no longer Boat Quay's primary role, the shophouses on it have been carefully conserved and now house various bars, pubs and restaurants. Therefore, Boat Quay's social-economic role in the city has shifted away from that of trade and maritime commerce, and now leans towards more of a role accommodated for tourism and

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

for the commercial zone of which encloses the Singapore River. It is the soft front to the cosmopolitan banking and financial sectors lying immediately behind it. Boat Quay is also the name of the road along the quay, which has since been converted into a pedestrian mall.

History

During the 1800s, Boat Quay was used to transfer various goods onto cargo ships, such as porcelain, rubber and spices. Trading in Boat Quay reached a peak in the mid-1800s.

Adaptive re-use of the historic buildings

The Singapore government cleaned-up the river in 1983 and moved the remaining shipping industry's lighters to a new quay near Pasir Panjang. Therefore, the Boat Quay was deserted and unused from 1983 to 1989.Eunice M. Li
Adaptive Re-use of the Historic Boat Quay Singapore River, Singapore.
/ref> In 1986, the

Urban Redevelopment Authority The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is the national urban planning authority of Singapore, and a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of National De ...

announced plans to preserve Boat Quay as part of a master plan for conserving the whole of the Singapore River and its environs. On 7 July 1989, an area encompassing South Bridge Road, Circular Road, Lorong Telok and North Canal Road was gazetted. The two- and three-storey shophouses in that area, with their characteristic

five-foot way A five-foot way ( Malay/ Indonesian: ''kaki lima'') is a roofed continuous walkway commonly found in front of shops in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia which may also be used for commercial activity. The name refers to the width of the passagewa ...

beneath projecting upper floors, were preserved and transformed into new businesses. The shophouses and

godown A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, to ...

s along the river bank were restored in the 1990s and are now bustling shops, restaurants and bars. When the area became a conservation area in 1989, redevelopment began and by 1993 all historic shophouses were under reconstruction. The Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority issued stringent guidelines for the restoration but did not provide cash grants or tax relief for conservation projects but waived some of the development charges, car parking requirements and car park deficiency charges. The historic shophouses could now easily be re-used for modern businesses, such as restaurants, cafes, bars and small shops. The interior of the buildings could be modified with the new use in mind, in some cases using new non-traditional interior ornamentation, materials, and colours. For instance, the interior of the Opera Cafe at No. 40 Boat Quay was modified to create an ambiance similar to an opera stage-set. The ground floor of the Lim Family Shophouse at No. 58 Boat Quay was converted into a Japanese restaurant. The upper floor is used as a weekend flat for the Lim family, who lived in the building since 1908. The architect Mok Wei Wei created more open space by demolishing some of the original partition walls, but kept and restored the original teak floors, paint colour on the window frames, wooden balcony doors, and tile roofs. The historic blackwood furniture and art pieces were also restored and re-used. Multiple startup companies also rent offices around the Boat Quay and nearby Circular Road area.

Gallery

File:Circular Road, Dec 05.JPG, Conserved shophouses line both sides of Circular Road at Boat Quay File:Boat quay night closeup.JPG, Night view of the restaurants and pubs that line the Singapore River File:The River Merchants (2003) by Aw Tee Hong, Cavenagh Bridge, Singapore - 20051203.jpg, Sculptures at Boat Quay depict activities carried out on the banks of

in the 19th century and early 20th century File:Boat-Quay-night-2017-Luka-Peternel.jpg, Night view of Boat Quay File:Singa River Boat Quay in the mid-nineteenth century.jpg, Boat Quay during its heyday around 1865, when as many as 150 boats moored on the river, trading everything from rubber, tin and iron, to silk, porcelain, rice, opium, spices and coffee. File:Boat Quay Singapore.jpg, Boat Quay and the skyscrapers of the nearby financial district. File:Singapore Boat Quay.jpg, The

Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Meeting places of parliament Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * P ...

(left) and

Empress Place Building The Empress Place Building is a historic building in Singapore, located on the north bank of the Singapore River in the Downtown Core, within the Central Area, Singapore, Central Area in Singapore's central business district. The building is c ...

(centre) along North Boat Quay Promenade, and The Fullerton Hotel (right) at Boat Quay at night

History

Adaptive re-use of the historic buildings

Gallery

See also