The Anthology ASEAN Architecture Festival focuses on the theme of Shared Ground: Architecture of Care, Culture, and Collective Futures, a concept explored through personal history and urban design. Paulo G. Alcazaren, Editor in Chief of BluPrint, created two sketches that connect his professional history with the theme. The sketches depict the Golden Mile Complex along Beach Road and the Bugis/Bras Basah district, reflecting on the architecture and urban development that have shaped Southeast Asian cities.
The Golden Mile Complex, originally the Who Hup Complex, stands as one of the first modernist mega buildings in Singapore. Completed in 1973 by the firm Design Partnership, the structure symbolized the city-state’s optimism for the future. Design Partnership was formed by Kok Seow Chuan, Tay Kheng Soon, and William Lim, who set up their offices atop the 135-meter building. Both Lim and Tay would later leave to form independent practices and produce literature on Singaporean and Asian architecture and urbanism. Alcazaren met Lim at book launches and events at Select Bookstore, while Tay became his professor in urban design at the National University of Singapore.
A Decade in the Golden Mile
Alcazaren’s collaboration with Design Partnership began in 1984, leading to his decision to establish an office in Singapore by 1989. He chose the Golden Mile Complex as the location for PDAA Design Pte Ltd. The complex housed both his office on the third floor and his residence in the residential section below. He remained in the building for less than two years. The commercial spaces were increasingly colonized by Thai businesses, turning the area into a “Little Bangkok” with rowdy late-afternoon gatherings by Thai workers.
Alcazaren relocated his office and residence to North Bridge Road, a few blocks south, in the area that would later become Bugis Junction. This district became his commercial and cultural center for over twelve years. Its efficient public transport allowed him to reach any project site on the island within half an hour. From this base in the 1990s, his practice grew to a twelve-man operation, expanding to projects in Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Brunei.
Living and working in this concentrated district for more than a decade provided a unique vantage point on the region’s urban development. As a practitioner deeply embedded in the Southeast Asian setting, Alcazaren observed the urban environment. The second sketch captures the adaptive reuse of Bugis Junction, for which Alcazaren’s firm served as environment architects while Design Partnership handled the building architecture. The Singapore National Library, designed by noted Malaysian architect Ken Yeang, sits in the background near the corner of a street. Alcazaren visits the library whenever he is in Singapore, using its extensive architectural and periodical collections to browse through features on his past projects and writing.
A Master’s Degree in Urban Development
The financial crisis of 1999 impacted the regional practice significantly. The practice downsized to a smaller team. This reduction allowed time to complete a master’s degree. The degree placed fifteen years of regional experience into the context of Southeast Asian economic and urban development trajectories.
The site is currently undergoing redevelopment. The Golden Mile Complex was gazetted for conservation by the Singapore government’s Urban Redevelopment Authority in 2021 and is now being redeveloped as a mixed use complex, with DP Architects as designers.
