/4 min read/Updated
Conservation Properties: What Changes
In short
What is different when a property is conserved. URA's governing principle is the 3R: maximum Retention, sensitive Restoration and careful Repair. Original structural and architectural elements are kept and restored; replacement is one-for-one and needs URA's clearance. Where new work can go depends on the kind of conservation area — historic district, residential historic district such as Emerald Hill or Blair Plain, secondary settlement such as Joo Chiat, or a conserved bungalow — and the transition between old and new is the whole design question. Expect longer approvals and a narrower palette on protected faces.
In this article
Topics
- Planning
- Regulations
- Alterations & Additions
The principle: the 3R
Every conserved building in Singapore, whatever its size, is governed by the same principle, which URA calls the 3R: maximum Retention, sensitive Restoration and careful Repair.
In practice that means the original structural and architectural elements are kept and restored rather than replaced. Replacement is considered only where it is genuinely necessary — an element containing asbestos is URA's own example — and then it is one-for-one, with URA's clearance first. Total reconstruction, demolishing and rebuilding in the old style, is the opposite of what conservation means, and is not what the guidelines allow.
What is protected
Typically the street-facing envelope and specific elements of the original fabric: the façade, the roof, the structure, and particular features such as windows, doors and decorative work. What can change, and by how much, depends on the building and the area it sits in, and it is the first thing to establish.
Before any work starts, the building is researched and documented, so that what is restored is restored faithfully. That research is not a formality; it is where the design brief for an old building actually comes from.
The kind of area decides where new work goes
URA conserves buildings in four broad kinds of area, and each sets a different line between what is kept and what can be added.
| Kind of area | Examples | What the rules allow |
|---|---|---|
| Historic districts | Chinatown, Kampong Glam, Little India, Boat Quay | The entire building is conserved, under the strictest practice |
| Residential historic districts | Emerald Hill, Blair Plain, Cairnhill | The main building is kept; an extension at the rear, lower than the main roof, is permitted |
| Secondary settlements | Joo Chiat, Tiong Bahru, Geylang, Jalan Besar, Balestier | Conserved as a streetscape; the owner can keep the whole building or build a new rear extension up to the area's height |
| Bungalows | Conserved selectively, including in Good Class Bungalow Areas and the Mountbatten Road Conservation Area | Set for each house |
Where the new work goes
Behind, and in some areas above, what must be kept. The rear extension is the usual route, and the rules for the area decide how high it can rise: lower than the main roof in a residential historic district, up to the area's height in a secondary settlement.
The transition between old and new is the whole design question. A good extension is clearly of its own time and clearly subordinate to the building it joins; it does not imitate the original, and it does not compete with it from the street.
Structure and services
Old buildings were rarely built for today's loads or services. Where the structure has to be strengthened, URA asks for it to be done in the most sympathetic and unobtrusive way, using original methods and materials wherever possible. New services — air-conditioning, plumbing, wiring — are routed so that they do not cut through the fabric being kept, which takes planning before the first wall is opened.
Programme and specification
Expect longer approvals and a narrower set of permitted materials on protected faces. The research comes before the design, and the design has to satisfy the conservation guidelines before it goes any further. Budget the time, not just the money: against an ordinary A&A, our own planning tool allows about a month more for design on a conserved house, two more for approvals, and two more on site.
Much of an A&A's logic applies to a conserved house, with the difference that more of it is fixed. Before and After: What an A&A Can Actually Fix covers what can and cannot move in an existing house, and Planning Permission, Step by Step the approvals that follow.
Key takeaways
- URA's rule is the 3R: maximum Retention, sensitive Restoration, careful Repair.
- Establish exactly what is protected, and research the building, before designing anything.
- Where new work may go depends on the kind of conservation area.
- Replacement is one-for-one, with URA's clearance, and only where it is necessary.
- Approvals take longer. Build that into the programme from the start.
First published in the KAPA Journal, written with KAPA Design Collective, the practice that designs and builds our residences.
Published by TMB Development at tmbdevelopment.com/journal/conservation-properties-what-changes. Quoting a passage with a link back is welcome; republishing it is not — see the terms.
