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National Aerated Water Factory in Serangoon Road to be conserved

SINGAPORE — The main building of the former National Aerated Water Factory – a well-known landmark along Serangoon Road – will be conserved and integrated into a new residential development.

The main building of the former National Aerated Water Factory – a well-known landmark along Serangoon Road – will be conserved and integrated into a new residential development. Photo: Google Maps

The main building of the former National Aerated Water Factory – a well-known landmark along Serangoon Road – will be conserved and integrated into a new residential development. Photo: Google Maps

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SINGAPORE — The main building of the former National Aerated Water Factory – a well-known landmark along Serangoon Road – will be conserved and integrated into a new residential development.

Once integrated into the new development, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said the building will be kept fenceless along the main road and Kallang River, “giving the public a chance to get up close and personal with this heritage gem from Singapore’s past”.

URA added that the former bottling factory – which produced popular soft drinks such as Sinalco, Kickapoo Joy Juice and Royal Crown Cola – will be “gazetted for conservation” and integrated into a new residential project so that it could “be brought back to life through adaptive re-use”.

The two-storey L-shaped main building, which also comprises of the signage tower, a balcony with fair faced brick parapets, the Art Deco timber transom panels and the concrete sun shading ledge that spirals out of a circular window will be conserved.

“This building is not only historically significant as a familiar landmark along the Kallang River, it also holds fond memories for Singaporeans for the popular soft drinks it produced from 1950s to 1990s,” said Mr Lim Eng Hwee, URA’s chief executive officer.

He added that the building’s owner, Selangor Dredging Berhad (SDB), recognises the building’s heritage value, and is supportive of the conservation efforts “to keep the building as part of (Singapore’s) national history”.

SDB had bought the property which sits on freehold land from the bottling company in December last year for residential development, which can yield 117 units.

Members of the heritage community in Singapore had raised the idea of conserving the building with URA from as far back as 2007.

Following the sale of the property to Malaysia-listed SDB, the conservation issue was raised again. The Straits Times reported in December last year that URA had noted that the building is private property, but it would engage with SDB to explore the possibility of conservation.

“We are glad to partner URA on this conservation journey to retain the building and integrate it as part of the new development,” said SDB’s managing director Teh Lip Kim.

He added: “The building will be transformed into a unique and lively commercial area located next to a park connector, adjacent to the Kallang River.”

To facilitate the adaptive re-use of the conserved building and allow vehicular access to the rear of the site, reconstruction of a corner of the building and the internal floors will be required.

The URA said it will work closely with SDB to “guide the reconstruction when the residential development is complete”.

The statutory board added that as part of its efforts to celebrate Singapore’s built heritage, it works with owners of developments, stakeholders and the larger community “to tell stories of days gone by involving our built heritage”.

The Art Deco Style National Aerated Water Factory, which was completed in 1954, is the second heritage site to be conserved by the authorities this week.

On Monday, Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong announced that Dakota Crescent, which was first developed in 1958 by the Singapore Improvement Trust, will be redeveloped into a mixed-use area that will include new Housing and Development Board flats.

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