The St James Power Station – Singapore

Thinking back to my What We Lost Lists for Shanghai’s architecture one major area where there is a need for preservation is industrial architecture. Beijing tarted up an old factory complex for the 798 art district and Shanghai has 1933, the old Municipal abattoir – 798 has certainly been more of a hit than the invariably deserted 1933 I have to say. However, in general industrial architecture is rarely recognised as being important or worth using despite being eminently suitable for other purposes from shopping malls to nightclubs to niche luxury apartments.

I thought of this when wandering around the old St James Power Station in Singapore on a quick visit recently. the former power station, a modernist building, is now a complex of nightclubs and bars that really only comes alive at night and is sort of as racy as Singapore gets. It’s on the Keppel and is now overshadowed by the horror that is Sentosa nearby. They’ve got a web site explaining all that fun stuff here. The power station was built in 1927, it was Singapore’s first coal fired power plant supplying electricity to nearby shipyards, industry and residences. The station was shut in 1962 but fortunately not bulldozed. There’s a full history and more details of the building’s history here.

The problem for Shanghai is that most of the good industrial architecture that’s left is not in areas considered suitable for nightlife and redevelopment. It’s mostly down in Hongkou, or even further away in Yangpu. Many Shanghainese don’t travel to those areas and foreigners seem to consider pretty much anything in Shanghai north of the Suzhou Creek terra incognita! Still, the St James Power Station in Singapore does show what is possible with a little thought and creativity.