The stretch of seafront known as Collyer Quay resulted from land reclamation works carried out in the 1860s to allow for the erection of office buildings and godowns along the quayside. One prominent structure lining the busy waterfront was the Change Alley Aerial Plaza (left centre), which was a shopping complex consisting of a revolving tower, a look-out deck for tourists, and a shopping arcade housed within an overhead walkway linking Clifford Pier to Clifford Centre. Built in the mid 1970s, the skeletal structure with its distinctive tower soon became a defining landmark on the Collyer Quay waterfront. In 1978, the Red Lantern Restaurant serving oriental cuisine was opened inside the Plaza’s revolving tower. It was then the third revolving restaurant operating in Singapore, with the other two located at the Mandarin Hotel and Prima Tower. Next to the Plaza was Clifford Pier (right centre), which was opened in 1933 and named after Sir Hugh Charles Clifford, Governor of the Straits Settlements (1927-1929).
