This postcard shows a view of Beach Road (left foreground) near the junction with Bras Basah Road. Prominent colonial landmarks found in the vicinity include: the St. Andrew’s Cathedral (left background), designed in the Gothic style by Lieutenant-Colonel Ronald MacPherson and completed in 1861 using Indian convict labour; and the Raffles Hotel, established by the Armenian Sarkies brothers in 1887 and gazetted as a national monument in 1987. Beach Road was originally a coastal road fronting the sea that appeared in architect George D. Coleman’s 1836 map of the city. The area around Beach Road was originally set aside by Sir Stamford Raffles for the residences of the European merchants but later developed into an entertainment district with hotels, clubs and bars that were frequently by European sailors.In the background is the civic district skyline, which includes prominent landmarks such as (left to right): the Colombo Court shopping and office complex (behind St. Andrew’s Cathedral) developed and completed by the Housing Development Board in 1971; the 31-storey High Street Centre residential, office and shopping complex, which was completed in 1974; the 22-storey Peninsula Hotel, erected in 1974 by private developers as part of the Peninsula hotel and shopping complex; and the 32-storey Peninsula Plaza, an office and shopping complex opened in late 1979.
