The stretch of seafront known as Collyer Quay resulted from land reclamation works completed in the 1860s to allow for the erection of office buildings and godowns along the quayside. It was named after Captain George Collyer, an army engineer of the Madras Engineers who arrived in Singapore in 1858 to take up the post of Chief Engineer and Superintendent. Besides supervising fortification works around the island, Collyer found time to design the sea wall for the land reclamation project along the shoreline, then known as South Quay. The early office buildings along the reclaimed quayside were linked to each other on the second floor by a continuous veranda, where peons would be stationed with telescopes to look out for and announce the arrival of cargo ships.
