Located at the foot of Mount Sophia, the Cathay Building was opened in 1939 by Dato Loke Wan Tho as the headquarters for the British Malaya Broadcasting Corporation. It was not only the tallest building at that time, but also the first public space in Singapore to be air-conditioned. The Victorian-styled building survived the Second World War as both the British and Japanese needed its broadcasting facilities. In 2000, the building’s front façade was preserved and gazetted as a national monument while the rest of it was demolished for redevelopment.
