The spacious campus located at 1A Lutheran Road has a history that few may know about. Before it became a hostel for students, it was home to Farrer Primary School.
Farrer Primary School was founded in 1966 and offered education in English, Chinese and Malay. It later became an English-medium school offering Chinese, Malay and Tamil as second languages.
In 1992, the school merged with Permaisura Primary School and New Town Primary school. The newly merged school took the name of New Town Primary School and the merger left the premises at Lutheran Road vacated. Nanyang Primary School acquired the campus in 1993 and used it to house its Primary 1 and 2 students.
Architectural Features
The campus followed the Public Works Department’s 1960s box-frame school design. Its modern architectural style celebrates the machine aesthetic as an emblem of progress and is characterised by the deliberate use of industrial elements such as structure, infill and simple decoration.
The campus consists of a four-storeyed building connected to a single-storey shelter. Double-pitched roofs with extended eaves cover the building to provide shelter from tropical sun and rain, while the narrow width of the blocks encourages efficient penetration of natural lighting and ventilation. The block is designed with an efficient structural modular system, containing features such as semi-opened corridors for improved access and strategically positioned staircases for vertical connectivity.
Recent Uses of the Building
More than two decades after its acquisition by Nanyang Primary School, the campus became a student hostel and gained a new name: Singapore International Campus.
While it is unclear when the campus began operations, it is believed that it had been operating since 2010 and had vacated the premises in March 2015. Conveniently located near popular spots such as Adam Road Food Centre and the Singapore Botanic Gardens, the campus was a prime location for a hostel.
As of 2020, the campus is used for a different hostel known as Lutheran Student Hostel. The hostel serves those getting an education in Singapore, and 1A Lutheran Road has evolved to become home to a new generation of students.
Buildings and sites featured on Roots.SG are part of our efforts to raise awareness of our heritage; a listing on Roots.SG does not imply any form of preservation or conservation status, unless it is mentioned in the article. The information in this article is valid as of June 2020 and is not intended to be an exhaustive history of the site/building.
