Bras Basah Complex was known as书城 (shu cheng, meaning “City of Books” in Mandarin) as the complex is famed for its numerous bookstores. It is also known as 百胜楼 (bai sheng lou in Mandarin). The complex consists of two blocks of 21-storey flats above a 4- & 5-storey office and shopping podium.
It was built by the Housing and Development Board and was completed in 1979. It was home to many bookstores which used to operate at North Bridge Road and Bras Basah Road areas. Today, it still serves as a one-stop centre for educational books and art materials. Bras Basah Complex was also a popular venue for Singapore xinyao singers to launch and promote their albums in the 1980s.
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 July 2016 and is not intended to be an exhaustive history of the site/building.
