Former National Stadium

The National Stadium (designed by the Public Works Department of Singapore) was the centrepiece of the Kallang Park Sports Complex, a comprehensive mass-spectator sports, leisure, and exhibition centre. Conceived around the time when Singapore gained independence, the National Stadium’s architecture befittingly expressed a new vigour associated with utopian visions of a young nation. Its design comprised a megastructure purely expressed in reinforced concrete that supported vast rake-seating terraces for 55,000 spectators while providing shelter to spacious decks on several levels. Heroic diagonal beams on soaring columns formed an impressive colonnade all around the stadium, with gravity-defying stairways adorning its six-storey-high public concourse at regular intervals. The interior was designed to offer unobstructed views in the round, made possible by the daring roof cantilevered 20 metres over the grandstand. 

Almost singularly rendered in Shanghai plaster, the stadium was a local exemplar of Brutalist Modern architecture. Apart from numerous sporting matches, the edifice was also the key venue for National Day parades and unrivalled as a public space for generations of patriotic Singaporeans. In 2003, the government announced redevelopment plans to build a new Sports Hub in place of the stadium and demolition works began in 2010.

Location: 15 Stadium Rd Singapore 397718

Architects: Public Works Department

Year: 1973

Status: Demolished in 2010

 

by Jeremy San

The far view of the stadium shows the monumental entrance. Some 36 steps — each 76 metres wide — led up to the raised open concourse of the stadium. Conceived around the time when Singapore gained independence, the National Stadium’s architecture befittingly expressed a new vigour associated with utopian visions of a young nation.

by Jeremy San

by Jeremy San

The timber benches were weathered to a shimmering silver — a patina that bears testimony to 35 years’ worth of exhilarating sports events and rousing National Day parades.

by Jeremy San

The former major sports venues such as Singapore Turf Club and Former National Stadium employed massive inclined platforms to serve as spectator seating.

by Jeremy San

An array of monumental columns and diagonal beams supported the spectator seats. The sheer scale, porosity, and shadow play across roughly textured granolithic surfaces lent drama to this historic public space.

by Jeremy San

by Jeremy San

The spectacular view of the soaring six-storey-high public concourse from gravity-defying stairways.

The heroic diagonal beams on soaring columns formed an impressive colonnade all around the stadium, carrying aloft seating decks for 55,000 spectators.

by Jeremy San

Public circulation, in the form of generous open-sided decks animated by staircases, was designed in anticipation of large crowds. Distinguished Japanese engineers and professors from Tokyo University, Yoshikatsu Tsuboi and Shigeya Kawamata provided input during the design stage of the National Stadium.

by Jeremy San

People from all walks of life congregated at the National Stadium to soak in the electrifying atmosphere and participate in the last Kallang Roar.

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Last modified on 12 May 2021. Description by Ho Weng Hin.