Seventh-Day Adventist Church

Completed in 1938, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church at Balestier Road was originally commissioned by Reverend Cecil Jackson to house the Cantonese- and English-speaking congregations of the Assemblies of God.¹ It was designed by C. Y. Kong, who was trained as a structural engineer and designed numerous Art Deco buildings in the 1930s.² The Seventh-Day Adventist Church was an early church in such a style, and combines features from both the Zigzag Moderne and Streamline Moderne. The façade facing Balestier Road has a series of vertical bands that are arranged symmetrically, and they gradually step up towards a central band that terminates in a semi-curricular arch. The arc hints at the vaulted ceiling in the interior, which is lit by clerestory windows on the two sides.³


Locations: 120 Balestier Rd, Singapore 329680

Architects: C. Y. Kong

Year: 1938

Status: Conserved

 

¹ Frederick George Abeysekera and Rita Abeysekera, The History of the Assemblies of God of Singapore (Singapore: Assemblies of God of Singapore, 1992), 103-07.
² I am grateful to Julian Davison for providing this background information on C. Y. Kong. Author’s email correspondence with Julian Davison, 19 & 20 September 2019.
³
Alyssa Woo, “A Message of Simplicity,” The Straits Times, October 1 2016.

Last modified on 4 May 2021. Description by Chang Jiat Hwee, edited by Justin Zhuang.

Jiat-Hwee Chang

Associate Professor at National University of Singapore, specialising in: History and theory of colonial and postcolonial architecture, sustainable built environment and society, Southeast Asian architecture and urbanism, architecture theory and criticism.

http://www.sde.nus.edu.sg/arch/staffs/chang-jiat-hwee-dr/
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