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M+, Hong Kong. Gift of Architects Team 3, 2015, © Malayan Architects Co-partnership
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Malayan Architects Co-partnership 馬來亞合伙制建築事務所
Exterior photograph, Barker Road Methodist Church (1963), Singapore 新加坡巴克路衛理公會教堂（1963年）外部照片
1963
The Malayan Architects Co-partnership realised the sanctuary of Singapore’s Barker Road Methodist Church in 1963, with the design led by Tay Kheng Soon and firm principal Lim Chong Keat. The church was established in 1956 as a chapel associated with the Anglo-Chinese School, a Methodist group of schools based on Barker Road.
The sanctuary, which was replaced in the 1990s, is a low-slung brick pavilion with a distinctive, asymmetric sloped profile. Two triangular volumes rise towards the outer edges of the building, carving out a pitched ceiling where they intersect; inside, this central worship space is defined by dark wooden trusses. Light enters from behind the altar through a vertical strip of windows, which stretch to the highest point on the building’s front facade. This angle is reinforced by a tall cross affixed to the bent overhang of the roof, which appears to float above the wall. At the rear, a series of louvred swinging doors, which can be left open perpendicular to the walls, provide easy access.
The project’s minimal formal approach exemplifies a new language for church design being developed in Singapore at the time. Like the larger Singapore Conference Hall and Trade Union House, completed by the Malayan Architects Co-partnership in 1965, the Barker Road Methodist Church marks an optimistic moment of community and identity building in the nation.
The sanctuary, which was replaced in the 1990s, is a low-slung brick pavilion with a distinctive, asymmetric sloped profile. Two triangular volumes rise towards the outer edges of the building, carving out a pitched ceiling where they intersect; inside, this central worship space is defined by dark wooden trusses. Light enters from behind the altar through a vertical strip of windows, which stretch to the highest point on the building’s front facade. This angle is reinforced by a tall cross affixed to the bent overhang of the roof, which appears to float above the wall. At the rear, a series of louvred swinging doors, which can be left open perpendicular to the walls, provide easy access.
The project’s minimal formal approach exemplifies a new language for church design being developed in Singapore at the time. Like the larger Singapore Conference Hall and Trade Union House, completed by the Malayan Architects Co-partnership in 1965, the Barker Road Methodist Church marks an optimistic moment of community and identity building in the nation.
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