Sultan Abdul Samad Building

Off the hill

The government asked for offices on the plain instead of a hill

The colonial offices stood on a hill above the Padang. Because of the need for more space and public complaints about the climb, Charles Edwin Spooner proposed new offices lower down, near the river. His first proposal was rejected for cost, and a cheaper second one was accepted.

The design

Spooner disliked the first design, so Bidwell reworked it in a Moorish style

A.C. Norman's name is on the foundation stone, but Spooner disliked his Classical Renaissance design. R. A. J. Bidwell reworked it in a style described as Indo-Saracenic, Neo-Mughal or Moorish, with contributions from A. B. Hubback.

The tower

The clock tower is 41 metres tall and was designed to echo Big Ben

The central clock tower is 41 metres high. All three towers are topped by a copper-clad onion dome. The public worried that the daily noon signal gun might shake the tower down, but it proved sturdy.

41 metresthe height of the central clock tower

Building it

It took 4 million bricks and three years, from 1894 to 1897

Construction began in September 1894 and was completed in 1897. Spooner set up a factory in Brickfields to make bricks, tiles and other materials. Extra brickwork went into the lower walls because the site was so close to the river.

The chimes

The clock was chiming as the flag changed in 1957

The tower chimed for the first time in June 1897, to coincide with Queen Victoria's Jubilee Parade. At midnight on 30 August 1957 the Union Jack was lowered for the last time as the clock started chiming.