Summary 

The Bukit Timah Railway Station and Staff Quarters are two heritage railway structures located along the Rail Corridor. The Rail corridor itself is a residual land that was held by neighboring Malaysia as a part of unresolved land ownership when Singapore was declared independent. It returned to Singapore only in 2011 (some 46 years after the two states became independent), a political quirk and a throwback to when rail between states was still relevant. 

The view of what the railway represented had changed altogether in the 46 years. Once a mere relic-like means of travel, it has now become a public green. A reassessment of a past asset into a new asset.

The Bukit Timah Railway Station and Staff Quarters are both fully restored to their original charm and nestled amongst the lush greenery alongside Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. These are designated as delightful community nodes with quaint charm.

Description

The Singapore Rail Corridor is a green, connected, inclusive, and endearing community space rich in heritage and nature reserve. As part of the restoration, works were carried out along the central region of the 24 km Rail Corridor, particularly at the Bukit Timah Railway Station and 9 Mile Platform at Jalan Asas.

Built in 1932, the Station was one of the smaller ones built to serve the suburban parts of Singapore. The simple brick building with an open-sided waiting hall is the only remaining station of this group. As an endearing local landmark, this single-storey building follows the style of the traditional small-town stations that were common in the United Kingdom and Malaya in the 1930s. Together with the adjacent Staff Quarters and boarding platform, they were gazetted for conservation in 2011.

Both buildings have been fully restored today, nestled amongst the lush greenery of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. The Station has been repurposed as a heritage gallery to showcase rail history, while the former Station Ticket Offce has been repurposed as a gathering base for the community to learn and share information on the greater Rail Corridor. The Quarters have been adaptively reused as an informal cafe and community-based photo gallery. The exterior green space has been enhanced as a delightful community node with quaint charm. A new lightweight standalone shelter with a lush green roof, in the spirit of kampong and rustic palette, was also introduced sensitively to house amenities, with another at Jalan Asas as "9 Mile Platform".

The exterior paths with linear strips are reminiscent of lights and sound left by a passing train, oriented in a familiar north-south train direction. Like graphic light streaks found in time-lapse photography, the notion of frozen lights and sound is visually translated into distinctive paving patterns.