Homes in the Naval Base

location: Admiralty Road East

Admiralty Road East was built in 1923 and is surrounded by numerous colonial-era houses, which were constructed during the 1920s and 1930s to serve as homes for British officers from the former Sembawang Naval Base.

In 1938, the Sembawang Naval Base opened, which was created by the British in the 1920s and 1930s. The base consisted of a dockyard that was used to service and repair warships. Its barracks, also known as HMS Terror, provided lodging for visiting sailors and is now referred to as Sembawang Camp. In 1968, the base's dockyard was transformed into Sembawang Shipyard (now Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard), ahead of the withdrawal of British military forces from Singapore, which began in 1971. The last British warship departed from Singapore in 1975.

The residences in the former naval base come in a variety of sizes and styles. Many of them are black-and-white bungalows, which were popular in Singapore during the early 20th century. These include the bungalows along Gibraltar Crescent, constructed in 1929 for engineers from Sir John Jackson Limited, a British firm that helped construct the base.

During the 1930s, the most senior officers at the naval base lived in the largest black-and-white houses in the area, such as the Captain of the Dockyard and Chief Engineer. The smaller residences were intended for other personnel, such as supervisors. These smaller homes exhibit features of the arts and crafts architectural movement, including partially exposed brick surfaces on their facades.

It is important to note that these properties are private residences, and visitors should be respectful of the residents, keep noise levels down, refrain from entering houses or compounds, and avoid photographing or filming homes and their inhabitants.