This imposing building was constructed from 1937 to 1939. The Old Supreme Court has the single honour of being built on the site of the London Hotel, Hotel de L'Esperance, Hotel de L'Europe and Grand de L'Europe. The columns and pediment were the creations of C.R Nolli, an Italian master.
Built in 1939, the Old Supreme Court was the last colonial classical building to be built in Singapore.
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The Supreme Court was the last of the great classical pre-war colonial buildings. It as designed by Frank Dorrington Ward, chief architect of the Public Works Department and was officially opened by Governor Sir Shenton Thomas on 3 August 1939.
The building's colossal Corinthian columns echo neighbouring City Hall while the dome is a miniature version of the dome of St Paul's Cathedral in London. The 13-ton panel resting in the pediment is an Allegory of Justice crafted by Rodolpho Nolli, an Italian sculptor whose concrete columns and capitals adorned many buildings constructed in Singapore during the 1920s and 1930s.
The Supreme Court occupies the site of the former Hotel de L'Europe. The hotel opened in two Coleman-styled bungalows in 1857. Rebuilt in the Edwardian Baroque style in 1907, it was a keen rival to Raffles Hotel. The site was taken over for the Supreme Court Building in 1934.
The building was used by the Supreme Court continuously for 65 years until it moved to the New Supreme Court located along North Bridge Road in 2005.