The oldest part of Empress Place Building was completed in 1867, the year that Singapore became a British Crown Colony. It was one of the last public works projects built by convict labourers. With its strategic location near the waterfront and mouth of the Singapore River, it became an impressive symbol of colonial authority.
Designed by J F A McNair as a Court House, the building was used instead by various Government departments. At one time, it housed virtually the entire colonial bureaucracy and was known simply as Government Offices. Subsequent additions were made to the building which was renamed Empress Place Building in 1907 to commemorate the reign of Queen Victoria, Empress of India. After Singapore attained self-government in 1959, the building continued to house Government offices including the Registry of Citizenship, the Immigration Department, the Muslim Religious Council of Singapore and the Board of Commissioners of Currency.
All the offices were relocated in the 1980s and the building was converted to become the Empress Place Museum in 1989. The building subsequently underwent a second, more major renovation and reopened on 2 March 2003 as the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM). Its mission is to promote better appreciation of Singapore's multi-ethnic society in the context of pan-Asian cultures and civilisations. The Empress Place Building (now known as ACM) was gazetted as a national monument in 1992.