Former Kandang Kerbau Hospital in Hampshire Road to be gazetted national monument

SINGAPORE – Three blocks of the former Kandang Kerbau Hospital in Hampshire Road are set to be collectively gazetted as Singapore’s 76th national monument.

On Sept 5, the National Heritage Board (NHB) listed the former hospital premises as a proposed national monument on its heritage resource portal, Roots.gov.sg

Proposed monuments are accorded similar protections to gazetted monuments, and those who alter or change monuments in a way that affects their character and significance face punishment.

NHB said the three blocks were constructed between the 1930s and the 1950s, adding that they are “representative buildings of the former hospital and showcase the hospital’s instrumental role in advancing midwifery, maternal and gynaecological care in Singapore”.

The three blocks are state properties currently leased to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for office use.

The hospital dates back to 1858, when it was established in an area called Kandang Kerbau as Singapore’s fifth general hospital.

It is more commonly known today as KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital – a name that the hospital took in 1997 when it moved to its current premises at 100 Bukit Timah Road.

Although it started admitting patients with gynaecological complications in 1868, it was not until Oct 1, 1924, that Kandang Kerbau Hospital officially became a free maternity hospital, which NHB said marked “the beginning of the hospital’s specialised role in maternal healthcare”.

The board noted that several medical breakthroughs took place on the hospital’s grounds.

For instance, Dr Benjamin Sheares, who became head of the hospital’s obstetrics and gynaecology department in 1942, developed a surgical technique for creating a neovagina in females born without one.

Dr Sheares later became Singapore’s second president until his death in 1981.

NHB said the hospital’s pioneering doctors and midwives played a critical role in lowering infant and maternal mortality, contributing significantly to Singapore’s post-war baby boom from around 1945 to the 1960s.

Of the three buildings that will form a new national monument, Block 2 is the oldest and was opened in 1933, while Block 3 was completed in 1940.

The third, Block 1, was built between 1953 and 1955, and became the hospital’s main facade facing Hampshire Road.

The block featured air-conditioned wards, a students’ hostel and an operating theatre, and was designed by Dr Sheares and former chief government architect K.A. Bundle.

NHB said that the blocks are collectively distinguished by their modern architectural style and innovative use of contemporary materials.

For instance, it said, Block 2 featured smaller wooden-louvred windows characteristic of the 1930s, while Block 1’s 1950s design showcased architectural advancement through larger window openings and reinforced concrete hoods.

The board noted that more than 1.2 million babies were born in the hospital – which the public called KK Hospital or KKH – from 1924 to 1997, the year it was relocated to its present-day premises.

“The site holds particular significance in Singapore’s collective memory, having played a crucial role during the early growing years of the nation,” said NHB.

It added that as Singapore marks 60 years of independence in 2025, the planned gazette “will pay tribute to Kandang Kerbau Hospital’s contributions during the early nation-building years”.

LTA has two weeks from Sept 5 to submit any objections to the forthcoming preservation order for the former hospital buildings.

Under the law, the board must give owner and occupier of proposed monuments a “reasonable period” to object to a planned preservation order before it is issued and the monument status takes effect.

Other national monuments related to healthcare include the College of Medicine Building and Tan Teck Guan Building near the Singapore General Hospital in Outram Park.