Collyer Quay is a road in Downtown Core

Downtown Core

The Downtown Core is a 266-hectare urban planning area in the south of the city-state of Singapore. The Downtown Core surrounds the mouth of the Singapore River and southeastern portion of its watershed, and is part of the Central Area, Singapore's central business district...

, Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 that starts after Fullerton Road and ends at the junction of Raffles Quay, Finlayson Green and Marina Boulevard

Marina Boulevard

Marina Boulevard is a road in Singapore running along the western side of Marina Bay. Starting at Raffles Place intersecting with Collyer Quay and running south, there are a number of landmark buildings along the length of it. One Marina Boulevard and One Raffles Quay form bookends of its...

. The road houses several landmarks namely, Clifford Pier

Clifford Pier

Clifford Pier is a pier located beside Collyer Quay at Marina Bay within the Downtown Core of Central Area, in Singapore's central business district....

, Change Alley (Singapore), Hitachi Tower

Hitachi Tower

Hitachi Tower is a skyscraper located in the central business district of Singapore. It is located on 16 Collyer Quay, in the zone of Raffles Place, near Chevron House, Change Alley, Tung Centre, and The Arcade, all of which are roughly 100 metres away. Facing Clifford Pier, the building commands a...

, Ocean Towers and Ocean Financial Centre

Ocean Financial Centre

The Ocean Financial Centre is a building currently under construction in Singapore. It is being built on the site of the former Ocean Building, which has been demolished. The new building will retain the name and many of the tenants of the former office block, and will serve primarily as a home to...

.

History

Built around 1864 and 1865, it originally referred to the sea

Sea

A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...

 wall designed in 1858. The sea wall was named after Captain (later Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

) George Chancellor Collyer, the army

Army

An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...

 engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

 of the Madras Engineers who was appointed Chief Engineer in 1862 for the fortification of the colony. However, his fortification

Fortification

Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...

s were useless, and therefore it was known as Collyer's Folly. Collyer did a lot of work in town planning

Urban planning

Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....

 and was connected to the scheme of the Tanjong Pagar Dock.

In the past, there was no road named "Collyer Quay" with all the buildings along the island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

's shoreline were directing facing the sea

Sea

A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...

. The buildings were linked by a continuous verandah

Verandah

A veranda or verandah is a roofed opened gallery or porch. It is also described as an open pillared gallery, generally roofed, built around a central structure...

 on the second storey, where people walked from one building to another. Steam trams plied the quay in 1882, and by the 1900s, a new generation of buildings started to appear. Currently, some have up to six buildings built on the site such as the HSBC Building, Hitachi Tower

Hitachi Tower

Hitachi Tower is a skyscraper located in the central business district of Singapore. It is located on 16 Collyer Quay, in the zone of Raffles Place, near Chevron House, Change Alley, Tung Centre, and The Arcade, all of which are roughly 100 metres away. Facing Clifford Pier, the building commands a...

 and Ocean Towers. A simple memorial

Memorial

A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....

 has been erected near Clifford Pier

Clifford Pier

Clifford Pier is a pier located beside Collyer Quay at Marina Bay within the Downtown Core of Central Area, in Singapore's central business district....

, to pay tribute to the immigrants of different races for their contributions to developing the nation. The foundation stone was laid by the first president

President of Singapore

The President of the Republic of Singapore is Singapore's head of state. In a Westminster parliamentary system, as which Singapore governs itself, the prime minister is the head of the government while the position of president is largely ceremonial. Before 1993, the President of Singapore was...

 Encik Yusof Bin Ishak

Yusof bin Ishak

Yusof bin Ishak was an eminent Singaporean politician and the first President of Singapore of Minangkabau descent. His portrait appears on the Singapore Portrait Series currency notes introduced in 1999.-Early life:...

.

In Cantonese, the road was known as hoong tang and in Hokkien, ang theng lor, meaning "red lamp road", after the red warning beacon light

Light

Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight. Visible light has wavelength in a range from about 380 nanometres to about 740 nm, with a frequency range of about 405 THz to 790 THz...

s at Johnston's Pier which was later rebuilt to make way for the Clifford Pier. The Chinese

Han Chinese

Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...

 also called it tho kho au, meaning "at the back of the godowns". The original development of the quay had its first buildings facing Commercial Square (Raffles Place

Raffles Place

Raffles Place is a geographical location in Singapore, south of the mouth of the Singapore River. Located in the Downtown Core and the Central Area, it features some of the tallest buildings and landmarks of the country.-History:...

) and only outhouse

Outhouse

An outhouse is a small structure separate from a main building which often contained a simple toilet and may possibly also be used for housing animals and storage.- Terminology :...

s and shed

Shed

A shed is typically a simple, single-storey structure in a back garden or on an allotment that is used for storage, hobbies, or as a workshop....

s were facing the shore.

Until the late 1960s the front of Clifford Pier was a carpark. After office hours the carpark was transformed into a gathering place for musicians, mobile foodstalls and prostitutes. The carpark later made way for road-widening and construction of new developments.

New developments

There are new developments at the water front property along Collyer Quay between Marina Boulevard

Marina Boulevard

Marina Boulevard is a road in Singapore running along the western side of Marina Bay. Starting at Raffles Place intersecting with Collyer Quay and running south, there are a number of landmark buildings along the length of it. One Marina Boulevard and One Raffles Quay form bookends of its...

 and One Fullerton. A new waterfront hotel, called the Fullerton Bay Hotel, opened in 2010. The historical buildings, these being Clifford Pier

Clifford Pier

Clifford Pier is a pier located beside Collyer Quay at Marina Bay within the Downtown Core of Central Area, in Singapore's central business district....

 and the former Customs Harbour Branch Building, were incorporated into the new developments. The hotel and the historical buildings are connected to incorporate the Marina Promenade

Marina Promenade, Singapore

Marina Promenade is a walkway along marina bay. It is a greenbelt from the Esplanade to the Singapore Flyer. It is considered an important part of the ongoing Gardens by the Bay project. It is connected to the Helix Bridge, Marina Bay Sands and the Artscience Museum.The promenade is of close...

and to allow free pedestrian traffic along Marina Bay. A new office building, UOE Bayfront was built.