Long a landmark in the area, the Star at the corner of MacTaggart and Burn Roads – the former Khong Guan Biscuit Factory, is sadly, having its insides ripped out. The building, which was constructed in 1952 and given conservation status in December 2005. Sitting now behind hoardings, it seems that its face is all that is being conserved.
The Star and its delightful front grille gates in April 2013.
Described in a Straits Times report earlier this year as a three-storey modernist structure, the building also provided office space for the family owned business which has long been a household name in Singapore, as well as store spaces, a shopfront and accommodation to members of the family. The architect of the building and Khong Guan’s company architects since the 1950s, Chung Swee Poey & Sons, also had their offices on the second floor of the building.
Seen from MacTaggart Road in January this year.
More on the building can be found at the following links:
- Khong Guan Biscuit Factory is a modernist gem (The Straits Times 5 March 2016)
- MacTaggart Road No. 2 (Khong Guan Biscuit Factory) (URA Conservation Portal)
Photographs of the former Khong Guan Biscuit Factory
The former factory as seen from Burn Road in April 2013.
A display window at the former factory as seen in April 2013.
Entrance to offices along MacTaggart Road, Seen in January 2016.
The front of the former factory as seen in April 2013.
The former factory behind hoardings in September 2016.
It appears that all that is being conserved is the building’s façade.
It will be just a shell of its former cookie, very sad.