Architects
Jean François Milou, principal architect
Philip Burns, project team member
Suzanne Ogge-Milou, project team member
Pamela Choo O’Neill, project team member
Goh Jiarong, project team member
Nguyen Tranh Trung, project team member
Eudora Tan, project team member
May Leong, project team member
Jason Tan, project team member

Client
National Gallery Singapore

Consultancy Service scope
Exhibition Design

Contract Period
2012

Building History Galleries, Chief Justice Office

The Chief Justice’s Office marks the visitor’s entry into the former Supreme Court building from City Hall at Level Three. It is also the introduction to a trilogy of spaces – the Chief Justice’s Office, the Chief Justice’s Chamber and Courtroom One – where the private and public realms of the Judiciary can be observed. A re-imaging of the room and its role in the broader context of the occupants’ position in civic life is proposed.

The design approach honours past and present individuals of the judicial system while illuminating the essence of the space. An ensemble of photographic portraits and the use of text on the wall surfaces recall the presence of the personalities associated with these spaces over time.

Being the least embellished of the three interconnected Conserved Rooms, the Chief Justice’s Office offers a fresh canvas in its original form on which the design for interpretation can bridge art and history. The Chief Justice’s Chamber will accommodate a more formal history of the law and justice in the building using the many documents and archives already identitfied. As Courtroom 1 is part of the SEA Gallery display proper, its prior history will be addressed in the linking space from the Cheif Justice’s Chamber.

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This work was part of the overall exhibition design work developed by the studio between 2009-2012 for the exhibition of the National Gallery, Singapore; the link below gives a summary of the overall work done for the exhibition:

https://www.studiomilou.sg/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Exhibition_Book-2009-2012_.pdf