Istana Kampong Glam

Istana Kampong Glam
Istana Kampong Glam, which is occupied by the Malay Heritage Centre
General information
Type	Palace
Architectural style	Palladian
Location	Kampong Glam, Singapore
Address	85 Sultan Gate
Current tenants	Malay Heritage Centre
Owner	Government of Singapore
Technical details
Floor count	Two
Design and construction
Architect	Believed to be George Drumgoole Coleman

Istana Kampong Glam (Malay for "Kampong Glam Palace"; Jawi: ايستان كامڤوڠ ڬلم; Chinese: 甘榜格南皇宫), also Istana Kampong Gelam, is a former Malay palace in Singapore. It is located near Masjid Sultan in Kampong Glam. The palace and compounds were refurbished into the Malay Heritage Centre in 2004. The palace is gazetted as a national monument on the eve of Singapore's Golden Jubilee, on 6 August 2015.

The original Istana Kampong Glam was built by Sultan Hussein Shah of Johor in 1819 on land of about 23 hectares (57 acres) in Kampong Glam that had been given to him by the British East India Company. It is believed to have been a wooden structure in the area to the east of Beach Road. When it was completed, it occupied an area twice the size of the present compound, which was reduced in 1824 for the construction of North Bridge Road. The Sultan lived there till shortly before his death in Malacca in 1835.

The concrete structure that exists today was commissioned by Sultan Hussein's eldest son, Sultan Ali Iskandar Shah of the Johor Riau–Lingga Empire in 1835. It was built on the site of the original building between 1836 and 1843. The new two-storey palace is believed to have been designed by colonial architect George Drumgoole Coleman, as some of its architectural features are similar to those of other buildings Coleman designed such as the Old Parliament House and the Armenian Church. Its design is a combination of the Palladian style, which was then popular in England, with traditional Malay motifs. The extensive compound of the Istana was enclosed by a perimeter wall, and small kampung-style houses were built around it for the Sultan's kin, servants and artisans.