Did you know that two century-old houses inside the Singapore Botanic Gardens now help visitors learn about forests and botanical art? They once served very different purposes, but their surviving architecture has become part of a new educational experience.
The Gallop Extension shows how an existing landscape and its buildings can support modern learning without losing every trace of the past. Here, forest ecology, historic houses, art and nature play fit within one green extension of the Gardens.
The quick answer: the 8-hectare Gallop Extension opened its conserved houses and additional attractions in March 2021. Atbara (Gallop House No. 5), built in 1898, now houses the Forest Discovery Centre. Inverturret (Gallop House No. 7), built in 1906, now houses the Botanical Art Gallery. Both retain historical architectural features while serving new educational purposes.
Featured image is an original conceptual illustration inspired by Gallop Extension and its two heritage houses, not an exact photograph or reconstruction.
In this guide: What is the Gallop Extension and where does it fit? · What makes Atbara, the 1898 house, important? · How does the Forest Discovery Centre work? · Why conserve the 1906 Inverturret house? · What makes botanical art scientific rather than merely decorative? · How does COMO Adventure Grove fit a heritage landscape? · Why does the forest connection matter? · How should visitors plan a Gallop Extension visit? · A field-note idea for parents and students
1. What is the Gallop Extension and where does it fit?
The Gallop Extension is an approximately 8-hectare addition to the Singapore Botanic Gardens’ forest-related landscape. It forms part of the broader Tyersall–Gallop area alongside the Learning Forest and existing rainforest habitats.
NParks described the March 2021 opening as a chance for visitors to appreciate conservation, botanical art and nature play within the same setting. It is not a separate park with no relationship to the Gardens.
Imagine a small district inside a larger botanical institution: a pair of conserved historic houses, trails through trees, landscaped spaces and facilities that help different generations learn about nature.
The design also protects and extends green connections. Old buildings can have new uses while planted and forested areas contribute to an ecological network surrounding them.
2. What makes Atbara, the 1898 house, important?
Atbara, at Gallop House No. 5, is described by the Gardens as Singapore’s oldest surviving colonial-era bungalow. It was designed by architect Regent Alfred John Bidwell of Swan & Maclaren and built in 1898.
Its wide eaves, deep verandahs and architectural detailing reflect ways that colonial-era house design was adapted to tropical conditions. Shade, ventilation and rain protection were practical needs as well as architectural choices.
The house was leased to the French government in 1939 and later used as the French Embassy until 1999. This history is part of the building’s past, not an invitation to romanticise the inequalities of colonial society.
Today, Atbara houses the Forest Discovery Centre @ OCBC Arboretum. A building originally designed for elite domestic and diplomatic use has been adapted to support public environmental education.
3. How does the Forest Discovery Centre work?
The Forest Discovery Centre explains Singapore’s different forest ecosystems through exhibits, photographs and videos. Its themes include lowland rainforest, freshwater swamp forest and mangroves.
These landscapes do not work in the same way. Lowland rainforest trees compete for light and shelter diverse animals; freshwater swamps have waterlogged soil conditions; mangroves cope with coastal tides and saline environments.
Seeing these comparisons indoors can make a later outdoor walk more meaningful. A visitor who understands why mangrove roots or wetland soils are unusual may notice more than just ‘lots of greenery’ when exploring nature.
The centre also connects with the Gardens’ Tropical Forest Ecology Research Programme. It is a public interpretation space supported by scientific research, not simply a decorative display room.
4. Why conserve the 1906 Inverturret house?
Inverturret, Gallop House No. 7, was built in 1906 and was also designed by Bidwell. The house was commissioned by Charles McArthur and given a name reflecting his Scottish associations.
In 1939, it was leased to the French government and served as the residence of French ambassadors until 1999. It was restored in 2012 and later adapted into the Botanical Art Gallery.
The preservation process did not require the building to stay a private residence forever. Instead, its architectural fabric was retained while the function became more publicly accessible.
That illustrates adaptive reuse: keeping valuable evidence of a building’s history while giving it a purpose appropriate to the present.
5. What makes botanical art scientific rather than merely decorative?
Before high-resolution digital photography, detailed drawings were vital for recording how plants looked. Botanical artists studied forms, colours and small diagnostic structures so that scientists could identify and compare specimens.
The Botanical Art Gallery shows works from the Gardens’ collection of more than 2,000 paintings, sketches, drawings and photographs. It includes work associated with the Gardens’ early botanical artist James de Alwis and contemporary artists.
Botanical art can be beautiful, but accuracy matters. A carefully drawn leaf margin, flower part or fruit structure may communicate something a casual photograph misses.
The Gardens rotates the artworks approximately every six months to one year, both to introduce new material and to help preserve sensitive original works. Therefore a specific picture seen in an older gallery review may not be on display in October 2026.
6. How does COMO Adventure Grove fit a heritage landscape?
Not every visitor arrives for a museum. Families with children may prefer the COMO Adventure Grove, a nature-inspired play area that NParks included in the Gallop Extension’s 2021 opening.
Adventure play draws ideas from plant forms and encourages children to climb, balance and explore within a designed recreation setting. That experience differs from the Forest Discovery Centre, where exhibits explain ecosystems, and the Art Gallery, where visitors study plant images.
The arrangement helps different ages encounter a green setting in their own ways. Parents should supervise children and follow on-site age, weather and safety instructions.
A playful environment can encourage curiosity, but the play area’s existence does not mean visitors can climb real heritage structures or enter restricted forest habitat.
7. Why does the forest connection matter?
The Gallop Extension sits alongside the Learning Forest, which opened in 2017, and together they extend the Gardens’ ecological and educational setting. This is the part that makes the project more than two restored houses with attractive lawns.
Habitat connections can support movement of animals and reduce some effects of isolating green patches. Planting and forest restoration also give researchers opportunities to observe ecological change over time.
Still, a landscaped extension is not automatically equivalent to untouched primary rainforest. Different areas have different histories, species compositions and management needs.
Understanding that distinction helps visitors appreciate what has been preserved, what has been planted and what is still being restored.
8. How should visitors plan a Gallop Extension visit?
The official Gardens pages identify Gallop Gate as the nearest entrance for both heritage-gallery attractions.
The Forest Discovery Centre currently lists opening hours of 9am–6pm daily, except the last Monday of each month. The Botanical Art Gallery lists 9am–6pm daily, except the last Thursday of each month. The two closures are different; check which day you plan to visit.
NParks lists COMO Adventure Grove as open from 7am to 7pm. The wider Singapore Botanic Gardens has longer general opening hours, but an individual attraction’s hours always take precedence.
Take account of the Gardens’ size and the hilly paths around Gallop. The nearest MRT stop to the wider Gardens may still leave a substantial walk, so use the official Gardens map for the Gallop entrance rather than assuming a train exit is beside the galleries.
9. A field-note idea for parents and students
Did you know that preserving an old house can also create a new way to study nature? At Gallop Extension, the architecture tells one story and the exhibits tell another. Together they show how a city can reuse inherited spaces without pretending their past never happened.
- Compare Atbara’s 1898 date with Inverturret’s 1906 date and identify which house is older.
- Note how both buildings adapted their old domestic spaces for a new public educational purpose.
- At the Forest Discovery Centre, select one forest ecosystem and describe how water or soil conditions shape it.
- At the Botanical Art Gallery, compare one carefully drawn plant with a photograph or living specimen.
- Use the Gardens’ official map to distinguish Gallop Extension, Learning Forest and the separate National Orchid Garden.
Frequently asked questions
When did Gallop Extension open?
The 8-hectare extension opened its conserved houses and additional nature attractions in March 2021.
Which house contains the Forest Discovery Centre?
Atbara, Gallop House No. 5, built in 1898.
What is Inverturret used for now?
Gallop House No. 7, built in 1906, now contains the Botanical Art Gallery.
When are the galleries closed?
The Forest Discovery Centre closes on the last Monday of each month, and the Botanical Art Gallery closes on the last Thursday, according to current Gardens visitor guidance.
Where should visitors enter?
Gallop Gate is the nearest entrance identified by the Gardens for both heritage houses.
Official sources and further reading
The sources below support the scientific, historical and visitor details. For current admission, opening times and scheduled closures, use the relevant agency’s latest guidance.
- NParks: Gallop Extension opening and conservation, March 2021
- Singapore Botanic Gardens: Forest Discovery Centre
- Singapore Botanic Gardens: Botanical Art Gallery
- Singapore Botanic Gardens: Visitor Information
- Singapore Botanic Gardens: Our History
More from How Bukit Timah Works
- How the Learning Forest recreates lost wetlands
- How Evolution Garden explains plant history
- Why Singapore Botanic Gardens is UNESCO Heritage
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