Jack Eng Kiat Tan was born in Singapore in 1934. He was educated at St. Andrews School, Singapore (1946-1951) and studied architecture at Singapore Polytechnic from 1959-1962, gaining experience at the practice of Kee Yeap during the vacation periods. In September 1962 he enrolled at the Architectural Association, London, entering the Third Year cohort for the five-year Diploma course. As part of his final year’s study, Tan elected to join the programme of the AA Department of Tropical Architecture. His time at the AA was successful and he graduated in 1965 with a coveted AA Honours Diploma. His final thesis was a highly regarded proposal entitled the 'Central Development and Urban Renewal of Wad Medani, Sudan', produced with his Malaysian classmate, Andrew Boo Seng Tan. He appears to have returned to Singapore shortly afterwards and is recorded as on the Publications Committee of the Singapore Institute of Architects by 1967. Ill health forced him to close his own architectural practice in around 1980 and instead he concentrated on teaching at the National University of Singapore, where he was a Senior Lecturer. Shortly before his death he designed and built 10 shophouses on the site of his family’s colonial-style mansion on Pasir-Panjang Road. He was posthumously awarded the Singapore Design Golden Jubilee Award in 2015.
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