The station serves various developments including UE Square and Clarke Quay, as well as Fort Canning Park.

Constructing the DTL tunnels from Chinatown to this station was a challenge, due to the narrow space between two Housing and Development Board (HDB) blocks and the State Courts along the route.

[10] The DTL tunnels had to be stacked to overcome the space constraints,[11] while being constructed near the foundations of the State Courts and a HDB block.

[12] Before deciding on the alignment through the Singapore River, 20 other tunnel routes were considered but they were deemed unsafe and/or damaging to the environment.

[14][16] To ensure the works did not pollute the river (which is connected to the Marina Reservoir), the LTA maintained adequate hydraulic flows to keep the water clean.

[23] In May 2018, the project achieved the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Design and Engineering Safety Excellence Award for that year.

[28] As the name suggests, the station is located at the foot of Fort Canning Hill underneath River Valley Road.

[10][18][24] Commissioned as part of the MRT system's Art-in-Transit (AiT) programme,[a] Through His Eyes by Lim Tze Peng is displayed at this station.

The artwork is depicted from the perspective of Sir Stamford Raffles, who is the founder of modern Singapore, at his residence on the Hill.

The artist intends for commuters to experience the work "Through His Eyes" as the river sights "worthy of our remembrance and memories".