Lau Pa Sat (Chinese: 老巴刹; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lāu Pa-sat; pinyin: Lǎo Bāshā; lit.

"Lau" means old;[2] "Pa Sat" is the Hokkien pronunciation of the Persian loanword "bazaar" (market) which is pasar in Malay.

On 4 November 1822, as part of his general plan to remodel the town, Stamford Raffles issued an instruction to relocate the fish market to Telok Ayer.

[6] It was built on the shore with part of its structure extended out to the sea, so waste from the market may be washed away by the tides and produce can be loaded or unloaded directly from boats via jetties.

However, the structure was not strong enough to support a tile roof and was in danger of collapse, and it had to be replaced with atap again in 1827 regardless of fire regulation.

[6] As with the previous structure, it suffered from its exposure to the monsoons and the sea, and soon after its construction, concerns over its safety were voiced, and the market needed to be repaired.

This new structure was a long open shed, and it was later further extended to run roughly parallel to two sides of the octagonal market.

The extension would help protect the main market by serving as a breakwater to reduce the force of the swells and surf from the east.

MacRitchie adopted the octagonal shape of Coleman's original design, and used cast-iron pillars to support the building.

The iron structure was erected by Riley Hargreaves & Co. (now United Engineers) at a cost of $14,900, while building contractor Chea Keow laid the foundation for $18,000.

[16] In 1986, the market was closed to allow construction of a new Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line which runs underneath the building.

The grandiose food court was opened with a lot of fanfare and wide media publicity, with several innovations, including a performing stage brought back street eating, reminiscent of the old Orchard Road carpark.

Renaissance Properties also installed a chiming clock, imported from Switzerland, which continues to operate today, reminiscent of an earlier era.

A major renovation of Lau Pa Sat, costing $4 million and lasting 9 months, began on 1 September 2013.

[13] These were then shipped over to Singapore, and assembled on its current location by Riley Hargreaves & Co.[4] A lantern is placed at the center, allowing daylight to illuminate the interior.

The lantern is topped by a clock tower installed in 1991, and there is a set of a Carillon producing Chinese, Malay and Indian melodies.