Bras Basah MRT station

The name Bras Basah (Modern Spelling: Beras Basah) means "wet rice" in Malay – beras means harvested rice with husk removed, and basah means wet.[11] Before the station was built, it was named Museum. Later on in 2005, it was renamed to Bras Basah, as the name is well-known and reflects the area's heritage.[3]

Track layout
to Dhoby Ghaut to Esplanade

The station serves the Circle line, situated between the Dhoby Ghaut and Esplanade stations. The station code is CC2 on official maps.[12] The station operates daily between 5:39 am (6:06 am on Sundays and Public Holidays) and 12:03 am.[13] Train frequencies varies from 5 to 7 minutes depending on peak hours.[14]

The station platforms at 35 metres (115 ft) below ground

The station is 35 metres (115 ft) below ground and was the deepest station when it first opened[15] until the completion of the DTL platforms at Promenade station, which has a depth of 42 metres (138 ft).[16] The station was constructed deep underground as the line has to cross underneath the East West Line beneath Victoria Street to reach the station. It is also the station with the longest escalator in the MRT network at 41 metres (135 ft), stretching from the ticket concourse to the transfer level and takes approximately one minute to travel.[15]

The station design by WOHA resolves two conditions needed for the station: allowing a visual connection to the exterior to enhance the travel experience for the commuters, and enabling the station to blend into the landscape in the historic district and park location. A reflection pool, which also acts as the station roof, allows skylight to enter the station, and functions as a landscape element on the surface. With skylight entering the station, minimal artificial light is required for the station during the day. The natural light improves way-finding and safety for the commuters.[17] The ventilation shafts of the station blends into the landscape, avoiding obstruction of the view across the site to the surrounding civic buildings.[15][18]

The station design was commissioned through the Marina line Architectural Design Competition jointly organised by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA). At the 2001 SIA Awards, the SIA awarded LTA the prize for ‘Excellence in Architectural Design Competitions’.[15] In 2009, the station was awarded the "Best Transport Building" at the World Architecture Festival, on the basis that the design gives "precedence to the surrounding, historically important, colonial structures, creating a piazza-like urban space to the station underneath" and noted the design's functionality to allow natural light into the station.[15][19] The station later won the Award for International Architecture at the AIA's (American Institute of Architects) 2010 National Architecture Awards.[17] In addition, it won the Chicago Athenaeum and the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and International Architecture Awards in 2011.[20]

A video work The Amazing Neverending Underwater Adventures! by Tan Kai Syng is displayed at the station, commissioned as part of the MRT network's Art-in-Transit programme. In the video, the protagonist, Desyphus, a “Perpetual Commuter”, goes on a quest on board the Circle Line, in which she battles "Life’s Big Quirks, Ecstasies and Agonies" along the way. The video also "explores" sites familiar to commuters, creating smaller tales "which adds to the (hi-)stories (in addition to the museums surrounding the station) of the Bras Basah area." The video is projected on the wall below the station’s roof takes commuters through themes of travel, time, memory and the train line.[21][22]