Windsor Palace was commissioned by King
Chulalongkorn in 1881 to serve as the residence of his eldest son, Prince
Vajirunhis, who would later be named the first Crown Prince of Siam (Thailand). The palace was located on Sa Pathum Road (now
Rama I Road) at the current location of
Suphachalasai Stadium. Designed in
Gothic Revival style by the Italian architect
Joachim Grassi, its appearance reflects that of
Windsor Castle in England, and the palace became known to contemporary expatriates as Windsor. Locals called the palace
Wang Klang Thung (), lit.
palace in the field, for its location, or
Wang Mai (), which means
new palace. The latter name in turn gave rise to Wang Mai Subdistrict, which is part of
Pathum Wan District and covers the area where the palace was located. The palace had three main storeys and a central staircase, was built with imported marble, and internal decorations included neoclassical columns and statues. The palace's foundation stone was laid in November 1881, and construction was completed in July 1884. However, Prince Vajirunhis continued to live in the
Grand Palace and had not moved into his new home when he died in 1895. Following the prince's death, the palace was used as a school of cartography, and later on, agriculture. When King
Vajiravudh (Rama VI, who succeeded King Chulalongkorn) established the Civil Service College of King Chulalongkorn (later to become
Chulalongkorn University) in 1911, ownership of the palace was transferred to the college and the palace became the seat of the college's School of Mechanical Sciences. In 1916 the college campuses were consolidated, and Windsor Palace served as the centre of the Prathum Wan Campus (which by now also hosted the Public Administration and Education Departments) while a new Administration Building (now the Faculty of Arts Building) was being constructed. With the formal establishment of Chulalongkorn University in 1917, Windsor Palace became the seat of the Faculty of Arts and Science. The building was modified to hold classes and laboratories, with a cadaver dissection lab built nearby. It was also here at the palace that Prince
Mahidol Adulyadej instructed medical students in pre-clinical courses. Four student dormitories were built near the palace building, and later became known as
Ho Wang (, lit.
palace dormitory). The name was adopted by the university's teacher-training school, which was established nearby and became known as Horwang Secondary School of Chulalongkorn University. Use of the palace ceased in 1935 when the area was requested for construction of the
National Stadium. The faculty was relocated, and Horwang School moved to the site that is now
Triam Udom Suksa School. ==Demolition and excavation==