Vo l u m e 4 N u m b e r 3 , 2 0 1 3 , S i n g a p o re
CONTENTS Letter from the Guest Editor
The latest happenings in DP
DP launches bilingual Design in Print Knowledge sharing
Dear Readers, It often strikes me that having been founded within a year or two of Singapore’s independence, DP Architects has grown in sophistication and capability in parallel with Singapore and has therefore been at the forefront of changes in the way we have approached our urban environment. In the early years, the priority was nation building, establishing the viability of a new city-state, and showing off the vibrancy and strength of early successes. Everything new was good and everything old was, well, old. It is a matter of regret that much of Singapore’s valuable colonial building stock was destroyed in the push towards modernity. It was only in the 1980s that awareness of the legacy we were in danger of losing began to dawn. A number of factors came together to prompt this change in thinking. A former senior architect at DP Architects, Peter Keys, was a tireless campaigner for conservation of our built heritage, and his articles and writings did much to raise consciousness. The 1984 publication, Singapore’s Little India: Past, Present and Future, also acted as a catalyst. Near the end of the 1980s, there was a very tangible awareness in Singapore generally and at the Urban Redevelopment Authority, and at the Singapore Tourism Promotion Board (STPB) in particular, that the loss of our built heritage had to be arrested. In 1989, at the initiative of STPB, a major conservation project was launched: the aging building of government offices at Empress Place was to be restored and converted to a world-class museum. DPA was selected as the architect for this project and became pioneers in Singapore for restoration of heritage buildings. The experience of working on this project made this an area of major interest for me, but even more of a passion for our chairman, Chan Sui Him, then the youngest director in the office, who headed the project. As a result of his passion, we have now accomplished quite a large body of work in this area, which is to be featured in a forthcoming book, due in 2015. This issue of Design in Print celebrates four of our most recent projects in the area of conservation and adaptive reuse.
Vikas M Gore Director, DP Architects Pte Ltd
Short takes on new & notable projects
01 The Seletar Mall 02 The Pines Hotel 03 BPTP Terra 04 Express Exclusive 05 Changi Clubhouse 06 Hedges Park 07 Super Brand Mall 08 Flora V 09 Blangah Rise, Radin Mas and Zhangde Primary Schools
Featured projects
Four Acres Singapore Zhongshan Park Integrated Development Freemasons’ Hall Mövenpick Heritage Hotel Sentosa
Sustainable Design
Green versus Sustainable versus Bioclimatic
Awards & events
FIABCI Prix d’Excellence 2013 Temasek Club Groundbreaking Ceremony REDAS Property Prospects Seminar River Safari wins bathroom design award
DP personalities
Interview with Loh Hai Yew & Tay Yanling
Celebration of past projects
Chan Hui Min Nartano Lim Toh Bee Ping
DESIGN IN PRINT TEAM
Graphics
Writing
Editorial
The Empress Place Building, 1989
Leanne Lim Leong Wei Lin
Tong Tong
Loh Yew Cheng Fu Tingting
Additional contributors: Lek Noonchoo and Jackie Poh
Cover image: Mövenpick Heritage Hotel Sentosa