International Plaza, Singapore
Encyclopedia
International Plaza is a high-rise commercial
and residential building on Anson Road
in Tanjong Pagar
, within the Downtown Core
of Singapore
.
of Singapore's Central Area. The development of International Plaza was the result of the department's third Sales of Sites programme in 1969.
To avoid affecting operations within the building, construction
of the International Plaza was carried out in three phases. The first phase involved the construction of a seven-storey commercial and retail podium
. This was followed by the second phase of building the office tower
. The last phase was construction of the apartment
units and penthouse
s above the offices.
Built at a cost of S$52.8 million and completed on 7 June 1976, the 50-storey International Plaza was one of the pioneers Singapore in the 1970s of integrating multiple operations into a single mixed-use development.
In 1985 owners carried out a minor upgrade, involving an interior retrofit
ting and the addition of an external glass wall to achieve the desired overall thermal transfer value rating. International Plaza's refurbishment cost S$15 million. The building had an elaborate LED
façade
installed, as part of the Singapore Government's plan to light up buildings in the central business district
.
With a height of 190 metres (623 ft), the International Plaza was one of the three tallest buildings in Singapore when it was completed in 1976; the other two were OCBC Centre
(201 metres; 659 feet) and DBS Building
(186 metres; 610 feet). International Plaza was the tallest commercial building with residential apartments in Singapore. International Plaza was superseded by The Sail @ Marina Bay
in 2008.
Ang Kheng Leng and Associates (1955–97), later Ang Kheng Leng and Partners (1997–2005), designed the International Plaza. Integrating apartments, sports facilities, offices and a retail mall
in a single building, International Plaza epitomises the concept of living and working in the financial
hub of the city. The building's design aspires to set a concept of work-life balance
for its occupants, with its multiple functions and vertically-stacked amenities. International Plaza achieves its objective as a self-sufficient, downtown apartment block, making it one of the most highly successful projects of this nature to date.
Located on a 6,976-square metre (75,090 square feet) site at the junction of Choon Guan Street and Anson Road, the 50-storey commercial and residential skyscraper
comprises a seven-storey triangular podium that houses a shopping centre and multi-storey carpark, and a 43-storey, octagonal-shaped tower block for offices, apartments and penthouses. International Plaza is a large mixed development with a total gross floor area of 137,930 square metres (1,484,700 square feet), built around two large internal courtyard
s. The entire complex is fully air-conditioned, and serviced by 20 high-speed lift
s and four escalator
s.
The shopping mall with 270 shops is located on the ground to third storey, and the carpark, from the fourth to eighth storey. The carparking area on the lower levels had its own lift system which, unfortunately during peak hours, resulted in much confusion and traffic congestion
until the whole system was completely upgraded in 1985 as part of an interior retrofitting.
The 388-unit offices are spread over the ninth to 35th storey on the tower block. The complex offers a swimming pool
, health club
and other recreation
al facilities on the 36th storey. The residential block, which is located from the 37th to 50th storey, offers a variety of apartments, from single-room, two-bedroom
, three-bedroom apartments to four-bedroom penthouses on the top floor. The building has a roof garden
with scenic views of the city for its residents.
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
and residential building on Anson Road
Anson Road
Anson Road is a road in the Central Business District, Singapore. It was built in 1879 and is named after Major-General Sir Archibald Anson, a former Lieutenant-Governor of Penang, and probably also after Commodore George Anson, Naval Commander of Far East Squadron in 1815.Buildings along Anson...
in Tanjong Pagar
Tanjong Pagar
Tanjong Pagar is a historic district located within the Central Business District in Singapore, straddling the Outram Planning Area and the Downtown Core under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's urban planning zones....
, within the Downtown Core
Downtown Core
The Downtown Core is a 266-hectare urban planning area in the south of the city-state of Singapore. The Downtown Core surrounds the mouth of the Singapore River and southeastern portion of its watershed, and is part of the Central Area, Singapore's central business district...
of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
History
In 1966, the Urban Renewal Department of the Housing and Development Board was formed to facilitate greater flexibility and autonomy in comprehensive redevelopmentRedevelopment
Redevelopment is any new construction on a site that has pre-existing uses.-Description:Variations on redevelopment include:* Urban infill on vacant parcels that have no existing activity but were previously developed, especially on Brownfield land, such as the redevelopment of an industrial site...
of Singapore's Central Area. The development of International Plaza was the result of the department's third Sales of Sites programme in 1969.
To avoid affecting operations within the building, construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
of the International Plaza was carried out in three phases. The first phase involved the construction of a seven-storey commercial and retail podium
Podium
A podium is a platform that is used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek πόδι In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podia can also be used to raise people, for instance the conductor of an orchestra stands on a podium as do many...
. This was followed by the second phase of building the office tower
Tower
A tower is a tall structure, usually taller than it is wide, often by a significant margin. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires....
. The last phase was construction of the apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
units and penthouse
Penthouse apartment
A penthouse apartment or penthouse is an apartment that is on one of the highest floors of an apartment building. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features.-History:...
s above the offices.
Built at a cost of S$52.8 million and completed on 7 June 1976, the 50-storey International Plaza was one of the pioneers Singapore in the 1970s of integrating multiple operations into a single mixed-use development.
In 1985 owners carried out a minor upgrade, involving an interior retrofit
Retrofit
Retrofitting refers to the addition of new technology or features to older systems.* power plant retrofit, improving power plant efficiency / increasing output / reducing emissions...
ting and the addition of an external glass wall to achieve the desired overall thermal transfer value rating. International Plaza's refurbishment cost S$15 million. The building had an elaborate LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
façade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
installed, as part of the Singapore Government's plan to light up buildings in the central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
.
With a height of 190 metres (623 ft), the International Plaza was one of the three tallest buildings in Singapore when it was completed in 1976; the other two were OCBC Centre
OCBC Centre
OCBC Centre is a , 52-storey skyscraper in Singapore. serving as the current headquarters of OCBC Bank, the building was completed in 1976 and was the tallest building in the country, and South East Asia, at that time. There are two extensions, OCBC Centre South and OCBC Centre East. There is an...
(201 metres; 659 feet) and DBS Building
DBS Building Tower One
DBS Building Tower One, often called DBS Tower One, is a high-rise skyscraper located in the central business district of Singapore. It was built in 1975, and is one of Singapore's oldest high-rise skyscraper. The skyscraper is the headquarters of DBS Bank, and has a height of and 50 floors...
(186 metres; 610 feet). International Plaza was the tallest commercial building with residential apartments in Singapore. International Plaza was superseded by The Sail @ Marina Bay
The Sail @ Marina Bay
The Sail @ Marina Bay is a waterfront lifestyle condominium located in the Marina Bay area in Singapore. It was completed in 2008. The first tenants have moved into Central Park Tower in July 2008. Residents moved into Marina Bay Tower a few weeks later. The structure of The Sail is and 70...
in 2008.
Amenities and architecture
The architectural firmArchitectural firm
An architectural firm is a company which employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture.- History :Architects have existed since early in recorded history. The earliest recorded architects include Imhotep and Senemut . No writings exist to describe how these...
Ang Kheng Leng and Associates (1955–97), later Ang Kheng Leng and Partners (1997–2005), designed the International Plaza. Integrating apartments, sports facilities, offices and a retail mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
in a single building, International Plaza epitomises the concept of living and working in the financial
FINANCIAL
FINANCIAL is the weekly English-language newspaper with offices in Tbilisi, Georgia and Kiev, Ukraine. Published by Intelligence Group LLC, FINANCIAL is focused on opinion leaders and top business decision-makers; It's about world’s largest companies, investing, careers, and small business. It is...
hub of the city. The building's design aspires to set a concept of work-life balance
Work-life balance
Work–life balance is a broad concept including proper prioritizing between "work" on the one hand and "life" on the other. Related, though broader, terms include "lifestyle balance" and "life balance".-History:The work-leisure dichotomy was invented in the mid 1800s...
for its occupants, with its multiple functions and vertically-stacked amenities. International Plaza achieves its objective as a self-sufficient, downtown apartment block, making it one of the most highly successful projects of this nature to date.
Located on a 6,976-square metre (75,090 square feet) site at the junction of Choon Guan Street and Anson Road, the 50-storey commercial and residential skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
comprises a seven-storey triangular podium that houses a shopping centre and multi-storey carpark, and a 43-storey, octagonal-shaped tower block for offices, apartments and penthouses. International Plaza is a large mixed development with a total gross floor area of 137,930 square metres (1,484,700 square feet), built around two large internal courtyard
Courtyard
A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....
s. The entire complex is fully air-conditioned, and serviced by 20 high-speed lift
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
s and four escalator
Escalator
An escalator is a moving staircase – a conveyor transport device for carrying people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individual, linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.Escalators are used around the...
s.
The shopping mall with 270 shops is located on the ground to third storey, and the carpark, from the fourth to eighth storey. The carparking area on the lower levels had its own lift system which, unfortunately during peak hours, resulted in much confusion and traffic congestion
Traffic congestion
Traffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. The most common example is the physical use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction...
until the whole system was completely upgraded in 1985 as part of an interior retrofitting.
The 388-unit offices are spread over the ninth to 35th storey on the tower block. The complex offers a swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
, health club
Health club
A health club is a place which houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise.-Main workout area:...
and other recreation
Recreation
Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun"...
al facilities on the 36th storey. The residential block, which is located from the 37th to 50th storey, offers a variety of apartments, from single-room, two-bedroom
Bedroom
A bedroom is a private room where people usually sleep for the night or relax during the day.About one third of our lives are spent sleeping and most of the time we are asleep, we are sleeping in a bedroom. To be considered a bedroom the room needs to have bed. Bedrooms can range from really simple...
, three-bedroom apartments to four-bedroom penthouses on the top floor. The building has a roof garden
Roof garden
A roof garden is any garden on the roof of a building. Besides the decorative benefit, roof plantings may provide food, temperature control, hydrological benefits, architectural enhancement, habitats or corridors for wildlife, and recreational opportunities....
with scenic views of the city for its residents.