Winning Design
The competition was keenly contested with 202 entries submitted by design agencies around the world.
It was eventually won by two Singapore architecture companies, ARC Studio Architecture + Urbanism, in collaboration with RSP Architects Planners & Engineers (Pte) Ltd. The winning architects called their design "sky houses, flying green" with a goal of giving residents simple and elegant solutions from necessarily low-cost materials. The design (which differed from what was actually constructed) consisted of seven 48-storey tower blocks laid out in the shape of a hook on a 2.5-ha site and linked by skybridges on the 26th and 50th storeys.
The HDB did expressed concern about several features of the original design:
- Boulevards of trees along its skybridges (fear of falling branches).
- Glass panels instead of steel railings for unimpeded views (some people might faint).
- Publicly accessible skybridges linking its seven tower blocks (security threats to residents).
Eventually, some features were modified. Notably, one additional elevated observation and event room was added on the 52nd floor at tower 1C, likely for the purpose of catering to visiting VIPs.
HDB set stringent standards for the construction, the design and finishes required for the tender veered towards private housing standards. Units at The Pinnacle@Duxton were also more fully furnished than the average HDB project. The design exceeded standards of private condominiums so much that it caused concern amongst private developers regarding their future if public housing was developed in a similar manner. The HDB had to reassure them that this project was a one-off special residential development. The Pinnacle@Duxton received much publicity in the media when it was launched in May 2004.
Subsequently, the S$279-million construction contract was awarded to Chip Eng Seng Corporation, the lowest of the bids submitted. The foundation was laid by MM Lee. Fully pre-cast methods were used during construction, which could be 10–15 per cent more expensive than the traditional way of pumping wet concrete all the way to the top. Pre-cast methods involve transporting moulded components to the site and hoisting them up on to the structure.
Read more about this topic: The Pinnacle@Duxton, Design
Famous quotes containing the words winning and/or design:
“Not only had Caesar a great name and a general’s glory, but his valor knew no rest, and the only thing he looked upon as a disgrace was not winning a battle.”
—Marcus Annaeus Lucan (39–65)
“Nowadays the host does not admit you to his hearth, but has got the mason to build one for yourself somewhere in his alley, and hospitality is the art of keeping you at the greatest distance. There is as much secrecy about the cooking as if he had a design to poison you.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)