One Raffles Place Tower 2 – A New and Sustainable Landmark Adding Vibrancy to the Central Business District

The Marina Bay District has garnered plenty of attention for its glittering new attractions, but the Central Business District is now getting a facelift of its own. SAA has unveiled One Raffles Place Tower 2 – a sustainable LED-lighted skyscraper poised to infuse vibrancy into the downtown core with full glass windows. This landmark offers panoramic views of Singapore and multiple green features that enhance the quality of the working environment.

Guided by SAA's philosophy, the home-grown architectural firm designed the 38-storey office tower with an urbanistic approach, giving much attention to its surrounding urban form. With its crystalline exterior, the new skyscraper not only creates a strong presence but further catalyses the transformation of the existing downtown core into a vibrant global business hub. By night, the tower's glass façade coupled with its lighting effects illuminates the night sky which enhances the attractiveness of the unique Singapore skyline for the district.

Through this redevelopment project, One Raffles Place Tower 2 harmoniously complements One Raffles Place Tower 1, formerly known as OUB Centre. The diagonal planes of the new building are inspired by the spacing of the windows in its counterpart. One Raffles Place Tower 2 was developed from a collaboration between SAA and Paul Noritaka Tange of Tange Associates, whose father Kenzo Tange had designed the original One Raffles Place Tower One, formerly known as OUB Centre, over two decades ago.

Building a Sustainable Landmark As a sustainable building, One Raffles Place Tower 2 seeks to create a serene, comfortable and welcoming environment in the CBD while minimising environmental cost. Some of its green features include: the extensive use of eco-friendly building products and materials within and outside the building, energy-saving light fittings, solar energy, a highly efficient central air conditioning system that regulates fresh air and provide quality air filtration for the office, and motion sensors to reduce unnecessary waste of energy.

One Raffles Place Tower 2 is a recipient of the Singapore Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Platinum award. This is Singapore's highest green building rating system that evaluates a building for its environmental impact and performance.

Mr. Yeo Siew Haip, SAA Managing Director, commented, "We believe that architecture goes beyond aesthetics. The design should add value to the urban environment. With its strategic location in the existing Central Business District, One Raffles Place Tower 2 injects a new form of urban energy at streetscape level.

The overall design strategy for One Raffles Place Tower 2 is to produce a landmark that not only rejuvenates Singapore's changing cityscape but also create a pleasurable working environment for its users."

Two towers together once again signify a new age for Singapore linking past and future

In 2006, Overseas Union Bank (OUB) launched its project to develop an "Annex Building (Tower 2)" as well as "Additions & Alternations to the Existing Main Tower (Tower 1)" following an increase in plot ratio in the Singapore planning regulations. As our founder, Kenzo Tange, had designed Tower 1 (formerly OUB Centre) 25 years ago, Tange Associates was selected to create the new Tower 2 to complement the original iconic tower. The new and old towers are now collectively known as ‘One Raffles Place’, and together once again signify a new age for Singapore linking past and future.

In order to create a ‘design rhythm’ in One Raffles Place Tower 2, we adopted and applied the triangular volumetric motif of Tower 1. The crown of Tower 2 rises diagonally, so that the simple beauty of this triangular form can be expressed, while adding dynamism to the form. In contrast to Tower 1's powerful and ‘solid’ aluminum façade, Tower 2 has a more delicate glass façade, thereby creating an open and airy impression. The façade of Tower 2 distinguishes itself from its surroundings, while at the same time maintaining harmony with Tower 1. Because the tower is located along the beautiful Singapore River, glass is a necessary choice of building material that allows the design to maximize the river views during the day. At night, Tower 1's façade lighting embellishes the Singapore skyline of the CBD district, expressing itself as one of Singapore's newest icons.

In the recent decades, the speed of the development of metropolitan cities in Asia has been extraordinary and unseen before in history. In light of this aspect, One Raffles Place Tower 2 may serve as a cue or inspiration as to how high-rise towers may form a relationship with the city and the city-dwellers.

- Creation of the unique skyline High-rise buildings are integral parts of a cityscape. In designing the form of the One Raffles Place Tower 2, instead of just focusing on how to let the new tower stand out, much thought has been invested in allowing the new tower to blend in harmoniously with its surroundings, while allowing the dynamic triangulated form to stand out from the skyline.

- The balance between urban and human scale We have proposed art works as key design features, thereby orchestrating a mutual relationship between the large architectural scale and the more intimate human scale. The waterfall painting, created by the renowned Japanese artist Mr. Hiroshi Senjyu, brings an elegant oasis of calm into the main entrance, demonstrating how an energetic collaboration between a passionate artist and a zealous architect may reach out and touch the human soul in seamless subtlety.