Centennial Tower, Singapore
Encyclopedia
Centennial Tower is a 158 m (518.4 ft), 37 storey
high-rise skyscraper
in the central business district
of Singapore
. It is located on 3 Temasek Avenue, in the zone of Marina Centre
. The building is nearby other skyscrapers such as Millenia Tower
, and Suntec City. It is less than 100 metres away from Promenade MRT Station
.
The building won the Building and Construction Authority
's Best Buildable Design Award in the Commercial & Office Buildings category in 1999.
The tower was built at a total cost of S$149 Million. It has a gross floor area of 66,270 square metres.
Although completed in 1997, it was structurally designed and built to allow for future upward expansion by as much as 15 additional stories to reach 52 stories. During the construction
of the building, the use of innovative and newer construction techniques allowed it to rise 20 stories in just 3 months, one of the fastest rates of construction then seen in Singapore. This enabled the contractor to save 5 months of construction, as compared to using the conventional method. Precast staircases, prefabricated reinforcement for the core walls, beams and columns were also used to enhance the productivity on site.
table , which was part of the building facade, fell from the 25th floor. The building facade, designed and installed by French firm Dragages in 1997 had been checked in July last year and was certified safe by Dragages and its appointed building consultant Meinhardt.
The tower has an elliptical structure, which reflected the curvilinear frontage of Temasek Avenue. Similar to its neighbour Millenia Tower, the 360 degree windows and large floor plates provide better space efficiency. Most of the offices have good views of the city area
of Singapore.
The contractor designed special formwork system, to suit the curved profile of the facade
. The column, wall and facade were all constructed in the same operation by using the specially designed formwork. Telescopic table formwork system was used for the construction of the beams and floor slabs. The use of system formwork produced a high quality finish, which eliminated plastering. In fact, all the components were skim-coated.
To clad up the building, granite
cladding and a curtain wall were used. The curtain wall, which has a total area of 7773 m² (9,296.4 sq yd), was standardised to six different panel sizes. Off-site fabrication of these wall system made installation faster. This reduced the number of site labour.
The tower is crowned by a twelve metre high ornamental trellis. This complements the adjacent pyramid atop Millenia Tower.
Storey
A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...
high-rise 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...
in the central business district
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...
. It is located on 3 Temasek Avenue, in the zone of Marina Centre
Marina Centre
Marina Centre is a zone of reclaimed land within the Downtown Core in the southern part of Singapore. Together with the Marina South area, it encloses the sheltered Marina Bay....
. The building is nearby other skyscrapers such as Millenia Tower
Millenia Tower
Millenia Tower is a , 41 storey skyscraper at Marina Centre in Singapore. The building is located in Millenia Singapore, and is the centrepiece of the development, less than 20 minutes from Changi International Airport...
, and Suntec City. It is less than 100 metres away from Promenade MRT Station
Promenade MRT Station
Promenade MRT Station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit station in Singapore, located along Temasek Avenue, near the Millennia Walk shopping mall. It is the fourth station along the counter-clockwise-bound Circle Line track. The station was opened on 17 April 2010 along with the rest of Stage 1...
.
The building won the Building and Construction Authority
Building and Construction Authority
The Building and Construction Authority , is a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Singapore Government.- Vision :...
's Best Buildable Design Award in the Commercial & Office Buildings category in 1999.
The tower was built at a total cost of S$149 Million. It has a gross floor area of 66,270 square metres.
History
Centennial Tower was designed by several architects, namely Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo & Associates, Johnson/Burgee Architects, DP Architects, and Philip Johnson/Alan Ritchie Architects. The building had a 23-month contract period, and was completed in 1997. Other firms involved in the project include Pontiac Marina, Dragages at Travaux Publics, Meinhardt, Sika Services AG, Building Systems, Moody's Investors Service, and McKinsey & Company.Although completed in 1997, it was structurally designed and built to allow for future upward expansion by as much as 15 additional stories to reach 52 stories. During the 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 building, the use of innovative and newer construction techniques allowed it to rise 20 stories in just 3 months, one of the fastest rates of construction then seen in Singapore. This enabled the contractor to save 5 months of construction, as compared to using the conventional method. Precast staircases, prefabricated reinforcement for the core walls, beams and columns were also used to enhance the productivity on site.
Damage incident
On 10 February 2011 between 8:45pm and 9pm, 2 women were injured slightly by debris when a granite slab, estimated to be the size of half a mahjongMahjong
Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players...
table , which was part of the building facade, fell from the 25th floor. The building facade, designed and installed by French firm Dragages in 1997 had been checked in July last year and was certified safe by Dragages and its appointed building consultant Meinhardt.
Architecture
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.
The contractor designed special formwork system, to suit the curved profile of the facade
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"....
. The column, wall and facade were all constructed in the same operation by using the specially designed formwork. Telescopic table formwork system was used for the construction of the beams and floor slabs. The use of system formwork produced a high quality finish, which eliminated plastering. In fact, all the components were skim-coated.
To clad up the building, granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
cladding and a curtain wall were used. The curtain wall, which has a total area of 7773 m² (9,296.4 sq yd), was standardised to six different panel sizes. Off-site fabrication of these wall system made installation faster. This reduced the number of site labour.
The tower is crowned by a twelve metre high ornamental trellis. This complements the adjacent pyramid atop Millenia Tower.