Republic Plaza is one of the three tallest 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...

s in 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...

, located at the Southern end of Raffles Place

Raffles Place

Raffles Place is a geographical location in Singapore, south of the mouth of the Singapore River. Located in the Downtown Core and the Central Area, it features some of the tallest buildings and landmarks of the country.-History:...

 in 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...

, 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"...

 of Singapore. It shares the title of "tallest building" with the OUB Centre and UOB Plaza One. Built at 280 metres (919 feet) tall, it was completed in 1995, and incorporates earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

 proof features despite the city being relatively far from earthquake zones.

The main entrance to the tower is at D'Almeida Street. The building was designed to maximize space. Therefore, a simple square form with chamfered corners at the base was adopted for the design of the tower. The tower tapers as it rises, forming some triangular elements, to reduce buffeting due to strong wind

Wind

Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...

s and improve wind loading. As with many other towers, it consists of a central core containing basic functions such as emergency stairway

Stairway

Stairway, staircase, stairwell, flight of stairs, or simply stairs are names for a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps...

s and elevator

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...

 shafts, wrapped around by lettable office space.

Architecture

• The tower is turned 45 degrees from the axis of the ground floor level to maintain sea views from the upper floors.
• The building has 15 double-decker vertical lift
  Double-deck elevator
  Double-deck elevators are designed with two elevator cars that are attached, one on top of the other. This allows passengers on two consecutive floors to be able to use the elevator simultaneously, significantly increasing the passenger capacity of an elevator shaft...
  
  s.
• The tower was designed to reflect a subtle Oriental influence.
• The main lobby is four storeys high, finished in polished granite and ceramics.
• The lobby is framed by concrete-filled tubular steel columns.
• The exterior façade transitions from granite with strip windows to tinted wall glass, smoothly inclining from an octagonal base to a square top.

Facts and figures

• The tower rose rapidly despite building complications which included an MRT
  Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)
  The Mass Rapid Transit or MRT is a rapid transit system that forms the backbone of the railway system in Singapore, spanning the entire city-state. The initial section of the MRT, between Yio Chu Kang Station and Toa Payoh Station, opened in 1987 establishing itself as the second-oldest metro...
  
   line beside the site, historically important buildings nearby, as well as natural boulders and abandoned piles underground.
• The tower was built on a caisson
  Caisson (engineering)
  In geotechnical engineering, a caisson is a retaining, watertight structure used, for example, to work on the foundations of a bridge pier, for the construction of a concrete dam, or for the repair of ships. These are constructed such that the water can be pumped out, keeping the working...
  
  with more than 900 mini piles.
• The construction was completed in just under two years using the fast track process.
• A total of 8,600 tons of structural steel and 31,000 cubic metres of concrete was used.
• After nightfall, only the glass top is visible when it is lit from within.
• Office Lettable Area: 769388 sq ft (71,478.5 m²)
• Retail Lettable Area: 18483 sq ft (1,717.1 m²)