SOM UNVEILS DESIGN FOR ALIBABA-BACKED TOWER SET TO BE SINGAPORE’S TALLEST BUILDING

American architecture giant Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has revealed its design for an Alibaba-backed tower soaring 350 metres (1,148 feet) in height to become Singapore’s tallest skyscraper upon completion.

The 63-storey mixed-use development at 8 Shenton Way in the Tanjong Pagar area will comprise more than 148,000 square metres (1.6 million square feet) of floor space for office, retail, hotel and luxury residential use, as well as 10,000 square metres of elevated, public green space, Chicago-based SOM said Thursday in a release.

The supertall project will feature direct underground connectivity to Tanjong Pagar MRT station and is seeking the top-level Green Mark Platinum certification from the Building Construction Authority of Singapore, with extensive use of natural materials like zero-waste terracotta and engineered bamboo.

“Designed specifically with the tropical climate of Singapore in mind, this building will be one of the first post-pandemic mixed-use towers in the world incorporating health and wellness as its primary design drivers,” said SOM partner Mustafa Abadan. “By seeking to achieve the city’s newest and most rigorous sustainability standards, our design will establish a new paradigm for resilient and elegant high-rise design in Singapore and beyond.”