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Architects: ONG&ONG Pte Ltd
- Area: 7642 m²
- Year: 2012
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Photographs:Aaron Pocock
Text description provided by the architects. Standing eight-storeys high, Audi Singapore's newly unveiled flagship store is the first ever high-rise Audi Terminal, and at 1,350 square metres per floor, is also the largest Audi showroom in Southeast Asia.
This one-stop terminal offers a variety of services in a single location, housing showrooms, workshops, offices and even a café and waiting lounge for visitors. As many as 35 of Audi's latest models are displayed in the showrooms on the 2nd and 4th floors.
The cars are arranged in a "power curve", making the formation seem as if they are zooming by on a race track. A specially designed lift carries cars to the servicing workshop that spans from the 5th to the 7th floor, while the offices take up the building's top level. Within the three basement floors are an Audi Cafe, quattro shop, customer waiting lounge, reception areas as well as a carpark.
The design concept was to localise the international Audi Terminal template to suit the site and local conditions, whilst ensuring a consistent corporate branding. Hence, although space constraints resulted in the building’s uncharacteristic semi-circular shape, Audi's signature look is evident in elements such as the building's curved walls.
The façade is clad in aluminium with hexagonal cut-outs forming a honeycomb pattern, while full-height glass windows for the lower floors make the building appear to float off the ground. Located at the junction of Leng Kee Road and Alexandra Road, the Audi Terminal also had to contend with its close proximity to the MRT train track. As the Audi Terminal's foundations are mere centimetres away from those of the train track columns, the columns were monitored during construction through the use of lasers.
Given the site's close proximity to an MRT train track and the limited site area, the Audi Terminal's design is a feat of creativity that stays true to the Audi brand whilst successfully cementing its place as a landmark in the local landscape.
