KPF’s Robinson Tower Opens in Singapore

Written by Christele Harrouk
Published on August 01, 2019

The Robinson Tower, a 24 000 m² boutique retail and office tower, was inaugurated in Singapore. Designed by the international firm KPF or Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, and executed in collaboration with Associate Architect A61, the building addresses the cultural and social aspects of the city, creating a singular and refined experience. The tower stands out from its context showcasing novelty in form and function, changing the city’s skyline.

“At its core, this project presented the overlapping challenges of planning Class-A office space on an irregular site with environmental checks. However, these conditions ultimately drove the design’s success, all the while capitalizing on the expanse of Robinson Road’s visual corridor. The dynamic tower frees itself from the canyon of stoic facades, integrating green space at unique vantage points and ultimately cultivating the public realm alongside a boutique, mixed-use program.” -- Bruce Fisher, KPF Design Director

With an architecture determined by the constraints of a V-shaped plot, the building creates an interface between Market Street and Robinson Road. Designed as a terminus, physically and programmatically, the structure’s composition distinguishes 2 different entities: a retail platform on the ground floor topped by a garden, and a high impact 20-storey vertical volume of offices, where the adjacent marina is revealed. This type of configuration increases natural light in the interior spaces and induces an iconic and singular persona for the building.

“Robinson Tower follows in the footsteps of KPF’s work at Marina Bay Financial Centre, which first introduced the mixed-use model to Singapore. Even though that project was massive in scale, with a park integrated into its plan, this distinctive tower similarly embodies the integration of context, culture, and sustainability with architecture. Our impactful scheme, and its successful execution taps into KPF’s expertise designing iconic buildings for global cities, as well as for buildings on constrained or otherwise tight sites in dense, urban areas.” -- Robert Whitlock, KPF Design Principal

From each angle, the tower reveals a new face and merges differently within the city’s urban fabric. The lower podium, is similar in scale to adjacent structures, creating a contextual relationship with the angular roof form and terracotta of Lau Pa Sat. The green opening on the roof of this entity is publicly accessible due to Singapore’s Landscape Replacement Policy of 2014. The atrium generates a meeting center for the office lobby, retail, and food & beverage spaces. The firm’s Singapore office opened within the tower as of the 1^st of July 2019.