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Architects: Multiply Architects, Serie Architects
- Area: 26000 m²
- Year: 2019
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Photographs:Finbarr Fallon
Text description provided by the architects. 5 Science Park Drive is the latest building in Singapore’s Science Park, Asia’s leading R&D and technology location. Officially opened by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat 5SPD re-works the model for a technology building to reflect the needs of emerging e-commerce and research organisations. This flagship building will form the basis of the re-development of the science park.
Christopher Lee, Principal of Serie Architects explains that, "The Science Park model of the 1990s, with buildings isolated from one another by unutilised landscape is no longer adequate for today's workspaces that are more social in nature. The first of more than five buildings in the cluster, 5 Science Park Drive is designed to ensure that common spaces are visible, accessible and nourished with amenities". The building features a three-storey extended lobby or ‘city room’ that incorporates a series of cascading platforms incorporating a café, break-out spaces and a small auditorium. This space is focused on collaboration, discussion and networking.
The floor plans are designed to maximise flexibility. A typical floorplate has over 4,000sqm in open plan space and column-free spans of 20 metres. Centralised circulation with highly efficient double-loaded corridors allows the building to be configured for single or multi-tenant use.
The façade features high performance glazing set into an alternating ‘accordion’ design that is animated at night with a re-programmable LED light system. The design combines vision and spandrel glazing to maximise views while mitigating solar gain.
The adjacent car park has been covered with extensive landscaping and amenities including exercise pavilions. This will eventually form a shared park for a cluster of six massive new technology buildings.
The building has been fully let to e-commerce start-up Shopee and will eventually house 3,000 staff across the 26,000sqm of space.
