Award-winning architects to design new Dawson Estate

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/...90187,00.html?

Published July 31, 2008

Award-winners to design HDB flats

SCDA, WOHA and Surbana named consultants for Dawson Estate flats

By EMILYN YAP


FLAT-BUYERS eyeing Dawson Estate in Queenstown will be spoilt for choice, as upcoming public housing will feature designer looks courtesy of not one, not two, but three local award-winning architectural firms.

The Housing & Development Board (HDB) said yesterday that it will appoint SCDA Architects, WOHA Architects and Surbana International Consultants as design consultants for the district's public housing projects.

Dawson Estate comes under a 'Remaking Our Heartland' exercise that aims to transform public housing into vibrant homes for Singaporeans.

To showcase the regeneration of an old estate, HDB invited the three architectural firms last year to design public housing precincts in Dawson Estate based on new ideas and concepts.

Favourable response from the public led HDB to appoint all three as design consultants.

SCDA and WOHA received their letters of appointment at a HDB awards dinner yesterday evening. The two sites which both firms worked on are vacant and ready for development.

HDB plans to launch the first batch of flats on these two sites for sale under the Built-to-Order system in the third quarter of next year.

Construction could start in the first quarter of 2010 and be completed in 2014.

HDB will appoint Surbana later, when the site it worked on is cleared and ready for redevelopment in 2011.

'The participation of these firms will not only give HDB flat buyers greater variety and choice, it will also bring a livelier, more attractive buzz to Dawson,' said Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education Grace Fu.

HDB has also appointed a local landscape architectural firm, Cicada Pte Ltd, to draw up a landscape masterplan. The plan will create a distinct identity for Dawson Estate and bring together the three different precincts.

To retain Dawson Estate's heritage, HDB is inviting the public to contribute items from the district's past. Selected heritage items will be woven into the new development.

Ms Fu said yesterday that the 'Remaking Our Heartland' programme has made much progress. Nevertheless, she added: 'There will be challenges along the way, such as grappling with inflation and competing for resources amidst the global construction boom, while keeping HDB flats affordable.'

http://www.straitstimes.com/Singapor...ry_262976.html

July 31, 2008

1,800 flats to go on sale at Dawson estate next year

Two 40-storey towers to be constructed under build-to-order system by 2014

By Joyce Teo


A NEW generation of Housing Board flats is set to go on sale in about a year's time at now-sleepy Dawson estate.

The 50-year-old Queenstown estate is set to be transformed with the construction of two striking 40-storey towers, designed by award-winning architects, SCDA Architects and WOHA Architects.

The towers, to boast about 1,800 flats, are being built under the HDB's build-to-order (BTO) system - now the board's main means of providing new housing stock.

HDB rarely builds new flats within a mature estate due to the lack of space. The new towers in Dawson will be nestled among gardens designed by landscape architects - a first for an HDB estate.

News that the flats will be on sale in a year's time was unveiled by Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State for National Development, at the HDB awards dinner yesterday.

She later told reporters that she expects very strong demand for the new flats.

Sales will start in the third quarter of next year. Construction could start six months after that and be completed in 2014, Ms Fu said.

At Dawson - Singapore's first Housing Board estate - the SCDA-designed tower block is on a 2.2ha site and could feature about 800 flats. The other block, on a 2.7ha site, will have about 1,000 units.

The towers will have special features such as lofts, flexible flat designs, and sky villages or common high-rise space shared by every 10 floors.

But potential buyers can still influence the final design. Feedback is invited at an exhibition on Dawson estate before the consultants finalise their designs. The show at the HDB Hub in Toa Payoh runs from today until Aug 10.

Home-hunter Lauren Shen, 27, a graphic designer, said: 'The flats are exciting because they can be customised. I have applied for a flat in Punggol. If I don't get it, I will wait for these new ones.

'But it will depend on the prices. My chances may be limited because I think they will be very popular.'

A third new-generation development will be added later at Dawson by Surbana International Consultants. It will be launched when the site for it is cleared by 2011.

To tie the three developments together, HDB has asked award-winning local landscape architects Cicada to draw up a landscape plan.

The plans will rejuvenate Dawson estate, which has about 3,000 flats. Dawson eventually could boast about 10,000 new homes, most of which are expected to be public flats.

HDB is keen to preserve Dawson's heritage and is seeking contributions of old photos, postcards, books and other items for use in a display.

[email protected]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stori...363886/1/.html

Award-winning architects to design new Dawson Estate

By Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 30 July 2008 2155 hrs


SINGAPORE: Two award-winning private architects were officially appointed by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) on Wednesday to put a new spin to the old Dawson Estate in Queenstown.

SCDA Architects Pte Ltd and WOHA Architects Pte Ltd were earlier commissioned to draw up plans for two separate public housing sites at the junction of Margaret Drive and Dawson Road.

The new flats will be launched for sale under the Build-To-Order system in the third quarter of 2009.

The 60-hectare Dawson district, which was first developed in the 1950s, will have new homes nestled among lush greenery.

SCDA's plan features multiple layers of common spaces such as car parks, shops and facilities, while individual residential units can be combined to create lofts, which are ideal for home offices or larger families.

The 823-unit project will also be eco-friendly.

Chan Soo Khian, design director, SCDA Architects, said: "All the surface runoffs will be collected in retention tanks and these will then be used to irrigate all the landscape. The staircase would be integrated with solar panels."

At a separate site in the same district, architects at WOHA spent over four months on their work. The project will also boast sky gardens and integrated facilities.

It is expected to be home to about 1,000 households, which will have plenty of opportunity to interact.

Richard Hassell, founding director of WOHA Architects, said: "Every apartment feels like it belongs to a smaller community of about 60 or 80 homes. The way we've done it is to make a space... so on the way from the lift to the front door, you always go through this space."

These flats are expected to be ready in 2014 and their price tags will be unveiled next year.

To preserve the heritage of the area, HDB is also calling on the public to contribute items relating to Queenstown. These could be old photographs, postcards or even cinema tickets, which will be incorporated into the design of the new estate.

Subana International Consultants has been chosen to develop a third site in the Dawson Estate. The company will be officially appointed when the plot is cleared in 2011.

The plans will be on display at the HDB Hub from July 31 to August 10.


- CNA/so

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/268063.asp

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Three parts to Dawson’s new face

ESTHER NG

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THE public first got wind of the ambitious vision last August, when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke of giving the 56-year-old Dawson Estate a new face.

Now, the surgeons who will design its new face have been appointed, and flats could go on sale by next year.

Construction is expected to start six months after the sale and the new generation of flats would be ready by around 2014, said Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education, yesterday.

She added that since the conceptual designs from the three architects invited to give shape to the ideas had been well-received by the public, all three — SCDA Architects, WOHA Architects and Surbana International Consultants — would be appointed as consultants for the Dawson project.

The rejuvenation of Dawson Estate is part of an initiative to transform public housing into vibrant homes for Singapore. Apart from Dawson, Yishun and Punggol have also been earmarked for major facelifts.

Dawson Estate — formed by the merger of Princess and Duchess estates — was first developed in the 1950s by the Singapore Improvement Trust.

Last September, the Housing Development Board (HDB) commissioned the three architects to come up with design ideas for Dawson Estate and showcased these concepts in an exhibition called “Remaking Our Heartland”.

The majority of the 11,000 Singaporeans who visited the exhibition gave the designs a thumbs up.

As a result, the HDB decided to appoint all the three architects to regenerate Dawson Estate.

SCDA and WOHA will work on the next stage of the estate’s detailed design as the sites they would be working on are now vacant.

SCDA and WOHA told Today that they are already talking to landscapers, quantity surveyors, structural and mechanical engineers.

The HDB will appoint Surbana at a later date when the site that the firm would be working on is ready for development in 2011.

Under SCDA’s concept, residents can look forward to flats with tall ceilings in the living room. These lofts are built next to smaller flats which can function as “granny units” should the owners of the bigger flat decide to buy over the smaller unit.

Other features include a central staircase with solar panels which face the West and cascading landscaped terraces. Around 800 units will come under the SCDA’s design.

WOHA’s design is based on a concept of a “kampung in the sky” by creating a 10-storey column as the heart of each village, overlooking a village square.

“This village square has community gardens, study areas, barbecue areas and gathering spaces which will allow people to get to know the other 60 to 70 households in their village,” said Mr Richard Hassell, WOHA’s founding director.

Surbana plans to stretch a park six storeys upwards with ramps covered with greenery.

It will meander in a figure-of-eight shape around the twelve 48-storey blocks. The site includes the old Queenstown town centre.

But with construction costs going up, will all these features and amenities be included?

Mr Chan Soo Khian, SCDA’s founding principal and design director, said the firm would stick to its design and “it is up to HDB” how it wants to price these units.

Mr Chan, however, said there is a possibility that not all features — such as solar panels — will be included since they “are an economic issue”.

WOHA’s Mr Hassell said it would be working very closely with the HDB to achieve Dawson’s expected standard “at a reasonable market price”.

The HDB is inviting all Singaporeans with fond memories of Dawson Estate to contribute old photos, postcards, cinema tickets and souvenirs commemorating the estate at its “Transforming Our Dawson” exhibition, which is being held at the HDB Hub until Aug 10.

Meanwhile, another first step in remaking Singapore’s heartland was taken, when 94.1 per cent of voters in a Yishun precinct said “yes” to the new Home Improvement Programme. The nine blocks are the first to come under this scheme.