At 290m, Guoco Tower is the tallest building in Singapore – a vertical city which draws people to a vibrant place to live, work and play in the city’s business centre. The mixed-use development offers commercial, residential, retail and hotel amenities and features Tanjong Pagar Park.

We engineered the tower development, providing structural and façade engineering, and environmentally sustainable design. With vast experience in the design of tall buildings, we delivered practical and sustainable solutions to realise the architectural complexity of this skyscraper within a dense CBD environment: the site is bounded by four roads, gazetted heritage shophouses and an operational MRT station.

Tanjong Pagar Park offers 150,000 sq ft of landscaped gardens and greenery and includes an outdoor event space for recreational and lifestyle events which is naturally ventilated and features a 15m high ceiling. The development has direct access to the Tanjong Pagar Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) metro station, a result of our proposal.

Overcoming complex building design

The building’s scale, coupled with changing geometry at several levels, made for complex design and construction. Large steel plates with shear studs were embedded in the concrete core wall to ensure that horizontal ‘kick-out’ forces were transferred to the core wall directly and effectively. We designed an innovative transfer plate and belt-wall system that tied together and stabilised the residential and office towers, which sits atop one another. These solutions realised the architecture and ambitious scale without compromising the building’s structural integrity.

Seamless MRT integration

Direct access from the MRT to Guoco Tower was a result of our proposal to connect the three-level basement to the station’s structure. Coupled with construction phasing, this three-basement structure doubled as a retaining wall, and allowed construction to continue while minimising disruptions to existing retail and MRT operations. Our team worked with the contractor to develop a full top-down construction approach at the basement levels, providing robust support to the excavation. This method streamlined basement construction processes and saved both time and costs.

Sustainable building design

There are photovoltaic solar panels for renewable energy on the roofs and rainwater is harvested to irrigate the extensive greenery. As a result, there is almost zero storm water run-offs during rain events. As a health benefit, fresh air is also delivered to interior spaces at a rate that is 30 per cent higher than conventional office buildings.

For the City Room – the large outdoor event space – we studied the thermal comfort criteria which informed the design of the canopy and the performance of the glass roof and fans. A combination of the canopy’s geometry, the glass material and the use of fans created an environment that is comfortable all year round. Building-integrated photovoltaic technology is also embedded into the canopy’s glass, permitting soft light to filter through while capturing the energy from the sun.

Guoco Tower has achieved Green Mark Platinum and LEED Platinum certifications for the office and commercial spaces, and Green Mark GoldPlus for the residential category – setting the precedent for sustainability and innovation on future tall building developments in Singapore.

The outdoor event space in Tanjong Pagar Park ©Ying Yi Photography

Partners & collaborators

TTJ Design & Engineering / Samsung C&T Corporation / Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP in association with Architects 61 Pty Ltd