ms, Plaza Republik , image = Republic Plaza.jpg , image_size = 250px , caption = , location = 9

Raffles Place Raffles Place is the centre of the Financial District of Singapore and is located south of the mouth of the Singapore River. It was first planned and developed in the 1820s as Commercial Square to serve as the hub of the commercial zone of Sing ...

, Singapore 048619 , coordinates = , start_date = , completion_date = (Official opening in 1998) , building_type =

Commercial property Commercial property, also called commercial real estate, investment property or income property, is real estate (buildings or land) intended to generate a profit, either from capital gains or rental income. Commercial property includes office b ...

Retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and ...

, roof = , top_floor = , floor_count = 66 , elevator_count = , cost = , floor_area = , architect = Kisho Kurokawa Architects & Associates
RSP Architects Planners & Engineers , structural_engineer = , main_contractor =

Shimizu Corporation is an architectural, civil engineering and general contracting firm. It has annual sales of approximately US$15 billion and has been widely recognized as one of the top 5 contractors in Japan and among the top 20 in the world. It is a family bu ...

, developer = City Developments Limited , owner = City Developments Limited , management = City Developments Limited , references = Republic Plaza is a skyscraper in

Downtown Core The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with many integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive buildi ...

, Singapore. It formerly shared the title of "tallest building" with the

OUB Centre One Raffles Place, formerly Overseas Union Bank Centre or OUB Centre is a skyscraper in Downtown Core, Singapore. With a height of , it was formerly the joint tallest building in the city together with the UOB Plaza and Republic Plaza, until t ...

and UOB Plaza One, until the completion of Tanjong Pagar Centre in 2016. At a height of 280 meters, it was officially opened on 18 January 1998 and incorporates

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

proof features despite the city being relatively far from earthquake zones. Designed by

Kisho Kurokawa (April 8, 1934 – October 12, 2007) was a leading Japanese architect and one of the founders of the Metabolist Movement. Biography Born in Kanie, Aichi, Kurokawa studied architecture at Kyoto University, graduating with a bachelor's ...

, the building was constructed by

. The building is owned and operated by City Developments Limited.

Architecture

A simple square form with chamfered corners at the base was adopted for the design of the tower, with the main entrance at D'Almeida Street. The tower tapers as it rises, forming some triangular elements, to reduce buffeting due to strong

wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ho ...

s and improve wind loading. As with many other towers, it consists of a central core containing basic functions such as emergency stairways and

elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They a ...

shafts, wrapped around by lettable office space. Other items particular to the building: *The tower is turned 45 degrees from the axis of the ground floor level to maintain sea views from the upper floors. *The building has 15 double-decker vertical lifts. *The tower was designed to reflect a subtle Oriental influence. *The main lobby is four storeys high, finished in polished granite and ceramics. *The lobby is framed by concrete-filled tubular steel columns. *The exterior façade transitions from granite with strip windows to tinted wall glass, smoothly inclining from an octagonal base to a square top. *The tower rose rapidly despite building complications which included an

MRT MRT may refer to: Transport Rapid Transit Systems * Mass Rapid Transit (disambiguation) * MRT (Singapore) or Mass Rapid Transit, Singapore * MRT (Bangkok) or Metropolitan Rapid Transit, Thailand * Manila Metro Rail Transit System, Philippine ...

line beside the site, historically important buildings nearby, as well as natural boulders and abandoned piles underground. *The tower was built on a caisson with more than 900 mini piles. *The construction was completed in just under two years using the fast track process. *A total of 8,600 tons of structural steel and 31,000 cubic metres of concrete was used. *After nightfall, only the glass top is visible when it is lit from within. *Office Lettable Area: *Retail Lettable Area:

References

{{Singapore skyscrapers Office buildings completed in 1995 City Developments Limited Raffles Place Skyscraper office buildings in Singapore Downtown Core (Singapore) Kisho Kurokawa buildings Shimizu Corporation

Architecture

See also

References