ms, Bangunan Bank UOB , image = UOBnOUB.JPG , alternate_names = United Overseas Bank Plaza , location =

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 Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, coordinates = , start_date = Plaza One: 1992 , completion_date = Plaza One: 1995
Plaza Two: 1973 , building_type = Commercial offices , antenna_spire = , roof = Plaza One:
Plaza Two: , top_floor = , floor_count = Plaza One: 62
Plaza Two: 38 , elevator_count = , cost = , floor_area = Plaza One: , architect = Kenzo Tange Associates
Architects 61
Architects Team 3 , structural_engineer= Arup , main_contractor = Nishimatsu Construction
Lum Chang JV , developer =

United Overseas Bank United Overseas Bank Limited (), often known as UOB, is a Singaporean multinational banking corporation headquartered in Singapore, with branches mostly found in most Southeast Asian countries. Founded in 1935 as United Chinese Bank (UCB) by S ...

, owner =

, management = United Overseas Bank Property Management , references = United Overseas Bank Plaza (UOB Plaza) is a complex with

twin tower Twin Tower () is a 1970s Hong Kong public housing residential block design. In plan, the blocks look like two hollow squares joined at one corner of each square. Each block comprises two "towers" of different heights, although their shapes are ...

late-modernist skyscrapers in the city of

. UOB Plaza One was one of the three tallest in the city, sharing the title 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 Republic Plaza, but it is now the second tallest since the construction of Tanjong Pagar Centre in 2016. UOB Plaza Two is a shorter and older building with construction completed in 1973 and was later renovated in 1995 with a similar facade as UOB Plaza One. Both buildings are connected by a

podium A podium (plural podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek ''πόδι'' (foot). In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used ...

supported by four columns. The podium houses the banking hall of the

's main branch. The building was opened by then Senior Minister

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...

on 6 August 1995 which was 60 years after the founding of the United Overseas Bank.

Description

There are two buildings that make up the Plaza, which are divided into the high-rise "Plaza 1 (UOB Plaza One)" and the low-rise "Plaza (UOB Plaza Two)".

UOB Plaza One

UOB Plaza One is high with 66 storeys above ground. It is on

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's Central Business District, along the

Singapore River The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area, althou ...

. Completed in 1992, it is a box-shaped post-modernism building which was designed by

Kenzo Tange is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Kenzō can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *賢三, "wise, three" *健三, "healthy, three" *謙三, "humble, three" *健想, "healthy, concept" *建造, "bu ...

, a renowned Japanese architect, and was constructed by Nishimatsu Construction and Lum Chang JV. Built as the head office of the United Overseas Bank, one of Singapore's leading banks, the building was also one of the country's tallest skyscrapers along with the adjoining OUB Center and Republic Plaza until it was succeeded by the Tanjong Pagar Centre. The materials, colors, shapes and overall image of the building closely resembles the

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building The , also referred to as the for short, is the seat of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which governs the special wards, cities, towns, and villages that constitute the Tokyo Metropolis. Located in Shinjuku ward, the building was designed b ...

, which was completed in Shinjuku,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

in 1990 which was also designed by Kenzo Tange.

UOB Plaza Two / UOB Pla2a

UOB Plaza Two or UOB Pla2a is a , 38-storey building . It was first completed in 1973 before it was remodeled in 1995. The extension and renovation of the building, which was completed in 1993, saw the addition of 8 new floors. The building was on the site of the former Bonham Building, which housed the former United Chinese Bank (now the

). That structure was named UOB Building upon completion, before adopting its current name in 1965.

Architecture

The towers have an octagonal base and consist of rotated cubic volumes, which is a distinctive stylistic expression of

's works in the 1990s. The cubic volumes on the octagonal base rotate on a 45 degree

plane of reference In celestial mechanics, the plane of reference (or reference plane) is the plane used to define orbital elements (positions). The two main orbital elements that are measured with respect to the plane of reference are the inclination and the longi ...

, diminishing in scale towards the top of UOB Plaza One. The two buildings are linked by a six-storey

, measuring wide and supported by four columns. This place is a large airy

atrium Atrium may refer to: Anatomy * Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart * Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods * Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain * Pulmona ...

linking

without entering the building. The banking hall has full height

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...

walls to see through the Singapore River from the financial district. The change in

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 te ...

ing brings out the geometric qualities of the building's architecture, highlighting the buildings with shafts of light and shadow. The external curtain wall system of the building represents a significant and innovative contribution of the evolution of building facades over time. The "performance wall" envelope of the towers is a composite of white and grey

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

and insulated grey glass units. The atrium is also known as a "city room" and above it has a large office space and a large skylight, which gives the place natural lighting. A double-storey sky lobby could be found on the 37th and 38th floors, which provide panoramic views of the city. It is also used for workers to transfer lifts from the lower floors to the higher floors. However, the sky lobby has been closed to the public due to security reasons after the September 11, 2001 attacks. There are two

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

s on the ground floor; ''Homage To Newton'' by

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

in the city room, and another designed by Fernando Botero.

Gallery

File:UOB Plaza with Floodlights.jpg, Special occasion floodlighting up the building at night File:Salvador Dalí, Homage to Newton (1985, UOB Plaza, Singapore) - 20051007.jpg, UOB Plaza One's entrance with a sculpture by

File:UOB Plaza 2012 0009.jpg, UOB Plaza One with a sculpture by Fernando Botero File:UOB Plaza 2012 0013.jpg, Sculpture by Fernando Botero File:UOB Plaza 2012 0011.jpg, UOB Plaza One's entrance

References

External links

{{Singapore skyscrapers Downtown Core (Singapore) Office buildings completed in 1974 Office buildings completed in 1992 Skyscraper office buildings in Singapore Raffles Place