Design Team
Tay
Kheng Soon
Patrick Chia
Design Data
Client:
Kian Yat Investments Pte Ltd
Main Contractor: Kiang Chin Builders
Structural Engineer: T H Chuah Associates
M & E Engineer: Design & Management Services Pte Ltd
Quantity Surveyor: CCL Chartered Surveyors
Site
Area: 1,746.79 sq m
Site Coverage: 81.6 %
Plot Ratio: 1 : 6.245
Gross Floor Area: 10,909.15 sq m
Cecil Court was won in competition as part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's 9th Land Sale. It occupies a rectangular 1,670 sq m site in the Central Business District. The building comprises an 18 storey tower, another interlocking tower which is slightly lower at 14 storeys and a podium block. The podium block has a four storey high naturally-ventilated atrium roofed with a system of hipped skylights with ventilated ridges intended to expel excess build-up of heat.
Akitek Tenggara introduced the atrium with the intention of creating an
urban node. It critically challenges the prevailing practice of privatising
all land at the base of urban office blocks. There is a noticeable lack
of public spaces in the CBD. In a location where high land prices usually
discourage the provision of non-rentable floor area, Cecil Court provides
a outdoor 'place' in the city, an oasis where office workers can relax
with colleagues over a cup of coffee.
This civic space gives Cecil Court a landmark quality notwithstanding its modest height. The detailing of the facade of the tower is designed to reduce solar heat gain (insolation). Within each deeply recessed window panel is a separate sheet of tinted and tempered glass set in an outer frame. This second sheet of glass is fixed at the top and the bottom but a ventilation gap is left at the sides. This provides filtered natural daylight without obscuring the view. Solar heat gain through this outer pane is effectively dispersed to the surrounding air, leaving the interior relatively cool. The air-conditioning load on the building is consequently reduced.
The building has a number of subtle responses to climate which indicate
further progress in the evelopment of a design language for Tropical Asia.
