BCI Asia Awards Top 10 Singapore Architect 2021
State Courts Towers is by far the tallest government building in Singapore and one of the world’s tallest courthouses. The complex comprises Court Tower and Office Tower connected by 39 link bridges, standing on what used to be the parking lot of the old State Courts Building.
MEETING NEW DEMAND
The old State Courts Building was built in 1975. As of 2019, the facility was handling approximately 90 per cent of Singapore’s caseload or about 300,000 cases yearly. The existing nine-storey building, which had 37 courtrooms and 40 chambers, was considered untenable to support future needs and so was gazetted for conservation in 2013—to be retrofitted to house the Family Justice Courts from 2023.
The various improvements and enhancements to the interior and facilities were unlikely to support the organisation’s long-term demands either, so the solution was to utilise an available plot of land in front of its building. In 2011, the Open Design Competition was launched and the winning design selected. The construction works began three years later; and nearly two years after the topping-out ceremony, the new towers are now fully operational, marking another new beginning for the State Courts.
“The footprint available for the new building is very small, compared to the amount of gross floor area it must carry, and is surrounded by two conserved buildings—the Octagon, which was built in 1975; and the former Ministry of Labour Building, which was built in 1928; as well as People’s Park Centre. Hence, the provision of outdoor spaces is conceived vertically, as lushly landscaped open ‘trays’ where court boxes are placed on,” said, Christopher Lee, the architectural design consultant.
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PROJECT DATA
Project Name
New State Courts Towers
Location
1 Havelock Square, Singapore 059724
Completion Date
October 2019
Gross Floor Area
113,000 square metres
Building Height
35 storeys; 178 metres
Number of Rooms
53 courtrooms; 54 hearing chambers
Client
State Courts Singapore
Project Management
PM Link Pte Ltd
Architectural Design Consultants
Serie+Multiply Architects LLP
Principal Consultant & Architect
CPG Consultants Pte Ltd
Interior Design Firm
SCA Design Pte Ltd/ Ong & Ong Pte Ltd
Civil & Structural Engineer
CPG Consultants Pte Ltd
MEP Engineer
CPG Consultants Pte Ltd
Quantity Surveyor
CPG Consultants Pte Ltd
Lighting Consultant
Ong & Ong Pte Ltd
Landscape Architect
Plantwerkz Pte Ltd
ESD Consultant
Surbana International Consultants Pte Ltd
Management Contractor
Samsung C&T Singapore Pte Ltd
Piling Contractor
CS Bored Pile System Pte Ltd
Interior Fit-Out Contractor
Sunray Woodcraft Construction Pte Ltd
Façade Contractors
Jangho Curtain Wall Singapore Pte Ltd; LWC Alliance Pte Ltd
Lift Contractor
KONE Pte Ltd
MVAC Contractor
Powen Engineering Pte Ltd
Fire Protection Contractor
Guthrie Engineering (S) Pte Ltd
Electrical Contractor
Ngee Cheng Electric Co (Pte) Ltd
Sanitary & Cold Water Plumbing
Industrial Plumbing Co Pte Ltd
Images
Finbarr Fallon; CPG Consultants; Khoogj
