Bjarke Ingels Group's Facade Spotted on 88 Market Street

Construction is moving along fast for the Singaporean tower designed by the headline-grabbing architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) in collaboration with Carlo Ratti Associati and RSP Architects. Today, I share images of a portion of the trio’s distinctive facade which has gone up along the narrow Market Street, providing an early glimpse of what’s to come from the 51-story tall addition to the lively Central Business District. 88 Market Street will also mark BIG’s inauguration into the Southeast Asian market.

Though it’s only a small section, and the plastic has not yet been removed, this showcases the building’s most distinct decorative feature. The building’s futurist twist on Modernism plays with linear form as though the facade is a fabric to be pulled open to make way for Singapore’s tropical trees. Renderings show three sections where the facade is pulled open: along the first dozen floors, then for a hundred-foot tall central section, and again for the crowning restaurant to be.

Artist's impression of the new development on 88 Market Street, image via Capitaland

Singapore has been making a policy of integrating vegetation into the urban skyscrapers, as epitomized in the Singapore Green Building Council within the Building and Construction Authority. The integration of vegetation into buildings, or Verdurous Architecture to use one of Ingel’s words, has become a new decoration scheme evoked by architects and developers who want to broadcast their concern for climate change, and provide a means of discussing further innovation in efficiency and energy-saving measures within the building.

Rising up to the CBD’s build limit of 919 feet, the mixed-use development is expected to create over a million square feet of new ground floor area.

View of the 62-foot fall space where the City Room is soon to rise

Market Street will be partially converted into a public park which provides a green expanse for leisure activities., image via Capitaland.jpg

The concrete frame for the base for the building, which stretches from Church Street down to Battery Road, is nearly complete. The podium will including a sizable vehicular garage with 350 lots, 165 bicycle spots, and roughly 12,500 square feet of public access green spaces. The core of this attention-grabbing feature is the 62-foot-tall space, named the City Room.

Lobby for 88 Market Street, image via Capitaland

Returning to the site will be the displaced Market Street Food Centre. The market will be occupying a portion of the second and third levels, and managed by the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources.

299 Citadines-serviced apartments will be integrated in the eight floors above the market. Resident amenities will include a swimming pool, jacuzzi, track, gym, communal kitchen, and barbecue pits.

Separating the apartments and office spaces will be Green Oasis, a four-story open-air amenities floor with a cafe, seating, and gardening. This open air space is lifted over 300 feet above in the sky. Though not confirmed, it appears as construction has reached the first floor of this space.

The buildings’ core economic function, the offices, are positioned above the Green Oasis. A total of 635,000 square feet of office space will be developed, integrated with internet-of-things capability and facial-recognition for office security. JP Morgan has announced that they will become an anchor tenant for the building, leasing 155,000 square feet from levels 24 to 30.

Rooftop terrace at 88 Market Street, image via Capitaland.jpg

According to Capitaland, the project’s construction will be, “the first integrated development in Singapore to adopt prefabricated modular mechanical and electrical (M&E) services, including vertical risers and horizontal services,” as a means of increasing construction efficiency. The construction process will also reportedly involve drones and VR technology to assist with design review. This process is also intended to reduce material wastage by saving on paper and physical models...while building a 919-foot high skyscraper.

The project is a joint venture development between Capitaland, Capitaland Commercial Trust, and Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd. Capitaland’s two divisions own 90% stake in the building, with Mitubishi controlling 10%. The developers have named the building ‘CapitaSpring’. The project was proposed in 2017, with construction starting in 2018. Completion is expected by 2021.

Arists rendering of 88 Market Street, via BIG.jpg

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