The Housing & Development Board - Singapore

Thanks to an email to the CEO of the Housing Development Board (HDB) of Singapore and speaker at the 2015 National Architecture Conference, Dr Cheong Hoon Hean, I was able to meet with Chee Kheng Chye and Wong Cheun Long, Director and Deputy Director of the Building & Infrastructure Group within HDB.

A remarkable presentation which showed their strategic program for efficiency using only pre-cast concrete components; a methodology that started as a R+D initiative in the mid 80's. By the mid-nineties they had developed their own system to the point where they could produce an entire building utilising only 30 different standardised components - stairs, rainwater tanks, curtain wall panels etc...

Today HDB deliver 80% of all residential living in Singapore and the Pinnacle at Duxton is their crown jewel. The project features the world's two longest sky gardens of 500 metres each, on both the 26th and 50th, and seven towers with a total 1800+ apartments are the world's tallest public housing buildings. The entire facade is made up of only 7 different precast concrete panels.

I spent a few hours walking around the site enjoying the view looking up and the extensive community facilities and gardens at ground level.