[31 March 2000]
SMU's City Campus Master Plan Approved

Ministry of National Development approval opens way for design competition

The Master Plan for the Singapore Management University's City Campus at Bras Basah has been approved by the Minister for National Development, Mr Mah Bow Tan.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) presented the Master Plan to the Minister on behalf of the Singapore Management University (SMU) this week. The university has worked closely with URA on its planning guidelines for the eight plots given to SMU in the Bras Basah district.

Mr Ho Kwon Ping, chairman of SMU, will chair a press conference with the City Campus Planning Team to explain the rationale behind the Master Plan and its key features.

The conference details:

Date: Friday, 31 March, 2000
Time: 2.30pm
Venue: Rendezvous Hotel, Ballroom 1 & 2, Level 2
9 Bras Basah Road,
Singapore 189559.
Tel: 336 0220

The City Campus Planning team comprises:
1. Mr Eddie Wee - Director, Campus Development, SMU
2. Mr Dennis Pieprz - Principal, Sasaki Associates (Consultant)
3. Mr Anthony Blackett, Campus Program and Space Analysis Consultant

The Ministry's approval for the Master Plan clears the way for SMU to call for an international competition for the urban and architectural design for the city campus. Following a year of public symposiums, wide and focused consultation with professional and civic groups, SMU worked on proposals based on feedback and the URA guidelines.

The unique and challenging site offers the university an opportunity to develop a landmark city campus in the historical and cultural heart of the Bras Basah area. SMU's city campus will eventually accommodate 15,000 students in nine buildings spread over eight parcels of land with a total site area of 7.76 ha. The SMU campus site is believed to be the first of its kind - to be designed, integrated and built from scratch in the heart of a developed cityscape.

The Urban and Architectural Design Competition
At the same conference, Mr Ho will announce the open call for SMU's Urban and Architectural Design Competition. Full registration details for the international competition will be available at the press conference.

The Master Plan will provide the framework for a contest brief for architects to incorporate very special elements particular to the needs of Singapore's first urban campus.

Key concept priorities include a creative design response to Singapore culture and the civic, cultural and business elements in the environment, and a focus on a public park at the heart of the district - and the university at the heart of the park. This would take into consideration trees, shade structures, courtyards, pedestrian friendly sidewalks and other design principles suitable to the climate and to encourage greater use in shared public/campus areas.

SMU will also underline in its competition brief, the importance of preserving the special and collective social memories associated with the National Library building. In a previous symposium held last year, the planning team had suggested recreating the library's porte cochere (arrival porch) and courtyard in the design scheme. The team is open to ideas from participating architects on how best to respect and nurture the social memories associated with the library building.

Mr Ho said Mr Mah, Minister for National Development, was pleased with the overall scheme and its pedestrian-friendly linkages throughout the campus Master Plan.

"It is up to the architects to come up with an ingenuous final design, but the Master Plan aims to link the museums, the university, the Chijmes area and Fort Canning Hill in one integrated, people-friendly civic web," said Mr Ho.

SMU has also worked with the National Parks Board and took its advice on maintaining and safe-guarding trees on the various plots in the site area. The National Parks Board is also working with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on the trees as LTA develops the Marina Line that will include a subway station within the university grounds.

"This is a very complex and ambitious development with many challenging planning considerations. We have sought at every point, to include the public and professional groups in our planning exercise. We forestalled work for nine months for more consultation and included certain recommendations into our Master Plan. It is SMU's aim to create a landmark campus Singapore can be proud of, and one that will endure and connect the past, the present and the future for generations of students and Singaporeans," Mr Ho said.