[23 May 2003]
Singapore Management University New Campus to blend Urbanization with Nature and Historical Conservation

Singapore’s Landmark Tree Transplant Completed

The Singapore Management University’s (SMU) permanent campus at Bras Basah – to be ready by 2005 – is an intricate architectural project which aims to preserve the hallmark greenery of Singapore’s oldest civic centre while enabling its new high-tech buildings to blend in with the surrounding historical buildings and landscape.

The new campus will feature tree-sheltered courts, porous buildings criss-crossed by breezeways, overhanging façades and enhanced shading, to utilize the natural climatic conditions to maximize comfort and connect the campus to the unique setting of Fort Canning and Bras Basah Green. Buildings overlooking Bras Basah Green have glazed facades shaded by a veil of plants to create “green walls” reinforcing their natural setting.

SMU’s “green efforts” span large-scale landscaping and a series of tree transplants so as to minimize impact to the existing landscape and to preserve as many of the long-standing mature trees as possible.

The two-year tree transplanting exercise which started last March involved the careful uprooting and re-planting of several mature trees (11 Samanea sama raintrees and 5 Tabebuis pentaphylia “Rosea” trees) found within the Bras Basah park. During the process, the SMU campus development team faced, what was likely the most challenging transplanting task in Singapore’s landscaping history - the transplant of a 70-year-old, full-canopy 21-metre (about six storeys high) raintree with a 25-metre wide crown (equivalent to the width of an Olympic-sized pool) and weighing more than 37 tonnes, approximately the weight of three fully loaded double-decker buses combined.

A team of specialist transplant technicians and tree surgeons utilized a “Pin-lift” system to keep the raintree upright throughout the transplanting exercise, and to minimize trauma or shock to the affected tree. Two 500-tonne lifting cranes were also used to handle this delicate and massive operation. “To date, this is likely to be the biggest tree to be transplanted within Singapore’s city district. Given the raintree’s massive weight, the conventional practice would have been the removal of the branches first before the actual transplant. However, we had chosen a more sophisticated approach to keep the raintree upright and intact throughout the entire process. Though it also involved additional manpower and planning efforts, we were committed to preserving the raintree as closely as possible to its original state. Despite the challenge, we were able to complete the transplant without any hazard, and the raintree had since been re-planted immediately on site, and I am pleased to note, is growing well and healthy,” said Mr Foo Yit San, Director, Campus Development.

The rest of the transplanted trees are currently maintained at the nursery for the duration of construction and will be re-planted after the construction of the SMU university buildings.

In its commitment to share the historical significance of the site with the cultural communities, the SMU team worked cooperatively with the National Heritage Board in their archaeological efforts to collect commemorative items at the existing site.

“The SMU team has been very accommodating and supportive of our request to investigate and collect artefacts from their development site at Bras Basah. We conducted three rounds of surveys between 15 August 2001 to 14 March 2002. These surveys were fruitful and presented us with opportunities to recover artefacts from the 19th century convict prison. We are pleased to add to our historical collection bricks from the prison building, and some ceramic sherds. We were also able to ascertain during the surveys the presence of a swamp which was indicated in the early 19th century maps,” said Cheryl-Ann Low, curator, National Heritage Board.

“SMU is committed to be a socially responsible member of the Bras Basah community. We will do our best to be sensitive to the preservation of the historical, cultural and physical heritage of the district. We want to respect the stakeholders of the community and business associates and have taken great measures to achieve that in the best possible ways,” said SMU President, Professor Ronald Frank.