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SINGAPORE: The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated a rethinking of our built environment. With so many of us still working from home, we once again question how we should design our domestic, work, and urban spaces.
In Singapore, the way we look at redesigning homes or urban spaces has also evolved over time. At the center of how privately owned architecture changes here is crowdselling, or what is known as block redevelopment.
This is where an existing old building is sold to a developer or consortium who then proceeds to demolish and rebuild.
Since 1995, there have been 579 transactions marked by two block boom periods in Singapore. The first was between 2006 and 2007 (250 transactions worth approximately S $ 20 billion) and the second was between 2017 and 2018 with 79 transactions worth approximately S $ 18 billion.
Since then, the numbers have been shrinking.
Today, when we look at how to tackle aging infrastructure, the question of sustainability comes into play. How long can we extend the life of what we consider important?
Seen in this way, the proposal to publish the Golden Mile Complex for conservation is a paradigm shift in how we design and renovate buildings in the future.
COMPLEX CHARACTER OF OLD BUILDINGS
The mixed-use Golden Mile Complex has received both praise and criticism. Those who oppose its preservation often cite the building as old and dirty, requiring rather massive renovations.
The building was originally called the Woh Hup Complex as it was built by Woh Hup (Pte) Ltd. The 16-story building was one of the first strata-titled developments in Singapore to have shops, offices and residences.
Completed in 1973, it is known for its “terrace” design, which enhances natural light and ventilation, and three architects, Gan Eng Oon, William Lim and Tay Kheng Soon, worked on this building.
The supermarket started out as an Econ Minimart. Thai construction workers were plentiful.
However, over the years, as foreign workers flocked and the complex became known as “Little Thailand,” it struggled to find buyers, with hundreds of titled owners from different strata and a lease of 99 years that began in 1969. Two collective selling attempts in recent years failed.
Developers steered clear seeing it as too risky, as there was no gross proportion of parcel allocated to land in the master plan, and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) had announced in late 2018, when the first collective sale, that the building is in conservation. study.
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The former meant that it was not known whether developers can add additional floor area to the land, while the latter means that until the conservation study is complete, there may be additional conservation regulations that will need to be adhered to.
Conservation is often seen as an obstacle to development and vice versa. Like it or not, the relationship between development and conservation is tense and tenuous.
From a developers perspective, conservation meant that they are constrained by how much additional floor area they can add, as well as having to preserve the existing structure.
It is more convenient, both in terms of financial and time considerations, that both homeowners and developers tend to opt for demolition and remodeling.
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One example is the Pearl Bank Apartments. After a long and difficult campaign, 91 percent of the homeowners with strata titles accepted a voluntary conservation proposal from the building’s architect, Tan Cheng Siong, which included the addition of floor area within the development.
Archive image of Pearl Bank Apartments near Chinatown that were completed in 1976.
However, this meant that there will be changes in the total value of the shares of the lots in a Management Corporation Stratum Title (MCST).
For this to proceed, the existing MCST must be terminated with 100% owner approval to allow for the reconstitution of a new MCST. Eventually, crowd-selling prevailed and the building was demolished for refurbishment.
Regardless of the building’s architectural merits, most homeowners are concerned that their deteriorating properties, made worse by minimal planned maintenance, will have a significant decline in financial value if it reaches preservation status.
There are exceptions, such as the Tiong Bahru estate.
Its modern artistic heritage remains attractive to fans who are willing to invest precisely because of the architecture and historical character of the neighborhood. In this case, financial value, while important, does not have to be the primary consideration.
Art Deco style walking flats in Tiong Bahru.
Also, when a privately owned building is old, the owners are generally unwilling to spend on maintenance as they expect a collective sale in the near future.
This is unlike HDB properties, which are regularly renovated by the state at a highly subsidized rate.
WHY THE GOLDEN MILE CASE IS SPECIAL
The October 9 announcement to propose the Golden Mile for conservation bulletin is significant because, for the first time, the state is poised to balance biases toward redevelopment by tilting the equation toward revitalization.
They have done this by providing incentives to private development owners or potential buyers and developers, should the Golden Mile complex be retained.
Many of these incentives are unprecedented. The scope and clarity of the incentives demonstrate the state’s willingness to balance the interests of various stakeholders, including financial viability.
Incentives include a one-third increase in floor area, as opposed to the uncertainty of any previously allowed floor area increases, and adjusting the site boundary to facilitate a more regular and rational construction footprint to accommodate a new tower. of 30 floors of increase in surface.
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What this indicates is that revitalization costs are reduced or subsidized by the state to safeguard the common good of the country’s architectural heritage.
Archive image of the Golden Mile complex
The revitalization, regeneration and remodeling of buildings and real estate development can be compatible with each other. The real estate market is expanding, rather than contracting, with that prospect.
Conservation is not about keeping all the elements intact and thus subverting creativity. It is the creativity of our minds that will allow us to harness existing history and character to redesign our domestic, workplace, and urban spaces.
Just as Golden Mile Complex is a symbol of the ingenuity of Singapore’s pioneering generation of construction professionals and our bold vision of urban life, its preservation will allow many to carry out that spirit of ingenuity, determined to create interesting spaces. and sustainable within the parameters. of our construction stock.
Yeo Kang Shua is Associate Professor at Singapore University of Technology and Design. He is also Chairman of ICOMOS Singapore, the Singapore committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites.
