Surbana Jurong, an urban, infrastructure and managed services consulting firm, recently opened its new headquarters in Singapore. Surbana Jurong Campus inaugurates the Jurong Innovation District, a business park set in a tropical rainforest.
On the 742,000-sf campus, 10 five- and seven-story pavilions are grouped along a central pedestrian corridor connecting indoor and open-air courtyards, communal spaces, and amenities.
The design by Safdie Architects—with Surbana Jurong Group as the architect of record and KTP Consultants as the structural engineer—lifts up the pavilions like treehouses. As a result, the terrain below can grow and surround the lower-level public spaces and upper-level offices.
This approach brings together Surbana Jurong’s 4,000 employees with the surrounding landscape and community—creating an alternative to traditional buildings that are inwardly focused. The design provides employees access to light, air, and green space, along with publicly accessible clinic and fitness areas, nursing rooms, and childcare facilities.
“With the Surbana Jurong Campus, our latest project in Singapore, we are introducing a new workplace typology that responds to the pressing need for connection to nature and community,” Moshe Safdie, founding partner, Safdie Architects, said in a statement.
The project provides private, semi-private, and public work environments, including closed offices with expansive views, dedicated spaces for research, a sunken courtyard, and shaded seating alcoves. The campus also includes event spaces and a 1,000-seat multipurpose hall.
The passive design project is the first building to achieve Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy status, the highest rating awarded by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore for environmentally sustainable design. To achieve this, the campus:
- Preserves more than half of the site’s existing green space
- Replaces built-on green areas with rooftop gardens, interior gardens, and exterior landscaping
- Uses rooftop solar panels
- Features climate-controlled interior courtyards with native tropical plants
- Provides abundant natural light on all floors
- Minimizes solar heat gain through techniques such as light shelves and louvers
- Uses an underfloor air distribution system
- Incorporates rain gardens and bioswales
- Integrates EV charging stations
- Implements smart building control systems
![Photo by Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Safdie Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Surbana%20Jurong%20Campus%20%281%29.jpg)
![Photo by Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Safdie Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Surbana%20Jurong%20Campus%20%282%29.jpg)
![Photo by Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Safdie Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Surbana%20Jurong%20Campus%20%283%29.jpg)
![Photo by Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Safdie Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Surbana%20Jurong%20Campus%20%284%29.jpg)
![Photo by Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Safdie Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Surbana%20Jurong%20Campus%20%285%29.jpg)
![Photo by Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Safdie Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Surbana%20Jurong%20Campus%20%286%29.jpg)
![Photo by Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Safdie Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Surbana%20Jurong%20Campus%20%287%29.jpg)
![](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Surbana%20Jurong%20Campus%20%288%29.jpg)
![Photo by Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Safdie Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Surbana%20Jurong%20Campus%20%289%29.jpg)
![Photo by Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Safdie Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Surbana%20Jurong%20Campus%20%2810%29.jpg)
![Photo by Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Safdie Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Surbana%20Jurong%20Campus%20%2811%29.jpg)
![Photo by Timothy Hursley, courtesy of Safdie Architects](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Surbana%20Jurong%20Campus%20%2812%29.jpg)
Related Stories
| Apr 2, 2012
EB-5 investment funds new Miramar, Fla. business complex
Riviera Point Holdings breaks ground on $17 million office center.
| Mar 28, 2012
Milestone reached for LEED-certified buildings?
Total number of major global green buildings now stands at 12,000.
| Mar 27, 2012
Bank of America Plaza becomes Atlanta's priciest repo
Repo will help reset market prices for real estate, and the eventual new owner will likely set rental rates at a new or near the bottom and improve the facilities to lure tenants.
| Mar 26, 2012
McCarthy tops off Math and Science Building at San Diego Mesa College
Designed by Architects | Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, the new San Diego Mesa College Math and Science Building will provide new educational space for students pursuing degree and certificate programs in biology, chemistry, physical sciences and mathematics.
| Mar 26, 2012
Ball State University completes nation's largest ground-source geothermal system
Ball State's geothermal system will replace four aging coal-fired boilers to provide renewable power that will heat and cool 47 university buildings, representing 5.5-million-sf on the 660-acre campus.
| Mar 21, 2012
10 common data center surprises
Technologies and best practices provide path for better preparation.
| Mar 20, 2012
New office designs at San Diego’s Sunroad Corporate Center
Traditional office space being transformed into a modern work environment, complete with private offices, high-tech conference rooms, a break room, and an art gallery, as well as standard facilities and amenities.
| Mar 16, 2012
Temporary fix to CityCenter's Harmon would cost $2 million, contractor says
By contrast, CityCenter half-owner and developer MGM Resorts International determined last year that the Harmon would collapse in a strong quake and can't be fixed in an economical way. It favors implosion at a cost of $30 million.
| Mar 14, 2012
Plans for San Francisco's tallest building revamped
The glassy white high-rise would be 60 stories and 1,070 feet tall with an entrance at First and Mission streets.