The Robinson Tower designed by KPF

Singapore: the skyscraper is cut in two to make room for greenery

Robinson Tower, an office and retail building, opened in Singapore’s Central Business District. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, it has a particularity that distinguishes it, the upper part of the tower juts out onto the lower one. The “V” cut creates a public space with a square and garden.

Facebook videos: https://www.facebook.com/KohnPedersenFox/videos/342639423284127/

The tower’s design synthesizes the unique conditions that define the physical and cultural context of the city-state, creating a signature retail and office structure that enhances the public realm and stands out in the urban fabric.

Approved in 2014, Singapore’s landscape replacement policy requires that any vegetation lost to development must be replaced with publicly accessible vegetation in an equal area within the new building. This requirement, combined with the V-shaped constrained site defined by Market Street and Robinson Road, influenced KPF’s design solution for Robinson Tower.

Its sculptural form comprises two primary volumes – an office tower above a retail podium – separated by the podium’s manicured roof space. The tower’s massif elevation maximizes marina views to the twenty floors of boutique offices and activates the rooftop podium and walled garden. Its staggered core doubly maximizes views from the plinth and avoids the problem of columns disturbing the public area. With each approach, the faceted volume of the tower dematerializes and reflects the sun and sky differently, gem-like in its shape and stature on the city skyline.

The plinth rises slightly above street level, enhancing its spaciousness and continuity from the entrance to the ground in the atrium garden. This atrium forms the core where the office lobby, shops and restaurant spaces meet, while the windows overlooking Robinson Road encourage dialogue between the interiors and the urban landscape.

Bruce Fisher, director of design at KPF, reflects on the Robinson Tower design brief: “At its core, this project presented the overlapping challenges of planning Class A office space on a rugged site with environmental controls. However, these conditions ultimately drove the success of the design, while taking advantage of the expanse of Robinson Road’s visual corridor. The dynamic tower breaks free from the canyon of stoic facades, integrating green space into unique vantage points and ultimately cultivating public space alongside a boutique, mixed-use program.”

Robert Whitlock, KPF Design Principal, relates the project to KPF’s overall design philosophy: “Robinson Tower follows in the footsteps of KPF’s work at the Marina Bay Financial Center, which pioneered the mixed-use model at Singapore. While that project was enormous in scale, with a park integrated into its plan, this distinctive tower equally embodies the integration of context, culture and sustainability with architecture. Our impact scheme, and its success execution, draws on KPF’s experience in designing iconic buildings for global cities, as well as buildings on limited or otherwise restricted sites in dense urban areas.”

Robinson Tower’s demonstration of tactile urbanism parallels KPF projects such as 52 Lime Street in London and 55 Hudson Yards in New York; respectively, these buildings integrate their neighborhood historic preservation and public transportation infrastructure into their forms. Their designs are also sculptural and iconic in nature, advancing the studio’s knack for high-quality design alongside complex requirements.

As of 1° July 2019, Robinson Tower is home to the Singapore office of KPF, established in 2018 to support the company’s Changi Airport Terminal 5 project, designed in collaboration with Heatherwick Studio. The tower joins KPF’s portfolio of high-profile works in Singapore, including the aforementioned Marina Bay Financial Center and Suites, One Raffles Quay and One Raffles Link and SGX, the home of the Singapore Stock Exchange.
Source: https://www.kpf.com/current/news/kpf-designed-robinson-tower-opens-in-singapore
© 2019 KOHN PEDERSEN FOX ASSOCIATES PC