To develop Singapore's Jurong Lake District, Arup has been selected as part of a consortium of firms to create a development master plan. The firm will provide a range of consultancy expertise to the project, with a public exhibition of plans set for midway through 2017.
Singapore’s 360 hectare Jurong Lake District (JLD) is set to see substantial redevelopment towards becoming a second, decentralised, Central Business District as well as a new international gateway into Singapore to which the future High Speed Rail to Kuala-Lumpur, Malaysia, runs. The mixed development project involves the development of the lake area, to contain a number of parks, promenades, and water activities, while surrounding space will see the development of a business area, retail space, recreational facilities and a range of amenities. The new area is being administered by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
To support the delivery and execution of a master plan for the development of the JLD, the URA held a tender competition, which drew high interest from (international) professional services firms: 35 bids were received. The competing parties were eventually whittled down to five consortia. Arup, hedging its bets, was part of all five shortlisted consortia.
The eventual winner of the competition, on the back of their innovative creation of a district identity through, among others, the integration of new waterways and a series of green spaces, were KCAP Architects & Planners (Lead; Netherlands); SAA Architects (Singapore); Arup (UK), S333 (UK); and Lekker Design (Singapore). The team will work together with the URA and relevant agencies to create a masterplan proposal for the sector’s development.
The project, for which Arup will provide specialist advisory support, will be exhibited half way through 2017, from which to draw public feedback, with more refined plans to be submitted in due course.