Profile

Raffles City

Republic of Singapore
Completed 1986

Multiuse complex including hotel and office towers, a convention center, commercial space, recreational facilities and underground parking
 

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Raffles City was undertaken in a climate of nation building shortly after Singapore's independence. Upon completion in 1986, the 370,000 m² project was the largest private commercial development in Southeast Asia with the tallest building in the Far East, the world's tallest hotel, and the largest continuous concrete pour ever attempted.

The complex includes a 39-story office tower, a 1,200-room, 72-story tourist hotel and a more exclusive hotel with 800 guest rooms in two angled 27-story towers. All components are interconnected and rise from a seven-story podium housing shops, health/sports and convention facilities. A central atrium provides the building with its own climate controlled town square; in both density and activity, Raffles is itself a mixed-used city.

An innovative aluminum curtain wall unifies the exterior. The mass of the building is shifted away from the historic Raffles Hotel and toward the grassy Padang. Like a piece of monumental sculpture, the tall cam-shaped tower mysteriously changes profile, appearing curved or orthogonal from different perspectives. No attempt was made to integrate with existing low-rise neighbors of uncertain urban renewal fate. The project was designed to look ahead, not back, and relies on contrast to express its role as a centerpiece of Singapore's redeveloped future.

Major Components

225,600 m² hotel including 90,210 m² hotel tower (72 stories; 223 m high) and 82,804 m² twin hotel towers (27 stories; 90 m high) + retail and support (including 7,800 m² convention center; 3,100 m² ballrooms (2); 1,775 m² meeting rooms (32); 300 m² board / dining rooms (4); 520 m² prefunction / VIP lounge; 4,250 m² tennis courts (6); 2,500 m² swimming pool); dining, retail, helipad; 55,125 m² office tower B (39 stories; 158 m high) with shops and 300 m² banking on levels 1–4; 130 m² typical office floors (5–39) 103,013 m² podium (7 stories) with 25,000 m² commercial; 7,000 m² major circulation; 20,000 m² mechanical / support; 86,915 m² basement; 44,276 m² parking for 1,200 cars on 3 levels underground

I. M. Pei & Partners services

Master Planning; Architectural Design; Interior Design of public spaces; coordination with associate architect on construction documents and construction administration

Associate Architect

Architects 61, Singapore

Structural

Weiskopf & Pickworth, New York, NY and 
Sim Bee Teck & Associates, Singapore

Mechanical / Electrical

Cosentini Associates LLP, New York, NY, and
CMP Consultants Pte. Ltd., Singapore

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