Safdie Architects has officially opened the new campus headquarters for Surbana Jurong, Singapore’s leading architecture, urban design, and infrastructure firm. The project expands Safdie Architects’ vision of 'for everyone a garden' into the workplace with a design that draws on the tranquility of the site’s previously undeveloped natural setting to foster shared moments of engagement and creativity. Achieving Green Mark (Super Low Energy) certification, the campus is the flagship development of the emerging Jurong Innovation District, envisioned as the first business park set in a tropical rainforest.
The development marks Safdie Architects' sixth project in Singapore and enhances the firm's prominent built portfolio in the city-state, which already includes Marina Bay Sands, Sky Habitat, and the Jewel at Changi Airport. On the occasion of the opening, ArchDaily spoke to Charu Kokate, Partner at Safdie Architects, who leads efforts in the Singapore region, about the firm's unique development footprint and building philosophy.
On the topic of integrating green spaces into projects and making them available to the wider public, Kokate is particularly vocal: "There are many dense cities like Singapore where entertainment for people is going to a mall because they're more comfortable, especially when it rains and is hot or humid. Cities are getting denser and the greenery and community spaces are lost. I think the only way to enrich the community, make them livelier, or get them involved is by thinking about them all the time."
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Architecture Classics: Habitat 67 / Safdie ArchitectsSurbana Jurong exemplifies this commitment by integrating harmoniously with the natural environment and serving as a gathering place for the wider community with programmed public spaces in addition to supporting wellness in the workplace for Surbana Jurong’s 4,000 on-site employees.
Situated on a previously undeveloped rainforest plot, the design preserves much of the existing terrain and replaces any landscaped areas lost with indoor gardens and accessible rooftop gardens. Rejecting the traditional office tower, Safdie Architects conceived of the headquarters as a sprawling campus that deploys programmatic elements across a series of 10 seven-story pavilions.
It's not just about acknowledgment. Good buildings can be acknowledged, but really successful projects are the ones that are accepted by the community. And the only way this works is to go beyond the client brief and build an opportunity for the public to feel pride in a building. We don't work in isolation. Buildings do not exist by themselves. They exist in neighborhoods.
Prioritizing community pride and coming together was ingrained in firm founding partner Moshe Safdie from the start, Kokate says: "Even when he designed Habitat 67, which everybody studies, he was already incorporating greenery. Even I studied it as a student. He said, 'I'm going to design houses, not apartments – because everybody should have access to natural light and nature. That's how we've continued working since then.'"
Though Surbana Jurong's new campus is by definition a corporate structure, the idea of habitat is palpable throughout the project. Serving as the main thoroughfare for both the public and employees, a central curving glazed pedestrian ‘street’ links the 10 pavilions, as well as a series of indoor and open-air sunk gardens, public cafes and gathering spaces, exterior walking trails, and amenities across all levels.
Even from the beginning of the design process, Safdie Architects scale up their clients' requests. "Our models always incorporate not just the commissioned structure, but everything around it", explains Kokate. "The minute you make that change, it anchors a project. You have to have very strong design principles and always think about buildability. That's why we do physical models because physical models really show you the problems. We don't like to rely too heavily on cool images and software. It's not about flashiness or what we want to begin with, it's about what works for the people."
In the case of Surbana Jurong's campus, what works for the people is a new central connecting hub for the greater Jurong Innovation District, which will be home to companies at the forefront of key growth sectors such as advanced manufacturing, urban solutions, and smart logistics, and includes the nearby Nanyang Technological University, as well as new residential developments. Amenities such as a childcare center, an open-air cinema, fitness facility, and medical clinic are all open to the public and facilitate a sense of community that is new to this area of Singapore.
The campus’ design embraces the notion that everyone should have optimal access to light, air, and green spaces, advocating for a more balanced and collective work atmosphere that contributes to less stress, greater socialization, and increased creativity. Kokate elaborates: "It's a rich building because it's very luxurious. And the luxury is light, nature, and space. It's not expensive marble or granite or gold, but a different form of luxury."
Thinking outside the box and beyond the initial client brief on issues such as equity or community was a topic that Kokate elaborated on in her keynote speech for the World Architecture Festival last year, too. "I think we take a lot of pride in that. I personally do. Because it's very unique. As design architects, we are involved in the process until the end. That's something nobody talks a lot about, but we are involved until we hand over the key. Even for projects like Jewel, which has been open for 5 years. I think that ownership of the project, that involvement in the project, that passion for the project to be the best it can be, I think that's what really makes a difference."
