URA to study how to give Singapore’s ageing modernist buildings a new lease of life.
Writen by Ng Keng Gene published in the Strait Times on 16 April 2021
Built during Singapore’s post-independence years in the 1970s and 1980s, they are an important and often striking feature of its cityscape. Yet time has taken its toll on many large modernist buildings, which are in need of major retrofitting and upgrading. Now, these simple structures will be the subject of a study called by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to guide its policies on how to maintain and rehabilitate them.
It will examine buildings constructed in the modern architectural style that are about 30 to 50 years old, and have a gross floor area of at least 8,000 sq m or are at least eight storeys tall.
“The findings could also facilitate the conservation efforts of some large modern buildings which represent our initial phases of urban renewal,” a URA spokesman told The Straits Times on Friday (April 16).
He added that instead of redevelopment, URA would like to encourage building owners to explore rehabilitation.
