AXA Tower Redevelopment Poised To Become Singapore’s Tallest Bldg
SINGAPORE – The proposed mixed-use project being built on the former AXA Tower site at 8 Shenton Way is slated to overtake Guoco Tower as the highest building in the country, reported The Business Times on Wednesday morning (3 August, SGT).
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has approved a maximum height of 305 metres for the proposed 63-storey integrated project that is being undertaken by Alibaba and a consortium led by Perennial Holdings. This surpasses the 290-metre height approved for Guoco Tower.
A representative from the government agency confirmed that the proposed development located opposite Tanjong Pagar MRT Station is the only project that has been approved to be taller than the 290 metres Singapore Height Datum (SHD) conferred for Guoco Tower.
“The approved building height of 305 metres SHD is the highest that URA has granted for developments in Singapore. The allowable building heights are subject to technical requirements as well as evaluation based on respective site context,” she explained.
The maximum height for the AXA Tower redevelopment was included in URA’s grant of written permission for the project that was issued in July.
The proposed redevelopment will consist of a 63-storey tower block with a 2-storey podium containing shops and restaurants. The project’s level one will come with lobbies for its office, hotel, and residential components, as well as plaza space. It will also contain four basement levels and sky terraces.
Its office space is expected to account for over 50 percent of the development’s gross floor area (GFA). Notably, the URA has approved a maximum GFA of almost 1.6 million sq ft for the AXA Tower redevelopment, reflecting a maximum plot ratio of 13.51 based on the project’s land plot that spans almost 118,230 sq ft. This is a huge increase from the former AXA Tower’s GFA of about 1.03 million sq ft, which works out to 8.7 times the site area.
The higher maximum GFA includes the 25 percent bonus GFA amounting to 310,350 sq ft that was granted thanks to the CBD Incentive Scheme. This is on top of the maximum permissible GFA of 1.24 million sq ft based on the plot’s 10.5 plot ratio in URA’s present Master Plan.
