Brutalist Tower to be Razed in Singapore

Each window of the tower has panels that provide shade from the sun, from afar giving the tower its unique “waffle maker” appearance. National Archives of Singapore.

27 August 2019 | Singapore, Singapore

Singapore’s iconic brutalist building, Shaw Tower will most likely be torn down to make way for a new 35-story office and retail building by 2023.

More than 40 years ago, Shaw Tower was constructed as part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s plan in the 1960s to create a “golden mile” of developments that merge work and play along Beach Road. Then it was a beachfront development, but land reclamation has since pushed it further inland.

Featured Buildings

Shaw Tower

CTBUH Member Companies
(showing member level)

Doka GmbH

“In the 1960s, Shaw Tower was a beachfront development, but land reclamation has since pushed it further inland.”

Shaw Tower’s current redevelopment is part of the Ophir-Rochor corridor rejuvenation, which was unveiled in 2008. Since then, the area has seen new developments, such as the luxury hotel Andaz Singapore, and mixed-use complex South Beach.

Tenants were served with a notice to vacate the building by June 30, 2020 and are in the midst of moving out of the building.

The tower currently has 260,000 square feet (2,415 square meters) of office space and 100,000 square feet (9,290 square meters) of retail space. The new Shaw Tower that would replace it is expected to nearly double its office space to 400,000 square feet (37,161 square meters) and shrink its retail space to 30,000 square feet (2,787 square meters), subject to planning approval.

Besides the new Shaw Tower, GuocoLand is building Guoco Midtown and Midtown Suite, which are estimated to be up at the same time as the new Shaw.

When it was completed in 1975, Shaw Tower was the tallest skyscraper in Singapore, until the OCBC Centre took that honor in 1976.

Designed by a Singapore architect, Charles Ho of Iversen Van Sitteren & Partners, each window of the tower has panels that provide shade from the sun. From afar, it gives the tower its unique “waffle-maker” appearance.

In 1988, Shaw opened the first cineplexes in Singapore, Prince and Jade, at Shaw Tower. The cineplexes operated for 21 years before closing in 2009. It then re-opened to serve audiences of Tamil and Hindi films.

Aside from Shaw Tower, other older Brutalist architecture, such as Golden Mile Complex, Pearl Bank Apartments, and People’s Park Complex, have been sold en bloc and are scheduled to be redeveloped.

For more on this story go to Mothership.