arup singapore profile-1
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Profile of the structural engineering giant in SingaporeTRANSCRIPT
High Speed OneArup peopleMarina Bay SandsSingapore Sports Hub
Arup Singapore Newsletter Issue 1 2008
ProfileSingapore
www.arup.comProfile is published by Arup in Australasia, part of the global Arup Group
Published by Arup’s Communications + Marketing team, Editor: Jenny Lie, Graphic Design: James Harmer
Issue 1 2008
Contents - Issue 1 2008 Cover: © Marina Bay Sands Pte. Ltd. 2006. All rights reserved
Queen’s inspection Michael McGowanMarina Bay SandsSingapore Sports Hub
05A green way forward
Green buildings a global trend
Arup continues to play an instrumental part in working to shape a better world by influencing policy and adding value on sustainable practices to our clients. Within Arup, the group has implemented a sustainability policy for the firm as a commitment to securing a sustainable future for our businesses, our people, our facilities and our external relationships. In Singapore, we have several qualified Greenmark managers who are well positioned to maximise the benefits of sustainability for our clients.
As always, you are welcome to visit us in the office at any time. We have grown to over 180 staff in Singapore – there are a number of new faces to meet as well as a multitude of exciting and different projects to take a look at. Wishing you a great year ahead and a prosperous Year of the Rat! André Lovatt Office Leader [email protected]
The Year of the Rat symbolises a time of hard work, activity and renewal and we are certainly looking forward to more work, activity and renewal for the upcoming year.
A cause for major celebration was our recent win on the $1.9 billion Singapore Sports Hub, Premier Park project. This win is a wonderful reward for the entire team who are passionately driven by the goal of producing a world class sporting facility for Singapore. In our role as sports architects and engineers, we will have the unique opportunity to bring to bear a truly multidisciplinary approach to the project.
One of the emerging themes of our times is sustainability and the environment. The world appears to have accepted that we all must manage our resources better: from our use of energy and water to how we deal with carbon and other waste production.
02Marina Bay Sands: ArtScience Museum
Structural feat with 3D innovation
01Singapore Sports Hub
On the winning team
06Downtown Line Stage 2
Advanced consultancy
03Arup people
Adding value, inspiring others
04Transferring knowledge
True innovation is born
Arup people
André Lovatt, Office Leader
Profile
07High Speed One
On time, on budget
08Meet Michael McGowan
Infrastructure
It was a jubilant moment on 19 January 2008 when news broke that the Singapore Sports Hub team was selected as the preferred bidder, edging out both the Alpine & Singapore Gold Consortia. As partners of the winning bid team, Arup will be delivering both architecture and engineering designs for the $1.87 billion Premier Park project.
This is a truly rewarding breakthrough as it comes after a two year long design competition which had Arup offices from four different countries – Singapore, UK, Australia and Hong Kong working closely with the consortium to deliver the winning bid.
Arup Sport, our specialist sports architecture business, is the force behind the winning design of the ultra-efficient dome shaped national stadium. Working closely with co-designers DP Architects, the precinct is well positioned to be a vibrant venue, active 24 hours a day.
J Parrish (Arup Sport) who leads the design team says, “The strategy behind Premier Park is not just about the facilities or programmes or sporting stars. It’s in the creation of a community of sports and the contribution to a sporting culture that makes the whole project inspirational!” Incidentally, making the ‘Nation Feel Proud’ was the Consortium’s
winning slogan for the Premier Park. True to Arup’s total design philosophy, Arup tapped on its international multidiscipline network and collective years of experience to contribute to the winning strategy.
The dome shaped design has been developed utilising the most sophisticated design tools in the industry and drawing on many years experience on projects such as Manchester Stadium and the ‘Bird’s Nest’ structure.
J Parrish says, “Premier Park will be a major, world class achievement, both in terms of technological performance and as a response to the tropical climate and the special needs of the sporting community. The unique design of the dome stadium and moving roof will inspire engineers for decades to match its simplicity, elegance and efficiency. The park’s multiple spaces will provide the best quality sporting experience for everyone who visits or makes use of the facilities.”
Premier Park is scheduled for completion in 2011 and will replace Singapore’s 34 year old National Stadium.
Contact:
Peter Bowtell [email protected]
Project Credits
Arup scope: Architecture + Urban Design, Sports architecture, Masterplanning, Civil, Structural, Facade, Fire, Geotechnical, Acoustic + Audio visual, MEP, Public health engineering, Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD), Pedestrian modelling, IT + Communications, Sports lighting, Risk + Security (Blast engineering), Arena consulting + Vertical transportation, Advanced Research + Technology (Moving structures) Client: Dragages Singapore Pte Ltd Architect: Arup Sport + DP Architects Pte Ltd Project dates: 2006 – 2011
01: Singapore Sports Hub, on the winning team!
Images © Singapore Sports Hub Consortium
Architect J Parrish
Premier Park will be a thriving sports, entertainment and lifestyle
ecosystem.
A sure-winner in Singapore’s tropical climate – The Dome maximises natural ventilation and features an innovative energy efficient cooling system for each seat. Arup mobilised its skills on sustainability in
Europe & Australia to work on the cooling strategy.
Using this approach enabled the exchange of models directly with Boston-based Moshie Safdie Architects rather than using the more traditional workflow of 2D CAD files. This provided a significant reduction in modelling time, better coordinated documents, rapid concept evaluation, optimised designs, visualisation of complex technical issues and improved communication for the client. Chris adds, “Improved communication reduces unknown risk, promoting a coordinated ‘right first time’ approach. As a firm, we are committed to providing our clients with the highest level of service.” The 3D model which has been a fundamental part of the tender process has now been handed over to the contractor to produce construction shop drawings.
Contact:
Christopher Pynn [email protected]
CAD Manager, Christopher Pynn, says, “The use of our state-of-the-art modelling technology was crucial in engineering the complex structural steelwork of the ArtScience Museum in such a short time frame. By defining the geometry within the 3D model we have estimated an overall saving of more than three months off the overall programme, not to mention a substantial reduction in requests for information (RFI’s) from the contractors.”
The use of 3D modelling simplified the design and detailing of the complex shapes such as the curved fingers and supporting steelwork. More significantly, using 3D modelling enabled our engineers to find the optimum solution when there were changes to the primary steelwork control points, by exploring alternative framing options during the design development.
Chris says, “The combination of a parametrically driven model, with a fully three dimensional structural framing model allowed us to respond far more quickly to changes in architecture and the design surfaces than would have otherwise been possible. The initial 3D parametric model, allowed us to coordinate our structural framing with the architect’s spatial requirements. If for example, we encountered a clash which resulted in the architect having to refine the cladding surfaces, we could simply regenerate our structural frame direct from those new surfaces. We were then able to further use the parametric model to replicate the structural system across all 10 fingers even though the overall size of those fingers is significantly different.”
02: Marina Bay Sands – ArtScience Museum
The redevelopment of Marina Bay is creating a buzz in Singapore as it brings life and activity to Singapore’s waterfront. Construction of the Moshe Safdie-inspired Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort is a key part of this major extension to the CBD and is an architectural masterpiece in the making. Featuring three cascading hotel towers topped by a one hectare sky park, mesmerising floating crystal pavilions and a lotus-inspired ArtScience Museum, the remarkable design is set to become an engineering wonder.
Crowned by finger-like petals, the ArtScience Museum will project a powerful iconic presence that is set to dominate Singapore’s waterfront. At night the roof of the museum can be transformed into an amphitheatre with seating for a light and water show.
Given the complicated overall nature of the museum, Moshie Safdie Architects and Aedas knew that cutting edge 3D technology would be a fundamental part of the design process. Arup’s advanced 3D capability, now utilised on all of our projects, played a pivotal role in delivering this challenging project.
Project Credits
Arup scope: Civil, Structural, Geotechnical, Marine, Traffic, Fire, Facade, Acoustic, Risk and Security, 3D ModellingClient: Aedas Pte Ltd Architect: Moshe Safdie Associates and Aedas ArchitectsProject dates: 2006 – 2009
Structural feat accomplished with 3D innovation, cutting months off programme
“Previewing designs in real time before time and money is spent on construction naturally reduces waste, helping to make designs more sustainable.”
The 3D modelling software enabled the structural engineers to cope with the various changes in design and geometry that would occur throughout the duration of the project without compromising the
primary structure framing principles within the complex steelwork.
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The circular structure crowned by finger-like petals forms the roof of the building. At night, the same structure is transformed into an amphitheatre, enabling an exciting display
of light and laser shows. Image © Marina Bay Sands Pte. Ltd. 2006. All rights reserved.
Award-winning acoustics
Adding value
03: Arup People
The quality of our people is fundamental to our pursuit for excellent work. We congratulate our Senior Acoustic Consultant, Dr Xu Jingfeng, who was recognised for his contribution towards the research and advancement of Acoustics.
Dr Xu Jingfeng has recently been awarded with:
• AustralianAcousticalSociety(AAS) Excellence in Acoustics Award 2006
• AustralianInstituteofBuilding(AIB) Professional Excellence Award and Chapter President’s Award 2007
• ChartedInstituteofBuilding(CIOB) Australasia Excellent Building Postgraduate (Research) Award.
Jingfeng’s winning project, ‘Flat-walled multi-layered anechoic linings: optimisation and application’ was based on the work he undertook at the University of Sydney while completing his PhD, which provided a solution to the decade-long problem of optimising the composition of anechoic room linings. The technique has already been successfully applied in an auditory laboratory and a spatial audio-reproduction room. Required anechoic performances were achieved with a huge reduction in construction costs.
Contact:
Xu Jingfeng [email protected]
Senior Acoustic Consultant Dr Xu Jingfeng is constantly driven to create a balanced environment with optimal acoustic qualities.
Dr Chris Luebkeman, director of Arup’s Foresight, Innovation and Incubation group, was recently in town to share his insights at the Singapore Design Festival 2007.
Held from 28 November to 8 December 07, the theme for the 2007 Festival ‘Always a Better Way’ sought to challenge the mindset of design-thinking by encouraging the community to think, experiment and innovate, thereby transforming the design culture in Singapore.
Stimulating thinking about the way the world is shifting is what Luebkeman does best.
Addressing both audiences at the Interactive Digital Media Design R&D and the Singapore Archifest 07 forum, Luebkeman shared his insights on the global issues and its potential impact on the way we live and work in the future. Luebkeman says, “What we’re concerned about at Arup is helping to provide an opportunity to stimulate thought on global trends and what it takes to design a sustainable future. ‘Total Design’ is not new to Arup, being introduced more than 60 years ago by Arup’s engineer and philosopher founder, Ove Arup. The constant exploration of forward trends and innovative approaches drive us to shape a better world.”
Contact:
André Lovatt [email protected]
The future for all of us seems to be towards urban living – more, bigger, taller, denser cities. Is it possible for our cities to become sustainable so that we can continue living in them, even in a future of climate change and scarce resources?
Peter Head, Arup Director of Sustainability, who is also Commissioner on the London Sustainable Development Commission, believes so. It is precisely his expertise on this area of Environmental Sustainability that led the Ministry of National Development (MND) to specially invite Head to Singapore in October 2007 to share his expertise. During his three day trip, Head delivered a lecture on ‘Sustainable Development and Competitiveness of Cities’ to industry players, academics and civil servants. Key features of the Dongtan eco-city project in Shanghai were showcased to the Singapore audience. Designed by Arup as the world’s true eco-city, Dongtan will be close to carbon neutral. It will generate all its own power from sun, wind, biofuels and recycled waste. Food will come from city and rural farms; public transport will be hydrogen and/or electric powered and zero-emission.
Head says, “Cities built on eco-principles will be desirable places to live. We already know that developers can charge a premium for homes in pleasant environments – near water, for example. And parents will pay more for homes within walking distance to good schools.” Head believes that the benefits of driving business with eco-principles will become more apparent. Governments will get improved economic, social and environmental performance; the private sector will get new markets and a better return on capital.
Peter made the point that Singapore has the opportunity to build on the excellent existing work on water recycling and efficiency and could look to produce much more of its own energy from waste, biomass and solar. Another point he made is that modern technology could enable Singapore to grow a good deal of its own fruit and vegetables in city farms using hydroponics water systems and mineral nutrients from city waste streams. He finished by saying that Singapore, with its excellent shipping access, could become a regional base for companies that focus on remanufactured products with much greater resource efficiency.
Contact:
Russell Cole [email protected]
inspiring others
stimulating thinking & inspiring design for the future unlocking value from our carbon inefficiencies
Dr Chris Luebkeman inspires design-thinking at Singapore
Design Festival 2007.
Peter Head shares his expertise on Environmental Sustainability and how Singapore can benefit from it.
Green buildings a global trend True innovation is born from new perspectives
04: Transferring knowledge
To further such innovation, Arup was invited to share its perspectives on innovative engineering at the 3rd IStrucE Asia Pacific Forum. Jointly organised by IES / IStructE, the forum was held in Singapore on 2-3 November and included speakers from the UK, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.
Associate Director, Brendon McNiven presented some of the interesting engineering challenges behind the iconic structure of the Singapore Flyer. As a structural engineer specialising in architectural building designs, Brendon brought together his experience on both the London Eye and the Singapore Flyer, making the session a truly insightful one.
Contact:
Brendon McNiven [email protected]
Brendon McNiven pictured against the backdrop of the Singapore Flyer.
Green buildings a global trend
The world is rapidly realising that the Earth’s resources and environment need careful care, protection and management. Rating and certification schemes promoting sustainable practices set industry benchmarks and often provide practical ways for buildings to work towards these targets.
The benefits they may bring to individual buildings as well as the whole sector have long been underestimated. Only until recently, when words and phrases like green building, sustainability, and carbon neutrality started appearing frequently in the media, did these schemes get their long overdue recognition.
These certification schemes, especially the most prominent and reliable ones, have raised public awareness and motivated the industry to be more sustainable in design and construction practices. For Arup, it also means a window of new opportunity. Our expertise and experience in sustainable development has enabled us to make great contributions in many significant projects. However, sailing with the momentum created by these schemes gives extra power of persuasion about the value of our sustainable services.
One of these schemes is the BCA Green Mark in Singapore. Three of Arup Singapore’s staff, Russell Cole, Majid Sapar and Wu Xuchao attended the Green Mark Manager course (second batch) and passed the exam at the end of 2007, hence they will be amongst the first Green Mark Managers in Singapore. To promote the Green Mark Manager Scheme, BCA will award additional marks to projects assessed by Green Mark Managers.
The Green Mark scheme was launched by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) to promote environmental awareness in the construction and real estate sectors. It is a benchmarking scheme which aims to achieve a sustainable built environment by incorporating best practices in environmental design and construction, and the adoption of green building technologies.
Similar to the US LEED (The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and other green building ratings systems in other countries, Green Mark assesses five key environmental areas:
• energyefficiency
• waterefficiency
• siteandprojectmanagement
• indoorenvironmentalquality
• environmentalinnovations.
The meaningful differentiation brought to buildings by the Green Mark and similar schemes makes the benefits of sustainable development more tangible. Higher energy and resource efficiency, better working environments, higher productivity and minimal impact to the built environment, are some of the benefits. Studies have also shown that green buildings are commanding higher rentals.
05: A green way forward
Essential to our sustainable approach is a thorough understanding of the interactions between people, buildings and the environment. We comprehend sustainability as a holistic concept but have the capability to break it down into measurable components.
Arup’s aim is always to work in harmony with the vision of a building’s design team while striving to reach the optimum set of compromises between the conflicting requirements of: view, vision, daylight, glare and solar control, thermal comfort and indoor environmental quality (IEQ), user interface, ventilation effectiveness, system operability and energy efficiency. This enables us to work out feasible solutions to complex projects for our clients.
Contact:
Russell Cole [email protected]
06: Downtown Line - Stage 2
Project Credits
Arup scope: Rail Infrastructure, Geotechnical, TunnellingClient: Land Transport Authority (LTA)
Bringing best practice and experience to Singapore’s rail network
On the 30 November 2007 Arup was appointed by the LTA (Land Transport Authority) to undertake the advanced consultancy for the southern section of the Downtown Line Stage 2. Stage 2 of the Downtown Line will extend the LTA’s underground Downtown Line along the Bukit Timah Corridor. It will be about 16km long and include 12 new underground rail stations.
The southern section to which Arup has been appointed is about 5km in length and includes five stations, three of which interchange with existing underground stations. There will be some very challenging multi-modal interchanges to design the new works around. In addition, all main geological formations found in Singapore will be encountered including Kallang, Old Alluvium, Jurong, Fort Canning Boulder Beds, and Bukit Timah Granites. These pose their own unique construction challenges, particularly where they interface.
Some of the key deliverables for the project include:
• alignmentoptimization
• geologicalinterpretationand establishment of baselines
• developmentoftheconstruction methodology including temporary traffic management
• temporaryworksoutlinedesign
• environmentalimpactassessment.
Michael says, “This project is very important for Arup in Singapore, further consolidating our position with the LTA and enhancing our profile in the rail infrastructure market in Singapore. With sustainable engineering at the forefront of our thinking, we ensure that our projects not only take into account the environmental impact but that it provides value for the client.”
The project will be delivered from multiple Arup offices including Singapore, Brisbane and Hong Kong. In addition, specialist reviews will be provided by the London office.
Contact:
Michael McGowan [email protected]
A wider rail network for Singapore commuters by 2020.
07: High Speed One (Channel Tunnel Rail Link)
Project Credits
Arup scope: Acoustic, Art/Graphics/Model Making, Bridges, Communications, Controls, Economics, Environmental, Fire, Geological, Geotechnical, Infrastructure, Materials, Mechanical (HVAC), Project Management, Railways, Roads, Stress Analysis, Structural, Town Planning, Transport Planning, Tunnelling Client: Land Transport Authority (LTA), UK
The Queen applauds Arup’s newest UK infrastructure works
In early November last year, the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh officially opened the newly refurbished St Pancras Station, marking the opening of HS1 (High Speed One). More commonly known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, this £5.8 billion project consists of a 109km long railway which connects London, Lille, Brussels and Paris and has been described as the UK’s most ambitious rail construction project to date and the most audacious UK civil engineering project of the 20th century.
Arup has been involved in the project for 18 years and led the design and management of the technical aspects during the 10 year design and construction phase. Among the many Arup disciplines involved in the design and management of the project were fire engineering, planning, building services, structural, infrastructure and environmental.
Arup also won many awards for work on this project, specifically for environmental design to ensure the railway made the least impact possible on its surroundings. This included the planting of over one million trees, creating new habitat for wildlife and ensuring noise and vibrations did not affect local communities.
Contact:
Michael McGowan [email protected]
The Queen’s inspection.
High Speed One..
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www.arup.comwe shape a better world
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08: News in brief
Having been with Arup since 1996, Michael heads the relatively new but fast growing Infrastructure team in our Singapore office. A geotechnical engineer by training with 14 years of experience in geotechnical and civil engineering, Michael has been a major contributor to the Singapore office leadership.
Michael says, “The projected infrastructure projects planned in Singapore over the next 10 years are not only tremendous but incredibly challenging. These are indeed excellent opportunities for us to bring together our global expertise and local knowledge to deliver holistic, sustainable solutions that will help improve people’s lives. We are continuing to build up our multidisciplinary team to take full advantage of these fantastic opportunities.”
Meet Michael McGowan Infrastructure
In the next Profile...
Michael brings to the team international experience gained on major infrastructure and building projects in Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Ireland.
Major infrastructure projects he is currently involved in include:
• DowntownLineStage1&2 Advanced Consultancies
• BugisStation&AssociatedTunnels
• MarinaCostalExpresswayD&CTenderBids
• SentosaLink.
Contact:
Michael McGowan [email protected]
Arup – the engineers behind some of Beijing’s most exciting sporting venues. Terry Hill, Arup Chairman
Michael McGowan, Associate Director
Images © Arup + Ben McMillan
The Singapore Office was proud to host two special groups of Arup visitors to Singapore on the week of 20 November 2007 – Arup Chairman Terry Hill and the Australasian Regional Board members.
Our visitors were equally enthusiastic about the exciting developments that were transforming Singapore’s cityscape and Arup’s contribution to a great number of them.
Special Arup visitors