The new National Gallery is housed in the former Supreme Court and City Hall buildings, both fronting the Padang. The design elegantly integrates the two buildings at the roof level through the use of a linear draped canopy supported by tree-like columns.

The challenge of the project is in retaining the character and ambience of the former buildings while creating a modern art gallery – a blend of old and new. Key features such as the facades, the main staircases, the Surrender Chamber in the City Hall and the main court in the former Supreme Court are kept. The new roof canopy filters out direct sunlight, bathing the roof-top spaces in a soft, natural light. The two buildings are linked at the new basement level, which serve as the entrance to the Gallery. The existing entrances are kept and new ones are opened up to make the buildings more permeable at street level. A collaboration between studioMilou Singapore and CPG Consultants Pte Ltd.

The Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) conducted for this project covered the assessment of the existing traffic situation on the roads surrounding the site, assessment of the existing pedestrian movement flows, conducting traffic surveys, forecasting trips generated by the NAG, sizing of transport facilities and recommending suitable locations for each facility, assessment of the impact of the NAG generated traffic on the surrounding road network using Signalised and un-signalised Intersection Design and Research Aid (SIDRA) Intersection software, and recommendation of improvements to traffic junctions and pedestrian facilities where necessary.

Building Height

25 metres

Building Material

Largely structural steel beams for levels 1 and above, with reinforced concrete floor slabs on steel decking and composite columns. The basement is made of reinforced concrete structures.

Innovative Technology Used

1. Extensive controlled demolition using a myriad of tools, like saw-cutting, wire-saw cutting, hacking remotely using robots, to separate existing structures to be preserved from those that can be demolished;
2. Shoring and underpinning the free-standing 25m high façade of the City Hall building, with a grid network of needle and underpinning RC beams supported by micropiles, so as to give a sturdy foundation for the facade and erecting tower frames of flying steel struts and king-posts to shore up the facade laterally.
3. Suspending the City Hall Chamber located on the 3rd floor in mid-air, while removing the lower floors below and adding a basement beneath this preserved space. Jacks were used and adapted from Bridge construction to ensure proper and even load transfer to all parts of the preserved City Hall Chamber building;
4. Top-down basement construction method employed, to stiffen the basement retaining walls and minimise excessive movements of the facade walls during the basement excavation.

Highlights

A structural steel “tree” that mimics nature – with a main vertical “tree-trunk” and a wide-spread network of “tree branches” – defies the usual convention of structures with vertical columns and horizontal beams because the tree branches spread out from the trunk in a radial manner, exactly like a real tree. This tree-like steel structure supports the roof facade of glazing and screening panels.

Awards

BCA Green Mark Award Singapore 2012 – GoldPlus

URA Architectural Heritage Awards 2015

SIA-Nparks Skyrise Greenery Awards 2015 – Community Facility (Excellence)

SIA Architectural Design Awards 2015 – Conservation Category (Honourable Mention)

SIA Architectural Design Awards 2015 – Institutional Category (Design Award)

President’s Design Award 2015 – Design of the Year

Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) Singapore Structural Awards 2016 – Award for Structural Heritage

Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) Singapore Structural Awards 2016 – Special Mention Award

International Space Design Award 2016 – Best Public Architecture Design

National Architecture Award 2016

Australian Institute of Architects – International Chapter Architecture Award (Public Architecture)

Chicago Athenaeum Award 2017

BCA Design and Engineering Safety Excellence Awards 2018 – Institutional Category (Merit)

IES Prestigious Engineering Achievement Awards 2018