Republic Plaza, Singapore

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共和大厦 Republic Plaza

Alternative name	Bank of Tokyo-Mistsubishi (former name)
Location	Raffles Place, Downtown Core, Singapore
Construction period	1986 - 1995
Primary usage	Office, Retail
Opening date	1995
Structural height	280m, 919 ft
Floor count	66 and 1 basement; 20 and 1 basement (Republic Plaza 2)
Owner	City Developments Limited
Management	City Developments Limited
Developer	City Developments Limited
Architect	Kisho Kurokawa Architects & Associates
Main contractor	Shimizu Corporation
Website	www.cdl.com.sg

Republic Plaza is one of the three tallest skyscrapers in Singapore, located at the Southern end of Raffles Place in the Downtown Core, the central business district of Singapore. It shares the title of "tallest building" with the OUB Centre and UOB Plaza One. Built at 280 metres tall, it was completed in 1995, and incorporates earthquake proof features despite the city being relatively far from earthquake zones.

The main entrance to the tower is at D'Almeida Street. The building was designed to maximize space. Therefore, a simple square form with chamfered corners at the base was adopted for the design of the tower. The tower tapers as it rises, forming some triangular elements, to improve stability to strong winds and improve wind loading. As with many other towers, it consists of a central core containing basic functions such as emergency stairways and elevator shafts, wrapped around by lettable office space.

1 Architecture
2 Facts and figures
3 Trivia
4 See also

[edit] Architecture

The tower is turned 45 degrees from the axis of the ground floor level to maintain sea views from the upper floors .
The building has 15 double-decker vertical lifts.
The tower was designed to reflect a subtle Oriental influence.
The main lobby is four storeys high, finished in polished granite and ceramics.
The lobby is framed by concrete-filled tubular steel columns.
The exterior façade transitions from granite with strip windows to tinted wall glass, smoothly inclining from an octagonal base to a square top.

[edit] Facts and figures

The tower rose rapidly despite building complications which included an MRT line beside the site, historically important buildings nearby, as well as natural boulders and abandoned piles underground.
The tower was built on a caisson with more than 900 mini piles.
The construction was completed in just under two years using the fast track process.
A total of 8,600 tons of structural steel and 31,000 cubic metres of concrete was used.
After nightfall, only the glass top is visible when it is lit from within.

[edit] Trivia

For the Ren Ci Charity Show in 2006, the hospital's Chief Executive Officer Venerable Shi Ming Yi did a stunt which was to walk on two wooden planks at the rooftop of the building. There was to be a second segment where he balances on a wooden plank, but due to bad weather conditions, this was shelved for the safety of the Venerable Ming Yi.