Singapore city skyline to get new night glow

23 buildings in Marina Bay, CBD submit lighting proposals to the Govt
Lee Siew Hua, Straits Times 19 Sep 08;

A NEW city skyline will arise over the next couple of years when 23 buildings turn on the lights at night.

Maybank, The Sail condo and the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort are among the buildings that have sent lighting proposals to the Government. The plans include how they will illuminate their roofs or accentuate their facades.

This light-up is part of Singapore's plan to create a night buzz for a distinctive city, said Mrs Cheong Hoon Kean, chief executive officer of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

Speaking to The Straits Times ahead of the Formula One night race next week, she said: 'We can look forward to a signature night skyline in the next couple of years, when the buildings in Marina Bay and Central Business District (CBD) are completed and external lighting is installed.' Beautiful lighting will create 'a captivating night scene that enhances our city's appeal', she added.

An artist's rendering of the reborn skyline was completed yesterday, piecing together the 23 lighting proposals.

The buildings appear subtly illuminated, not flooded with light.

Good lighting, Mrs Cheong said, is not about being the brightest or flashiest. Asian cities tend to be over-lit, she added, but this is not Singapore's ethos.

The underlying principle is to stay 'elegant and tasteful, and sensitive to a building's architecture', she said. 'Look at Paris, the romantic City of Lights.'

According to URA officials, elegant lighting should bring out the architectural design elements of a building. So, the emphasis includes illumination of the roof or crown of the building, and lighting walkways on the first storey to create spaces ideal for outdoor activities.

Lights can also be programmable. Day-to-day lighting can be 'a little bit more calm', Mrs Cheong said. The look can be 'celebratory' for festive seasons.

Building owners are hiring lighting experts like Mr Bo Steiber to give their properties a glow at night. The founder of Bo Steiber Lighting Design is lighting up the new tower of OUB Centre at 1, Raffles Place.

His earlier work includes illuminating Shanghai's Xintiandi lifestyle and nightlife district, and the Esplanade's Theatres on the Bay.

The Swede, a Singapore permanent resident, said his energy-efficient lighting of OUB Centre will 'accentuate the tower's angular, linear, diamond features'. He lauded the URA's 'good initiative' to beautify the skyline.

The URA's Lighting Masterplan was introduced in 2006. To encourage more buildings in Marina Bay and the CBD to light up, incentives were rolled out. New developments and buildings being revamped can get as much as 2 per cent additional gross floor area if they light up.

Cash incentives from a $10 million fund to offset the capital costs of new lighting are also granted, particularly for existing structures.

The URA also had a night lighting plan in 1995 for the civic district, the cultural and historical heart of the city. Some 90 per cent of the buildings, bridges and public spaces there were lit.

Skyline tobe all lit up
STB, URA and building owners making plansfor special lighting
Teo Xuanwei Today Online 19 Sep 08;

WITH the world’s first Formula 1night race to be beamed to350 million fans globally, Singapore authorities are pulling out the stops to ensure thedowntown skyline forms ablazing backdrop.

The reason why that will be a challenge: The race circuit’s 1,500 light projectors, which are four times brighter than average stadium floodlights, so as to simulate daylight, could easily wash out the normal Singapore nightscape.

That is why the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Urban Redevelopment Authority are working closely with trackside building owners to install special lighting during the race weekend of Sept 26 to 28.

Some, like Marina Mandarin Hotel, even have their own fancy lighting arrangements to add spice to the razzle dazzle.

The hotel will be projecting nine slides of race-related artistic works by German architectural projection specialists Casa Magica onto the building’s facade on the three race nights, a spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, five key landmarks along the race circuit — Anderson Bridge, City Hall, The Esplanade, Old Supreme Court and the Victoria Theatre Clock Tower — that will be featured prominently by the racecameras will be specially lit up, STB’s assistant chief executive (Brand and Communications) Ken Low told Today.

Other downtown buildings in the Marina Centre area and Central Business District, such as Raffles City, Maybank Tower and UOB Plaza, have also been encouraged to keep their building lights on during the race weekend.

“Because it is a race held at night, Singapore’s cityscape around the Marina Centre area needs to be made visible in order to showcase itself to the world,” said Mr Low. “Lighting of the skyline is an integral part of the event, and will help create a vibrant and dynamic night race atmosphere, and experience for spectators and television broadcast globally.”

The Singapore Flyer will also have 15 different lighting patterns for the races, said a spokesperson.

For instance, the giant observation wheel will be illuminated in red and white to represent our national colours before each race. Additional floodlights will also be mounted on the Flyer to make it more prominent.

The crowns of the 50- and 28-storey towers of One Raffles Quay will also be lit up — similar to what was done during National Day — to mark the occasion.

Said its asset management general manager, Mr Wilson Kwong: “With F1 in the city, the eyes of the world will be on Singapore. As building owners, we want to help make sure the view is a spectacular one. We’re doing our part to make sure there is a great backdrop for the race.”

Mrs Night Buzz revs up evening economy

Lively nights will add extra oomph to our lifestyle and economy. But there's more to nightlife than pubbing and clubbing. Think romantic Parisienne lights, families enjoying a night out and festivals, says URA's chief executive Cheong Koon Hean. It's all happening here, she tells Insight ahead of the F1 night race.

Lee Siew Hua, Straits Times 19 Sep 08;

AS SINGAPOREAN homebodies sleep, an evening economy has started to spring up around them.

Just ask Mrs Night Buzz.

Few know this but Mrs Cheong Koon Hean, 51, has for two years led a panel of policymakers to multiply round-the-clock leisure choices and nurture a new evening economy.

This will rev up the city's hip factor in the global race for mobile talent.

It also creates memories and rootedness for residents.

'If you have a great nightlife, it is really a differentiating factor for Singapore,' she tells Insight ahead of the world's first Formula One night race next week - surely the mother of all night events.

Calling nightlife a 'comparative advantage', she adds: 'Cities compete against one another and lifestyle is a very, very major consideration when people make choices of where to live or to work.'

Almost evangelical, Mrs Cheong, the zestful chief executive of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), highlights the value of the evening economy.

To grow this, it needs a deft interplay of government resources and the imagination of the private sector.

The best outcome? In her eyes, it will bring about a richer quality of life for all, a distinctive Singapore lifestyle and city, and national wealth too.

Plug and play

NIGHT buzz will be focused on the Singapore River, Marina Bay, the Bras Basah/Bugis enclave and Orchard Road.

'It is not realistic to expect buzz everywhere. Not everybody wants that,' Mrs Cheong reasons.

'You must have some places that are more passive for variety and contrast.'

For the four chosen zones, the complex building blocks of a lively nightscene involve 'hardware' (elegant lighting to engender a City of Lights, for instance) and more importantly, 'software' (bright ideas for a night culture).

First, the hardware: 'If you want a nightscape that is conducive for activities, you need the right infrastructure.'

This means adding public spaces and promenades for public events, and preparing a ready electrical supply.

'Organisers can just plug and play in future,' she says. 'The electricity comes out from the ground. It's very, very unobtrusive.' The days of noisy generators are fading.

A floating stage on the Singapore River is another example she cites. It can be rented for performances, and can move up and down the river.

Bridges over the historic river will also glow with new ambient lighting, in time for the F1 season next weekend.

Where neon lights beckon

THE night skyline is a big star of the planned infrastructure.

The URA formed a lighting masterplan for the city centre in 2006. It gives incentives to building owners to light up facades in Marina Bay and the Central Business District.

A total of 23 proposals have been received from owners of buildings that include Maybank, the OUB Centre and the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort.

'You can give buildings a lot of character with night lighting. It can inspire you. There's a certain appeal that is different from daytime,' Mrs Cheong says. 'Look at Paris, the romantic City of Lights.'

The key is to light up 'tastefully and elegantly' like the European cities. She feels that Asian cities tend to be overlit.

That rules out neon lights? 'Neon has its role in the entertainment districts,' she replies. So New York's 42nd Street, with its pulsating advertising signs, is ablaze with neon.

'We also want that but only for the very busy areas.

'We want to introduce that more into Bugis because it has entertainment,' says the architect-planner who became CEO of URA in April 2004 and has a hand in Singapore's urban transformation, including Marina Bay.

As for software, this means a culture of more night events. For this, the Government is joining forces with private enterprises.

'Many global cities have these 'must-sees' that create very great vibrancy and will draw people from all over the world. Some of these can happen at night,' she says.

She remembers that as a student at University College in London, she braved the cold to attend concerts in Hyde Park.

And New York has its New Year countdown in the middle of winter. Multitudes turn up to see the ball drop in Times Square while millions watch it on TV.

Singapore, too, can create such events and memories. The thousands of lit-up 'wishing spheres' that float on Marina Bay during the New Year countdown can be one new tradition, she suggests.

The private sector is key to the evening economy, she stresses. The Government plays the role of enabler by raising the right infrastructure, she says.

It will also regulate with a light touch and organise mega events on a national scale.

Old pool, new idea

SO THERE is an interplay.

'We want to work with the private sector and use its enterprising spirit to have a multiplier effect,' says Mrs Cheong.

In fact, the private sector has been busy spinning events, notably over the past eight years or so, she says. Among these are Ballet Under The Stars, now in its 12th year.

The recent SingFest - an outdoor musical festival - featured world-famous acts like Alicia Keys and also local bands in August.

And Chivas, the purveyor of scotch whisky, is using the old River Valley Swimming Pool to host a stylish party and dance act during the inaugural Singapore River Festival, which starts today.

So, entrepreneurs and food-and-beverage outlets can easily 'latch' onto such mega events organised by the Government, she points out.

Already, outsiders have taken note of Singapore's night buzz.

The island was ranked fifth globally in nightlife last year. It was No. 2 in the nightlife quotient in 2006.

These rankings, known as the Country Brand Index, have been compiled annually by global brand consultancy FutureBrand since 2005.

Mrs Cheong is not losing sleep over Singapore's slip in ranking, saying: 'If you're among the top 10 or 15 cities, you're not bad. You're on the radar screen.'

Visitors are impressed with the nightlife here. 'In our own surveys, the tourists actually give us a higher rating on our nightlife than the locals,' she says. 'Surprising, isn't it?

'Maybe visitors and foreigners make a point to find out where they can go. Maybe we need to tell Singaporeans about the places they can go to.'

She is certainly keen to show Singaporeans how possible it is to stretch each day into the cool tropical night.

'Nightlife is not only about shopping, clubbing and pubbing,' she asserts. 'It's really to encourage people to have a great night out.'

That includes families. People rarely link children and old folk with nightlife but, eyes sparkling, Mrs Cheong virtually sings out the ideas:

'A night out under the stars, night out for a romantic stroll along the waterfront or Fort Canning, night out for a barbecue, night out for a concert, night out for biking, night out for a great party!'

She adds: 'I always say a night out can be anything. It can be for people who prefer the more quiet life to the really more busy and buzzy activities.'

Night-loving families

PERSONALLY, she includes elderly family members when she takes evening walks on the Southern Ridges, a series of hill trails linking Mount Faber, Telok Blangah Hill and the Kent Ridge parks.

Here, the bridges and forest walk nature trail are fully lit. The elderly in wheelchairs show up too, she says.

'If you can wheel your disabled family member or bring your elderly parents to the Southern Ridges, my goodness, you can certainly go to the Bras Basah night festival,' she argues cheerfully.

The inaugural festival in July involved fun such as street performances, and free museum visits till 2am.

Also enjoyable for her: fishing at Changi Point or Pasir Ris ponds, where it is possible to dangle rods all night because of 'our beautiful cool weather'.

Indeed, Singapore's weather and safety are ideal conditions for an evening economy, she says.

For a sense of the potential of this evening economy, she pulls a parallel from tourist expenditure figures.

Malls taking part in the Singapore Tourism Board's late-night shopping scheme enjoyed an average rise of 15 per cent in sales, compared to non-late nights. This is for the one-year period between September 2007 and August 2008.

On Saturdays, shopping hours stretch till 11pm for participating malls.

Overall, tourists spent $8.42 billion in 2006. They lavished 56 per cent of this sum on shopping (44 per cent) plus food and beverage (12 per cent).

This is relevant, she feels, as much shopping and dining occur in the evening.

So night buzz makes sense - and makes money too. It is as much an economic component of cities as a measure of lifestyle quality.

Scanning the globe, she singles out the Spaniards, who are still out on the streets at midnight after a late dinner, as a people with a night-loving culture.

Closer home, Seoul's Daehongno University Street brims with energy by day and night. Mini-theatres abound, and also shops and food outlets. Young people play sports and perform music. There is a whiff of this in the Bras Basah/Bugis zone.

Even as the Singapore evening economy fires up over time, she could not resist this parting shot: 'Have a great night out!'

More links

posted by Ria Tan at 9/19/2008 09:08:00 AM

labels , ,