10 Most Iconic Building Structures In S’pore With Some So Low-Profile You Probably Didn’t Notice Them Before

Last Updated on 2022-05-15 , 1:38 pm

Now, I know what you’re thinking.

‘Iconic’ and ‘We’ve Never Really Noticed Before’ in the same sentence? 

What’s this, an article dedicated to oxymorons?

Well, I can’t fault you for perceiving it that way.

But you see; despite how the headline sounds, it’s not an oxymoron. Yeah. Incredibly, as contradictory as it sounds…

There are iconic building structures on this list that you might have never even heard of before.

Alright so maybe you’re really doubtful right now. Real suspicious of us too. Perhaps you’re even considering deleting the Goody Feed app off your phone and starting life anew. But here’s the thing:

We were not joking around when we created this list…

And you can, really, just see for yourself.

10 Most Iconic Building Structures In S’pore We’ve Never Really Noticed Before

1. Sky Habitat In Bishan

Touted as the Step Pyramid of Bishan, or the Great Pyramid of Bishan, this 509-unit high-rise building was devised by Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie, whose works include $8 billion Marina Bay Sands integrated resort and Jewel Changi Airport.

With its 38-storey towers connected by sky bridges and topped with an infinity pool, Sky Habitat was conceived as a middle-income housing project in Bishan.

The 99-year leasehold condominium was completed in April, and was developed jointly by CapitaLand, Mitsubishi Estate Asia and Shimizu Corp.

Location: Bishan Street 15, Singapore

2. The Pinnacle @ Duxton

This 50-storey tower is reportedly the leading exemplification of Singapore’s “groundbreaking approach to residential structures”.

The design was also supposedly the fruit of a worldwide competition, which managed to draw in more than 200 entries.

Location: 1 Cantonment Road The Pinnacle @ Duxton, Singapore 080001 Singapore

3. Parkview Square

 

Known as ‘the Gotham building’ by locals, Parkview Square is an Art Deco monolith that’s designed by Singapore’s DP Architects and James Adams Design of USA.

And yes, its nickname is attributed to the majestic exterior of the building, with bronze, granite and glass combining to form one particularly ‘foreboding-looking’ building.

Location: 600 North Bridge Road Parkview Square, Singapore 188778 Singapore

4. The Hive, NTU

The Hive may be a common sight for NTU students, but to the rest of Singapore, it’s just that.

A hive, whose beauty remains enclosed and out of reach.

Designed by famous British designer Thomas Heatherwick, the $45 million eight-storey building serves as a hub for the university’s novel ‘flipped classroom’ teaching method: wherein students view lectures online and use class time to delve deeper into the topic.

Also, it looks distinctly like a dim sum basket, a notion which would surely appeal to the most hardcore char siew pau fans.

Location: 52 Nanyang Ave Singapore 639816

5. The Interlace

(Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article carried the wrong image of Interlace. We sincerely apologise for the oversight and have assigned the writer and editor to stare at the building in silence for 41 minutes to reflect on their mistakes.)

The Interlace may be short compared to some buildings on this list, but it’s by no means any less iconic. Despite a height of just 90m, The Interlace hosts over 1000 apartments on a floor count of 25, with around 43 elevators.

It’s also designed in a contemporary style, with an outlook that resembles 31 bricks irregularly stacked upon each other.

It took six years to complete.

Location: 180 Depot Road, Singapore 109684

6. AXA Tower

Considered to be the world’s tallest cylindrical building, the AXA tower, which is located at 8 Shenton Way, stands at a whopping height of 235m and boasts 16 Double Decker elevators.

It has a total of 52 floors and is reputed to offer a 360-degree bird’s eye view.

7. People’s Park Complex

Hailed as a masterpiece of 1970s experimental architecture, this iconic mustard yellow building took inspiration from the Brutalist architecture style and actually finished in raw concrete before going through several re-transformations.

It now serves as a mixed-use building and boasts a rooftop carpark which will not go out of place in your personal Instagram feed.

Location: 1 Park Road Singapore 059108

8. Tree House, Bukit Timah

Touted to be the world’s largest vertical garden, Tree House is an eco-friendly condominium which holds a place in the Guinness World Records in 2014 for its specially designed structure.

As its name implies, the vertical garden reduces the estate’s carbon footprint by lowering the energy required to cool indoor spaces.

It’s also equipped with heat-reducing windows and proximity sensors (for lights).

Other features include a Rain spa and an Aqua-gym.

Location: 60 Chestnut Avenue, Singapore 679493

9. Tanjong Pagar Center

Tanjong Pagar Center, also known as Guoco Tower, is located in Tanjong Pagar and is currently the tallest of the skyscrapers in Singapore.

At 290m, it actually exceeds the height limit for Singapore but was granted leeway as its location fails to interfere with designated flight paths.

It was completed in 2016 and boasts a total of 64 floors (with 3 situated below ground level).

Location: 1 Wallich Street, Singapore 078881

10. Parkroyal on Pickering

Situated beside Chinatown MRT Station, PARKROYAL on Pickering is designed to be built like an office and hotel in a garden.

Boasting layers of greenery, the unique building consists of sky gardens, reflective pools and plant walls, and is generally impressive for a high-rise building.

Location: 3 Upper Pickering Street Singapore, 058289

Iconic… and relatively low profile

And there you have it, folks. Ten building structures which are both iconic… and relatively low-profile. Of course, there are many other reputable places with a curious lack of visitors, but we’ll probably need a longer list to fit them all in.

“Idea ah.” – Editor 2020

But of course, an unnecessarily long article isn’t practical in any sense so I would strongly advise against that.

P.s. Please feel free to tell us in the comments section whether the buildings on this list are indeed as low-profile as we’ve made them out to be!

Featured Image: commons.wikimedia.org + wikipedia.com