17 August 1996

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The ground-breaking ceremony for the new Ministry of Education building will be held on Sat, 17 Aug 96. Mr Lee Yock Suan, Minister for Education will be the Guest-of-Honour at the ground breaking on-site at North Buona Vista Road .

2 The existing MOE building at Kay Siang Road was built in the late 1960s. It comprises a 12-storey main block, a seven-storey annex, an educational television production facility and four three-storey blocks.

3 Over the last 20 years, MOE's staff strength has increased steadily due to the expansion of the Ministry's tasks and responsibilities. The buildings are now unable to accomodate all of MOE's staff. Several of MOE's divisions and units, such as Curriculum Planning (CP) Division, the Curriculum Development Institute of Singapore (CDIS), Gifted Education Branch, the Extra Curricular Activities Branch, the Specialised Pupil Programmes Branch and parts of the Examinations Branch are located outside the main HQ building in various locations.

Urban Redevelopment Authority has earmarked this site for residential and commercial development in the long term. Hence the Ministry has agreed to relocate to a new site to enable the development plans to be realised.

5 The new North Buona Vista site lies within the proposed South-West technology corridor, which encompasses the National University of Singapore, the Singapore Polytechnic, the Institute of Technical Education Headquarter and the Science Park. The relocation of MOE to an area of educational and hi-tech development and usage is appropriate and compatible with its mission for the 21st Century.

6 The new MOE HQ building will comprise a 24-storey Tower block interconnected with a five-storey Podium block around an open courtyard.

7 The Tower block consists of two asymmetric, staggered forms and it offers superb views of the surroundings from the upper floors, especially from the function room on the top-most floor. The Podium is a lively interplay of primary forms with landscape decks and over-hanging pergola roofs.

8 The new MOE building aims to project an image of dignity and presence befitting a Ministry HQ. The building will be crisply clad in metal curtain-walling. It responds to the local climate through generous provision of sunscreens and lush landscaping throughout the building. The facade, sunscreens and roofs will be detailed in a contemporary manner.

9 The Tower block will house the offices of the majority of the MOE HQ staff. Access to the Tower offices will be via a three-storey high Entrance Lobby. On almost every floor, there will be a reception area, meeting/interview rooms, as well as pantry for the convenience of staff.

10 The Podium houses the more public related areas. These include the Cafeteria, the Multi-Purpose Registration area and the 450-seat Auditorium. The Podium also houses the training rooms as well as the ETV Production facilities for CDIS. In addition, the MOE Recreation Club and the Child Care Centre and adjoining play areas will also be located in the Podium.

11 The MOE HQ building will be an IT-enabled and intelligent building. A basic premise of an intelligent building is that there would be a certain built-in flexibility in the network system and the building design. As the needs of the Ministry and technology changes over time, the building should be adaptable to accomodate these changes.

12 To facilitate this adaptablity, a Structured Cabling System will be employed. This means a free access system for voice, video, data and telecommunications cables. A modular grid system of raised floors will provide better cable management. It will also accommodate the range of office layouts and future changes.

13 Another intelligent building feature is the computer-controlled "Lighting Zones" and "Cooling Zones". This allows individual officers, who work after office hours to light up and cool down only his particular zone or sub-section, without turning on the light and air-conditioning for the whole office. Thus, there is flexibility for office configurations and after-hours use. On-line booking of resources and facilities will also be possible.

14 The integrated Building Management Systems will also be sensitive to user needs and patterns, resulting in energy efficiency. For instance, there will be integration of daylighting and artificial lighting through the use of energy-saving photo-cell controls, and sensors controls in Conference and Meeting rooms.

15 The provision of access controls will also mean that safety and security will not be compromised. A multi-function "smart-card" will be introduced to act as ID card, access control card, carpark card, library card and even as a stored value card in the cafeteria.

16 The majority of the MOE HQ staff will work in the Tower. To create a more pleasant working environment, a central core design is adopted. The area available for officers with windows is thus maximised.

17 Sunscreens will be strategically placed to screen out glare and plant-covered trellised balconies will provide landscaping on almost every floor.

18 The Function Room is located at the highest level of the Tower so that all staff and visitors can enjoy the panoramic views of the surrounding area.

19 Both the Tower and the Podium will look into an open courtyard. The landscaped courtyard will be a congregation area for some MOE functions.

20 The total project cost is estimated at $220 million. This excludes $79.0 million for the land.

21 Work has started on 1 Aug 96 and the new MOE HQ is expected to be ready for use in end 1999.