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Singapore¡¯s city centre will soon come aglow
with the new lighting plan for the city centre, presented by the Urban
Redevelopment Authority (URA). |
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The lighting plan covers the key districts
in the city centre, namely Orchard Road, Singapore River, Bras
Basah.Bugis, and the Central Business District (CBD) and Marina Bay. |
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The lighting plan for the city centre was
drawn up by URA¡¯s lighting consultant, Lighting Planners Associates (LPA),
to enhance and emphasise Singapore¡¯s unique features as a tropical
metropolis and garden city. |
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Benefits of good lighting |
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Cities around the world recognise the
importance of lighting in creating a memorable and captivating image at
night. |
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Developers and architects recognise the role
of lighting in enhancing the architecture of buildings at night, and are
increasingly incorporating lighting design as part and parcel of
building design. |
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Good lighting can: |
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a) Develop a signature image
for the city. Good lighting of buildings
can help to create a beautiful skyline at night, thus differentiating it
from other cities.
b) Create a beautiful
nightscape. Lighting brings out the
beauty of the city and its public spaces at night and increases its
appeal.
c) Enliven visitor¡¯s
experience. Lighting helps in creating
the desired ambience, thus evoking a multitude of sensory experiences,
allowing people to enjoy the city after dark. |
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About the exhibition |
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The exhibition aims to encourage a greater
appreciation and awareness of good lighting, by presenting some of the
lighting strategies and proposals that can be implemented in the city.
Good lighting practices and international examples are also featured in
the exhibition. |
- The exhibition highlights the value and
qualities of good lighting to our built environment, in making Singapore
a great place to live, work and play in, not only by day, but just as
importantly, at night.
- It shows how lighting can be used to highlight Singapore¡¯s tropical
garden-island state and multicultural diversity;
- The exhibition provides some pointers to building owners in
incorporating quality lighting that is aesthetically designed, help
enhance corporate image and yet energy-efficient.
Private sector building owners and architects play an important part to
realise the shared vision. There are incentives available to encourage
participation by the private sector. |
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Casting the city in a new light |
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The lighting proposals for the city
centre are outlined below. |
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Orchard Road |
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The lighting proposals for Orchard
Road will focus on creating a revitalising and delightful
shoppers¡¯ experience. |
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Key proposals are to light up the
pedestrian mall and trees to create a sequential experience; and
guidelines to create coherent and exciting shopfronts. |
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In addition, to create an engaging and
multi-sensory pedestrian experience, special lighting features
would be implemented at the three major junctions of Orchard Road
¨C Scotts Junction, Bideford Junction and Grange Junction. |
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The idea is to project moving and
changing light at the junctions, to be activated when pedestrians
cross the junction, so as to create a stage-like ¡®dramatic¡¯
atmosphere. |
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Singapore River |
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The allure of the Singapore River lies
in the water and the waterfront promenade. |
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The lighting proposals thus centre
around enhancing the water element, e.g. to accentuate the
shimmering effects of the water and to provide a warm and inviting
promenade ambience. |
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For example, placing floating
¡®jellyfish¡¯ lights in the water at Boat Quay to create a
mesmerising ambience along the Boat Quay promenade. |
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Bras Basah.Bugus |
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The Bras Basah.Bugis area is
positioned as a 24/7 entertainment hub of choice, a vibrant
colourful district overflowing with youthful energy. It has the
potential to have more bright lights to enhance the vibrancy of
the area. |
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The lighting plan proposes to
highlight gateways and focal points of entry into the area with
better lighting and innovative light-integrated
sculptures/markers. |
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Guidelines are also being drawn up to
encourage building owners to light up key historical and cultural
buildings such as the Kwan Im Temple, Sri Krishnan Temple,
Singapore Art Museum, etc. |
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To further enhance its vibrancy, URA
is currently reviewing the guidelines for building signages to
encourage more bright lights. This is to encourage more luminous
signboards, 3D ¡®art-vertisement¡¯ and animation, media walls, etc. |
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CBD and Marina Bay |
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The buildings and skyscrapers within
the CBD and Marina Bay play a key role in the creation of a
signature skyline of Singapore. |
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The proposals for this district thus
focuses on lighting of building façade and building crowns, key
routes, as well as lighting up of the waterfront promenade. |
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For example, white lighting will
replace the current yellow lighting for the main arterial roads in
the CBD, to create the image of a modern business and financial
hub. This will be implemented first at the new downtown area along
Marina Boulevard and Central Boulevard. |
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URA will also offer incentives in the
form of additional Gross Floor Area (GFA) or a cash grant, to
facilitate and encourage more building owners within the CBD and
Marina Centre to install quality lightings for their developments.
These would help to defray part of the capital cost of lighting
installation. |
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New developments or those undergoing
redevelopment and major addition and alteration (A&A) will be
offered up to 2% additional GFA over and above the maximum
allowable GFA under the Master Plan 2003 for the provision of
building lighting. |
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Owners of existing buildings who do
not plan to redevelop or carry out major A&A but wish to install
quality lighting installations for their buildings, can apply for
a cash grant to cover 50% of the lighting installation cost. |
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The cash grant is capped at the
equivalent value of the 2% additional GFA or $500,000, whichever
is lower. The government has set aside S$10 million fund for this
cash grant, available for application over a 5-year period. |
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Exhibition Details |
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The ¡®Lighting Up Our City Centre¡¯
exhibition will be on at The URA Centre Atrium over 3 months, from
22 November 2006 to 28 February 2007. |
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Opening hours are Mon to Fri, 9am to
7pm; Sat, 9am to 5pm, closed on Sundays and public holidays. The
exhibition will be extended till 9pm during the first week from 22
November 2006 till 28 November 2006, and every Friday till 28
February 2007. Admission is free. |
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Source:
www.ura.gov.sg Media Release
21 Nov 2006 |
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FrontPage Edition: Fri 24 November 2006
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