Welcome to the Archives of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation. The purpose of this online database is to function as a tool for scholars, students, architects, preservationists, journalists and other interested parties. The archive consists of photographs, slides, articles and publications from Rudolph’s lifetime; physical drawings and models; personal photos and memorabilia; and contemporary photographs and articles.
Unless otherwise noted, all images and drawings are copyright © The Estate of Paul Rudolph and The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation. Please speak with a representative of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation to get permission to use any drawings or photos. Drawings, sketches and other materials produced by Rudolph’s architectural office at the Library of Congress are maintained there for preservation, but the intellectual property rights belong to the Paul Rudolph Estate and Ernst Wagner, founder of the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.
LOCATION
Address: 300 Beach Road
City: Kallang, Central Region
State:
Zip Code: 199555
Nation: Singapore
STATUS
Type: Office
Status: Built; Partially Demolished
TECHNICAL DATA
Date(s): 1981-1994
Site Area:
Floor Area:
Height: 590.55 ft. (tower); 133.95 ft. (podium)
Floors (Above Ground): 42 (tower); 12 (podium)
Building Cost: S$248.1 million (1994)
PROFESSIONAL TEAM
Client: Hong Fok Corp. Ltd.
Architect: Paul Rudolph
Associate Architect: Architects 61 Pte., Ltd.
Interior Design: Richards Basmaijan Limited
Space Planning: Design Phase
Landscape: BCP Far East
Structural: Steen Consultants
MEP: Ewbank Preece Engineers
Lighting: H M Brandston & Partners
Exterior Facade Maintenance: Lerch; Bates and Associates
Acoustic: CCW Acoustic
Graphics: Studio 3 Graphic
QS/PM: Rider Hunt Levett & Bailey
Marketing: Richard Ellis
SUPPLIERS
Contractor: Maincon
Subcontractor(s):
Office and Shopping Complex (The Concourse)
Also known as Hong Fok Centre
The podium was demolished in April, 2009 for the construction of adjacent residential towers
Project construction completed on February 5, 1994
The project (then known as Beach Road II) as described in a January, 1981 description by Paul Rudolph:
The building is the opposite of the “loft type” office tower. It is intended that each floor have its own character and that this character is made manifest on the outside. It is intended that the floors are clearly stated from the exterior, in order to give the building scale. In other words, it is the opposite of the loft type building sheathed in glass with no demarcation of floors whatsoever.
To achieve this greater sense of human occupancy the building is divided into four separate floors, which create atriums and terraces. These four floors are repeated in order to simplify the construction.
The three floor high atriums are formed by the enclosed office spaces themselves. The building is essentially an X in plan. The atriums are formed on the long side by the long legs of the X’s and terraces are formed by the short legs of the X’s. Two cores minimize the corridors and distances from elevator to offices. It is assumed that there would be sufficient number of single floor tenants to occupy the “atrium floors”.
The X form has been adopted in plan to minimize the number of interior office spaces and allow natural light to penetrate through the atriums or terraces to the innermost portions of the building. The use of natural light to light interior office space would materially minimize the cost of electricity, which accounts for roughly half of the operating cost for office buildings.
It is intended that the various office floors produce individual offices which look out through, or down onto terraces and balconies. The utilization of these areas is particularly appropriate to Singapore because of its climate, which allows planting to be introduced into such areas. The distant view is enhanced by looking through planting, affording a juxtaposition of the close at hand to the distant.
The elaboration of the floors in contrast to the undue emphasis on the vertical is achieved by allowing each floor to take its own configuration. The cantilevered elements, especially at the corners of the building, give the structure an aspect which is reminiscent of the traditional pagoda. In this way the building is intended to belong to its time and place and be the opposite of the “universal” building.
The windows are sloping, except where they are related directly to terraces or the atrium. This allows the glass to be shaded, since each of the repeated four floors is lower than the one immediately above it. The protection from the sun is augmented by vertical sunshades which are introduced also into the larger scaled atriums. The atriums are shaded more densely at their tops by means of the sunshades than they are at the bottoms, therefore suggesting a kind of “tree”.
The scale of the shopping center is broken down by revealing the floor heights and by introducing a fountain over the entire inner roofs of the building. The fountain plays the same scale-giving role for the low building that the sunshades serve in the higher building.
The shopping center is arranged around a plaza-reflecting pool. The plaza is essentially a “pool of space” in the sense that each floor is set back from the lower one. The entire glass roof for the circulation-atrium areas of the shopping center are intended to be heat resistant glass. The air-conditioning would be assisted by allowing flowing water to run continuously over the surface of the roofs and dropping in fountain-like form to the roof below. The water is collected in the reflecting pool and recirculated. The effect on the inside would be of natural light shining through the flowing water onto the glass roof and hence onto the building itself. The intention is to give a unique sense of place for the whole structure. The sound of the water plays an important part in isolating the “place” from the surrounding traffic.
The office building is oriented in a North-South direction and is arranged so that it would afford a constantly changing view from the two bridges which bound it, as well as the two streets. It favors none of these directions, but relates itself to the light. It, therefore, becomes a turning point for the circulation of travel. Its design is intended to afford constantly changing views of the building itself.
The building is designed as reinforced concrete with sheathing of tile in the traditional manner in Singapore. It is hoped that the surface paving would be very colorful and that the views from the building down onto its site form a “fifth facade”.
DRAWINGS - Design Drawings / Renderings
DRAWINGS - Construction Drawings
DRAWINGS - Shop Drawings
PHOTOS - Project Model
PHOTOS - During Construction
PHOTOS - Completed Project
PHOTOS - Current Conditions
LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION
The Concourse Website
The Concourse Tower on Emporis
The Concourse Podium on Emporis
The Concourse on Wikipedia
RELATED DOWNLOADS
PROJECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Powell, Robert; Lim, Albert K S; Chee, Li Lian (2000). Singapore: Architecture of a Global City. Singapore: Archipelago Press.
de Alba, Roberto. (2003). Paul Rudolph: The Late Work. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press.
Powell, Robert; Bingham-Hall, Patrick (2004). Singapore Architecture. Singapore: Periplus.