This new research facility will study and develop key areas relating to future transportation, which includes advanced battery materials for electric vehicles, human-machine interfaces and mobility patterns and concepts. A key focus will see how research outcomes can benefit the Asian market based on the needs of the region.
Under the ambit of advanced battery materials and human-machine interfaces, the BMW Group-NTU collaboration aims to find solutions to key transport requirements in the most sustainable way possible, especially in the area of electric vehicles, where battery safety, efficiency and being environmentally-friendly is of utmost importance.
The study of mobility patterns and concepts will be focused on consumer behaviour in new mobility offerings for mega-cities, namely for multi-modal transportation and car sharing. One such area is the development of advanced routing algorithms so as to make the daily commute more comfortable.
Located at NTU’s Research Techno Plaza, the new joint lab will start off with five scientists and six PhD student researchers. It will be led by Dr Mirjam Storim, Coordinator of University Cooperations of BMW Group and Professor Subodh Mhaisalkar, Director of the Energy Research Institute at NTU ERI@N.
More than 70 per cent of world’s population is expected to flock to global megacities by 2050, this scenario emphasises the importance of mobility research.
Projects by the joint lab will leverage the BMW Group’s expertise in automotive and mobility, as well as NTU’s research strengths, particularly that of ERI@N which carries out cutting-edge research in solar cells and other renewables, electric vehicles, energy and power systems and battery technology in collaboration with the industry.
Research Techno Plaza, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Drive
Two new rail lines will be built and three existing lines extended to improve the coverage of the island's rail network.
The rail network will be doubled by 2030, from the current 178 km to about 360 km, placing 8 out of 10 households within a ten-minute walk of a train station. The improvements will support Singapore's long-term development and ensure the network will have more than the capacity needed to meet the expected increase in public transport ridership in the next two decades.
The Cross Island Line (CRL) will be a major MRT line running across "the span of Singapore".
The design for this Malaysian-Singaporean joint venture actively engages the space of the surrounding city to form a new civic nucleus in Singapore’s modern metropolis. The two towers are not conceived as autonomous objects, but defined by the spaces they create around them.
The design for DUO subtracts circular carvings from the allowable building volumes in a series of concave movements that generate urban spaces, a kind of "urban poché" that co-opts adjacent buildings and symbiotically inscribes the two towers into their context.
By generating the massing through a subtractive process, the elevations of the new towers are reduced to slender profiles. Vertical facades rise skywards along the adjoining roads, while a net-like hexagonal pattern of sunshades reinforces the dynamic concave shapes. The duo of tower volumes is further sculpted to feature a series of cantilevers and setbacks that evoke choreographed kinetic movements of the building silhouettes.
The buildings dematerialize as they reach the ground to provide a porous permeable landscape traversing the site. Leisure zones and gardens act as a connector between multiple transport hubs and establish a flow of tropical greenery and lively commercial activity, accessible to the public 24 hours a day. A plaza, carved into the center of the towers and integrating the neighboring building as part of its perimeter, forms a new public nexus between the historic district of Kampong Glam and the extension of the city’s commercial corridor.
Multiple levels of vertical connectivity give access to large elevated terraces for the hotel and residents, a public observation deck and a sky restaurant atop the office/hotel tower, while establishing a direct connection to the adjacent underground MRT subway station. Vehicular traffic is lifted off the ground to allow an uninterrupted pedestrian circulation. Extensive landscape areas at the ground levels, elevated terraces and roofscapes provide accessible green space equal to 100% of the site area.
Construction is scheduled to start in 2013, with completion pencilled in for 2017.
26,700m2 lot bounded by Ophir Road, Beach Road, Rochor Road, North Bridge Road and Fraser Street
Analysts are suggesting that Singapore's current Budget Terminal may be shifted to make way for a fourth terminal towards the end of this decade. Thanks to the ASEAN Open Skies agreement that is set to be in place by 2015, passenger traffic is expected to grow by over five per cent each year.
Changi Airport's existing three terminals can accommodate about 70 million passengers annually, and passenger traffic this year is likely to exceed last year's 42 million. So with greater passenger volume, Singapore will want to stay ahead of the curve and ensure the current terminals do not become saturated and over-crowded.
Although there is still substantial capacity still available at Terminal 3, there is going to be a need to expand the airport with the new terminal, given the increase in low cost travel and expansion of new discount carriers in the region.
Given the economic uncertainties, the remaining capacity is likely to be taken up once the ASEAN Open Skies agreement kicks in, in 2015. The agreement will fully liberalise air travel between the grouping's 10-member states. Growth could be anywhere between 5 and 10 per cent for the member countries depending on how they exploit the possibilities within the Open Skies Agreement.
The philosophy at Changi has always been to build ahead of demand and that applied to Terminal 3 as well. In March 2008, the Transport Ministry confirmed that Singapore will have a Terminal 4 at Changi Airport. This was mentioned in Parliament, just two months after the opening of Terminal 3 in January. Since then, authorities have been working on the master plan but little has been revealed about the details.
There have been talks that Terminal 4 is likely to be located on reclaimed land, along Changi Coast Road, near to runway three but there also exists the possibility of locating it where the current Budget Terminal is positioned. This would of course involved a relocation of the low cost terminal but so long as the new terminal is setup within the boundaries of Changi and its three terminals then there will be sufficient connectivity to keep the terminals within close proximity of one another.
If the Budget Terminal did make way for a fourth terminal then budget carriers would then likely have to shift their operations to Terminals 1 and 2.
Senai-Desaru Expressway Berhad is soon to chalk up a milestone success in the engineering, operation and maintenance of a large infrastructure project of the 77km long Senai-Pasir Gudang-Desaru Expressway Project (“E22”) in the southern state of Johor, Malaysia. The expressway project is also the third longest highway concession awarded by the Malaysian Government and it has just opened to the public cutting travel time between Singapore and Desaru dramatically.
The works for this project involves the engineering and construction of 6 interchanges, 1 intersection, 4 toll plazas, 2 Rest & Service Areas and also the landmark bridge across Sg Johor. The expressway alignment traverses through Senai, Ulu Tiram, Layang Reservoir, Pasir Gudang and Penawar/Desaru. E22 will be the main connector from the east to the west of Johor.
Travelling time will be shortened from a 2hr journey to a 45minutes journey from Senai (west) to Desaru (east). Previously, the Federal Route FR3 & FR92 was the only gateway to Desaru, with a typical journey of 2hrs.
The E22 has 2 Rest & Service Areas located at KM31 on the west bound and KM32 on the east bound. The facilities include food court, fruit stalls, surau, toilets, wakaf, information centre, ATMs, WIFI, playgrounds and petrol station.
E22 traverses through the environmentally sensitive water catchment area of Layang Reservoir. E22 is the only expressway in Malaysia which features the Pollutant Removal System (PRS). E22 took one step higher by introducing the PRS to monitor and controll any potential impact to the water quality in Layang Reservoir in the event of a spillage of dangerous and hazardous chemicals from any vehicle travelling on the expressway.
Another special landmark for E22 is the Single Stayed Bridge over Sungai Johor. Travelling between southwest and southeast Johor will be faster and more comfortable with the opening of the 75km Senai-Desaru Expressway today.
The highway, costing RM1.4 billion, is one of the biggest infrastructure projects under the Ninth Malaysian Plan in Johor. It provides an important transportation link to further boost the logistics and tourism sectors in the southern region. With the highway, travel time is about an hour between Desaru, in the south-east, and the Second Link or Tanjung Pelepas, in the south-west.
This is a stark contrast compared with the 21/2 hours of travelling along the trunk road. In conjunction with the opening of the new highway, codenamed SDE, motorists will enjoy a toll-free journey for one month from today.
Kompleks Pejabat Pentadbiran,KM 22 Lebuhraya E 22, Ulu Tiram, Johor Daril Takzim, Malaysia
Asian Tigers Mobility Singapore has moved into a new 6-storey office. The new 40,000 sq ft office facility houses all entities under Asian Tigers Mobility Singapore under one roof, encompassing Relocation, Household Goods, Office Logistics and Fine Arts Moving businesses. The strength in value they bring to the moving and logistics industry is legendary. Since 1963, they have been at the forefront of international and local moves, providing the widest range of services to serve the most discerning of needs. Pre-move survey, consultation, risk management, loading methods, custom requirements and door-to-door delivery – they consolidate them all in a high-performance, customer-centric move service.
The building is equipped with a high level of security, which includes secure card access for employees, separate secured IT server rooms and security cameras. Conferencing facilities have also been boosted with the incorporation of 3 meeting rooms, 1 training room for 40 persons, a staff lounge area, and open discussion areas located on each level.
This marks the completion of Phase I of the construction, and Phase II is now taking place with the demolition of the previous warehouse facility. Now scheduled for completion end-2011, the modernization will convert the facility into a 150,000 sq ft purpose-built warehouse, comprising of 110,000 sq ft of storage space upon completion.
Stadium MRT Station was commissioned through the Marina Line Architectural Design Competition jointly organized by the Singapore Land Transport Authority and the Singapore Institute of Architects. The open, anonymous international competition, requiring no track record is acknowledged by the industry as one of the best run competitions held in Singapore to date. The Land Transport Authority continued their commitment to design throughout the design development and construction phases.
Stadium MRT Station is designed to enhance the urban quality of the surrounding areas as well as to provide world class transport facilities. Located at Stadium Boulevard, Stadium MRT Station will serve the surrounding entertainment and leisure facilities as well as the nearby East Coast condominiums by way of the pedestrian bridge across the Kallang River.
The station design has been shaped by the need to accommodate surge crowds from the Singapore Indoor Stadium, Kallang Theatre and the National Stadium. The introduction of the MRT system into the area will change the nature of the precinct from a primarily vehicular area to a pedestrian place. The station forms a strong armature in the area, which future developments can be plugged into and organized around.
To address the large ground-level crowds, the station has been designed with an at-grade, open-air concourse and plaza. The open-air concourse prevents crushing and panic situations that could occur with crowds squeezing into confined, below-ground spaces. The ground-level entrance plaza will also create opportunities for the surrounding developments, currently inward-looking, to create and enhance external, ground-level activities. Shady trees, benches and meeting places will make the MRT plaza a much-used integral part of the use of this recreational and residential area. The station is open-ended, and designed to link to future developments in the area at ground level.
Inspired by landscape forms and the art of Richard Serra, the form of the station is generated both by the flow of crowds down into the station, and inflected by the massive, curved forms of the stadium. The design contrasts a linear element against a curved one. The interior of the station abstracts geological forms, creating a shimmering, glassy grotto below the opaque massive elements above. Pedestrian movement dramatizes perception of the space, as the escalators slide below the curve above, transporting commuters from the concourse at grade to the platform at basement 2.
The station creates a major dramatic space that gives the public a moment of spatial grandeur in their daily commute, as traditional train stations in Europe do. A central skylight creates an attractive, day-lit platform. Openings in the above-ground forms allow views down to the platform from the ground level plaza. The ribbed aluminium cladding system was custom designed by the architects to create an ambiguous material, sometimes soft like fabric, sometimes hard like stone, sometimes metallic, that changes with the quality of light and the time of day. A single extrusion can be orientated 4 ways to create endless variation in the relationship of the panels. The grey, stepped, curved forms preserve a memory of Singapore’s National Stadium, soon to be demolished.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and Changi Airport Group (CAG) has announced the development of a new Air Cargo Express (ACE) Hub. Leveraging the excellent connectivity of Changi Airport, the ACE Hub will further strengthen Singapore’s position as a key centre for Air Express Companies (AECs) and their gateway to air express cargo markets such as in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Oceania, allowing AECs to expand their reach to these regions.
Strategically located within the Changi Airport’s Free Trade Zone, the ACE Hub is a specialised cargo and logistics infrastructure for use by AECs. The ability to provide fast turnaround is vital in their business. The ACE Hub will have direct airside access to facilitate the unrestricted flow of cargo to and from aircraft, enabling AECs to shorten the processing time for time-sensitive shipments to achieve greater efficiency and speed in transporting express cargo.
Under the Changi Airport Masterplan, CAAS has allocated about 80,000 square metres of land for the development of the ACE Hub and its supporting airside infrastructure. CAG will manage the development and operations of the new facility, which is targeted to be operational in the first half of 2012.
The ACE Hub will enhance Singapore’s competitive advantage in harnessing the critical air express cargo business and strengthen Singapore’s position as a leading air cargo hub. As an enabler of the development of the aviation industry, CAAS aims to provide land at Changi Airport for such specialised infrastructure needs of industry players.
The development of the ACE Hub reflects Singapore’s long term commitment to support the growth of the air cargo industry in Asia. The unique development model of the ACE Hub, including conceptualisation of the original idea and collaborative implementation with CAAS and other key government agencies, underlines Changi’s focus on innovation and partnership to grow and keep its competitive edge. CAG looks forward to work closely with all stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the ACE Hub at Changi.
Share on : 
Facebook
Twitter
Delicious
Digg
Email This
