News

Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall Wins 2015 Urban Redevelopment Authority Architectural Heritage Award in Singapore

Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall Wins 2015 Urban Redevelopment Authority Architectural Heritage Award in Singapore

Awards
Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall Wins 2015 Urban Redevelopment Authority Architectural Heritage Award in Singapore

T.Y. Lin International (TYLI), a globally recognized full-service infrastructure consulting firm, announces that the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall restoration project in Singapore was awarded the 2015 Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Architectural Heritage Award (Category A). The firm’s Singapore operations, T.Y. Lin International Pte Ltd, and its project partners accepted the award at the 2015 URA Architectural Heritage Awards ceremony on October 19, 2015 at Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall. Guest of Honor at the ceremony was Singapore’s Minister for National Development, Mr. Lawrence Wong.

“We are truly honored to have been involved in preserving Singapore’s built heritage through the restoration of the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall. It is particularly fitting that the 2015 Urban Redevelopment Authority Architectural Heritage Awards ceremony was held at the venue, allowing the careful and sensitive restoration work to be showcased,” said Mr. Teh Hee Seang, Chairman of TYLI Singapore. “This restoration project was technically challenging, demanding great coordination and team work, as well as extensive civil and structural engineering expertise to facilitate the additions and alterations while minimizing impacts on the preserved historic structures. It is a great honour for the project to receive this award, recognizing our efforts and the efforts of the whole team.”

TYLI Singapore was responsible for the Civil & Structural (C&S) and Mechanical & Electrical (M&E) design of the project for the National Arts Council (NAC). Dr. Tan Guan, Director of Building Structures, and Mr. Thomas Ting, Principal, were the Qualified Persons for C&S and M&E, respectively. TYLI, working in conjunction with NAC, developed a comprehensive preservation scheme to overcome technical challenges associated with protecting the aesthetic features of the heritage structure and upgrading it to modern-day standards.

Restoration of the complex included the excavation and construction of two basement levels within the conserved theatre façade walls, which had been constructed on shallow brick pedestals. One of the key structural challenges in delivering the restoration works was to underpin part of the theatre façade wall to enable the basement structure to extend under the Old Parliament Lane and Atrium area. The old foundations of the conserved structures were strengthened in order to transform both spaces into modern facilities that cater to world-class performances.

The annual URA Architectural Heritage Awards competition, now in its 21st year, was introduced to accord recognition to owners, professionals, and contractors of buildings with preservation and conservation status in Singapore and which are well-restored and/or exhibit architectural/urban design excellence. The awards serve as an incentive to professionals to pay particular attention to high-quality restoration, as well as innovative and sensitive new additions and alterations to conservation buildings. It also provides a platform for benchmarking high-quality preservation or conservation buildings.

Related Projects

Related News