Tange Associates

The design of Orchard Gateway began with a design competition in 2006 to redevelop a hotel and commercial facility on a site located facing Orchard Road. Architectural Department Assistant Manager Yoshihiko Tsuri says, “The client’s request was to design a building on the south side of Orchard Road. However, across the street, directly diagonally opposite, there was a retail and office building called Orchard Emerald owned by the client’s affiliated company. Chairman Paul Tange focused immediately on the urban design perspective and wondered if it would somehow be possible to join the two sites. He realized that here was an opportunity to revitalize this stretch of Orchard Road, what is today the Somerset area, and the site of Orchard Gateway. The area had originally been one of the most vibrant on Orchard Road, Singapore’s premier shopping avenue. However, by this time, the activity of the community had dispersed to surrounding areas. Chairman Tange’s aim was to create a new complex that would restore the neighborhood to its original vibrancy.”

Drawing visitors and shoppers to the area with a new building—this was Chairman Tange’s proposal. His idea was to design a new building not only on the proposed south side of Orchard Road, but also a new building on the north side, where the existing Orchard Emerald building stood, diagonally opposite, and to connect the two sites with an overhead pedestrian bridge. This was quite a radical proposal as there had never been a bridge over Orchard Road. No one had ever imagined it. Principal Architect Shigekazu Miyakawa explains the reason, “At 50 meters, Orchard Road is a very wide road. As it is one of the city’s main streets, cars pass through constantly, and the street is lined with very large trees. The reason there had never been a bridge was due to the difficulties involved, and, because visually, it appeared as though the street could not be crossed.”

Despite the difficulties, Chairman Tange believed that a bridge was the best solution. Miyakawa says that there were many reasons to support the proposal of a bridge beyond simply providing access between the sites on the south and north sides of Orchard Road. “Even though traffic on Orchard Road is heavy, there are few pedestrian crossings at ground level. Most people cross by means of underground passages. However, many people also cross the road at their own peril where there are no traffic crossings, and it is quite dangerous. A bridge would provide a convenient and safe crossing. Further, to address the urban design aspect, Chairman Tange wanted to use the bridge to evolve from ‘linear urban development’ along the road to urban planning that covered the whole area, and, ultimately, to a three-dimensional urban connectivity.”

Tange Associates’ design won the competition and the proposal was adopted by the client. However, securing authorization from the Singapore authorities for Tange’s proposal was the next big challenge.

As traffic along Orchard Road is extremely heavy, it is not possible to stop traffic for a long period of time. Therefore, in order to reduce the time necessary for construction, Chairman Tange suggested a method of erecting the bridge in two days. Architectural Department Assistant Manager Kenji Mamiya says that Tange Associates’ DNA can be seen in this approach. “We were faced with an extremely short construction schedule for this bridge, but because Tange Associates always customizes our approach to the specific challenges of each project, we work out the best solutions and are able to achieve them.”