Refreshing Singapore: The SG50 Masterplan

In 2013, Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority held a competition for the master planning of an area to the north of the Singapore River and Marina Bay. The precinct lacked coherence and connectivity but included the Civic District, the historic administrative area laid out according to the Raffles Plan of 1822. The competition was won by a team comprising Cox Architecture, Architects 61, Arup, Context, and Arcadis, with the SG50 masterplan completed in 2015 to mark Singapore’s fifty years of independence. The goal of the SG50 masterplan was to make the precinct a place for people, accessible for anyone at any time. Buildings and parks were opened up and re-articulated not solely for conservation but to create a welcoming environment that fosters communal interaction and personal enjoyment.