BRUNCH

Powering up land use

Will SP Group’s pilot integrated development above an underground electrical substation in Pasir Panjang spark a new wave of land optimisation?

Kalpana Rashiwala

Published Fri, Sep 15, 2023 · 05:02 PM

Artist's impression of the Labrador Tower office and retail project, which will be integrated with an underground substation. ILLUSTRATION: SP GROUP
Site overview of the mass excavation for the underground substation. Photo taken in November 2019. PHOTO: SP GROUP
A 230-kilovolt transformer being moved to its location at the underground substation. Photo taken in July 2023. PHOTO: SP GROUP
Status of construction at Labrador Tower site as at August 2023. PHOTO: SP GROUP
Moving huge and heavy equipment like transformers underground involves a "very precise design engineering exercise", says Tan Hung Khing of SP PowerGrid. PHOTO: SP GROUP
Artist's impression of sea views from an office floor in the high zone of the 34-storey Labrador Tower. PHOTO: SP GROUP

SP GROUP’S Labrador Tower office and retail project coming up in Pasir Panjang Road will boast an impressive suite of green features to improve energy efficiency – including underground thermal energy storage, a microclimate control system powered by artificial intelligence, and hybrid active chilled beams.

While these will boost the project’s credentials, what will make this development a potential game changer on Singapore’s infrastructure and urban planning scene is that it will be integrated with a 230 kilovolt (kV) electrical underground substation (UGSS).

This will not be the first UGSS in Singapore; there is one in Changi Business Park, which became operational in December 2015. However, that is a standalone facility, without an integrated project above it.

Commercial & Industrial SP Group Brunch Singapore property URA

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