Suntec City was designed by Tsao & McKown Architects[1] with emphasis on Chinese feng shui. The five buildings and the convention center are arranged so that they look like a left hand when viewed aerially.[1] The Fountain of Wealth appears like a golden ring in the palm of the hand. As the fountain is made of bronze, it is believed that the balance of metal and water paves the way for success. Further, the specially selected Chinese name, 新达, means "new achievement".[2]
On 17 December 1987, the Singapore government announced the building of a exhibition and convention centre in Marina Centre.[3] The tender was put up by Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and closed on 16 August 1988.[4] Three companies submitted bids for the tender: Suntec City Development Pte Ltd, a joint bid by Kuok Ltd, Shangri-La Hotel, and UOL Investment Holdings, and Sino International Real Estate Agency Ltd.[5] Suntec City Development was headed by Suntec Investment, a Singapore based investment company formed in 1986, consisting of Hong Kong tycoons such as Run Run Shaw, Li Ka-shing and Frank Tsao.[6] Kuok Ltd was headed by Robert Kuok, a Malaysian billionaire and businessman.[5] Sino International Real Estate Agency was headed by Ng Teng Fong, a Singaporean real estatetycoon.[5]
In December 1988, it was announced that Suntec City Development won the bid and it had to finish constructing the Convention and Exhibition Centre within four and a half years while the remaining office blocks in ten years.[7]
Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre[edit]
Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre Drop off area
The Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre was officially opened on 30 August 1995.[8] In 2004, the convention centre was renamed as Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre as part of a rebranding exercise. The convention centre has a total of 100,000 square metres (1,100,000 sq ft) of space, over multiple levels.
During the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, the convention centre hosted the boxing, fencing, handball, judo, taekwondo, and wrestling competitions.[9]
The building was renovated from October 2012 to June 2013.[10] The 18th edition of Wikimania, Wikimedia Movement's largest annual event, was held here from 15-19 August 2023.[11][12]
Tropics Atrium of Suntec City Mall (2009)Interior of Suntec City Mall (2014)
The Suntec City Mall is a shopping centre located within Suntec City. Opened in 1994 together with initial phases of the Suntec City development, it was the largest shopping centre in Singapore with 82,500 square metres (888,000 sq ft) of retail space until the opening of VivoCity in 2006. It also offers a club house called the Suntec City Guild House located on the fifth storey.[citation needed]
The large mall boasts some 360 outlets spread over 4 floors in an L-shaped configuration. To help shoppers to navigate around the mall, it was divided into four zones, namely:
The office towers comprise five buildings named Towers One through Five with four containing 45 stories and one 18 stories. The latter has 2,600 square metres (28,000 sq ft) of net lettable floor area on each floor while the 45-storey towers consist of floor plates ranging from 930 to 1,300 square metres (10,000 to 14,000 sq ft). In total, there are about 210 thousand m2 (2.3 million sq ft) of office space. Tower One to Four is 45-storey representing the 4 fingers and Tower 5 is 18-storey representing the thumb.[citation needed]
Suntec City Office Towers houses a number of foreign diplomatic/non-diplomatic missions that are resident in Singapore. the Embassy of Spain on the 39th floor of Tower 1, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office on the 34th floor of Tower 2, the Embassy of Rwanda on the 14th floor of Tower 3, the Embassy of Chile on the 24th floor of Tower 3, the Embassy of Qatar on the 41st floor of Tower 3, and the Taiwan Trade Center on the 9th floor of Tower 4.[citation needed]
Suntec City was awarded two FIABCI Prix d' Excellence awards for excellence in all aspects of real estate development (Overall winner and Commercial / Retail winner) in 1999.[13] Suntec has claimed other prizes,[14] including the 1998 Tourism Award from the Singapore Tourism Board.
