9 projects commended for boosting construction productivity

Nine projects in Singapore are to be honoured for construction efficiency. Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has recognised nine property developments for taking the initiative to improve productivity in how they were built.
In particular, the agency handed out the most coveted Platinum Award to residential project 76 Shenton and the CapitaGreen office building.
It also named the seven winners of the Gold Award, namely Aperia, Galaxis, Nanyang Primary School, JTC’s industrial building at 73 Ayer Rajah Crescent, and HDB projects Acacia Breeze @ Yishun, Waterway Woodcress at Punggol and Yishun Riverwalk.
According to the BCA, 76 Shenton was awarded the top prize for its construction efficiency, due to a high degree of standardisation, which allowed building components to be produced in large quantities to achieve economies of scale.
“The conversion of several cast on-site components to precast elements also significantly reduced construction time,” it said.
Aside from utilising double-tier precast columns and walls to make full use of cranes, the project adopted productive technologies such a modular formwork for its floor slabs, making them easier to assemble and resulted in better quality finishes.
In addition, the development took advantage of 3D Building Information Modelling (BIM) to uncover possible work problems even before the actual construction.
Meanwhile, CapitaGreen was honoured for its extensive use of precast elements and structural steel system. These led to quicker on-site installation, better quality control, and less noise and dust pollution, as most work was done off-site.
3D BIM was used extensively for environmental simulation and precise construction, especially for the wind funnel structure. It also adopted a top-down construction method so that the basement and upper floors could be built concurrently.
Furthermore, several construction technologies were used in Singapore for the first time when CapitaGreen was being built. These included using the largest 3.5-metre diameter bored piles for the foundation, and the use of high strength Grade 100 concrete.
The awards will be presented to the winners during the BCA Awards ceremony, which is being held at Resorts World Sentosa today (26 May).
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg

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