ST : Like father, like son

Jul 24, 2010

Like father, like son

Architect Paul Tange's new office tower will adjoin his father's OUB Centre

By tay suan chiang

A Japanese architect whose famous father designed landmark buildings in Singapore is carrying on the family tradition here.

Paul Tange, 52, only son of the late renowned architect Kenzo Tange, is working on a $700-million project on the sites of the former Specialists' Centre/Hotel Phoenix and Orchard Emerald in Orchard Road. It involves office and retail space, and a hotel - and will include the strip's first glass pedestrian overhead bridge.

His dad, who died of heart failure in 2005 at the age of 91, was the architect behind OUB Centre, which was built in the mid-1980s, in Raffles Place. Other projects of his here include UOB Plaza and the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

His legacy continues, with Tange 'junior' working on several projects here, such as a soon-to-be-completed 38-storey office building right next to his dad's OUB Centre.

For the younger Tange, working on his latest Singapore project is a walk down memory lane in more ways than just following in the career footsteps of his father.

As a child, he recalls walking past the site of the then Specialists' Centre/Hotel Phoenix, as the family spent time in Singapore when his dad worked on OUB Centre.

'We stayed at the Meritus Mandarin hotel then, and my mother and I would walk past Specialists' Centre, towards the old Cathay building,' says Mr Tange.

He adds excitedly: 'Also, I've stayed many times at the Phoenix Hotel. Orchard Road is very close to my heart.'

Last week, developer United Engineers Limited unveiled his design for his project here. One half is a mixed development that will stand on the former Specialists' Centre/Hotel Phoenix site, which is owned by OCBC Bank. It is a 21-storey building comprising a four-star hotel with about 500 rooms and 20,800 sq m of retail space.

The other half is on the site of the former Orchard Emerald, diagonally across the road, and owned by Great Eastern Holdings, a subsidiary of OCBC Bank. It will be an 11-storey building with 3,500 sq m of office space and 2,700 sq m of retail space.

A glass pedestrian bridge will connect the two buildings, as will an underground passageway. On the street level, each building will have two open plazas for performances by artists and buskers. The project is expected to be completed in 2013.

Mr Tange is naturally very excited about the development, saying: 'For the first time, there will be a 'dialogue' on both sides of Orchard Road.'

On his choice of glass for the bridge, he says: 'I didn't want it as an obstruction which would be disturbing. Glass will make it look light and almost invisible.'

The hotel/retail building will also be connected to its neighbours, Orchard Central and 313@Somerset. 'This will help improve connectivity in Orchard Road. Connectivity will make the Orchard Road streetscape more exciting,' he says.

Mr Tange, who flies to Singapore almost every month, has other projects such as residential ones The Rochester in Buona Vista and The Linear in Upper Bukit Timah, and the redevelopment of The Cathay.

On the new OUB tower - its construction began in 2008 - that adjoins OUB Centre, he says: 'This project was challenging and scary. What kind of building could I build next to a Kenzo Tange one?'

He initially wanted a design that was similar to his father's but threw that idea out. 'My father taught me to look forward. It would be more meaningful to try something new.'

The two buildings will be known as One Raffles Place. The new building is as sculptural as the first tower but designed to give its users more views of the area.

Asked if he thinks his father would approve of the design, Mr Tange pauses before saying: 'Forty years later, when I'm in heaven, I will ask my father, and then e-mail you the answer.'

taysc@sph.com.sg


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'My father taught me to look forward. It would be more meaningful to try something new'

Paul Tange on not designing building similar to the OUB Centre, designed by his father, Kenzo Tange