The Admin building located at the Faculty of Arts of Social Sciences (FASS) in NUS is scheduled for a redevelopment this year.
The reason for the redevelopment?
The building was built in the 1970s and a study showed that the cost to make the old building compliant to current building codes is higher than the cost of building a new one. A new building also allows better designed spaces for student use and with it, new programmes that can be introduced. The new seven-storey building will provide more teaching spaces for FASS, house the Asian Studies Programme and the Asia Research Institute (ARI), as well as have more study spaces to promote student activity and interaction.
Together, they hope to focus on Asian Studies and its growing emphasis in this region. Students can look forward to a clustering of common and FASS student spaces on the lower floors, seminar and tutorial rooms on the middle floors, with
department and research offices above.
The connection on the fourth storey of the block will be maintained with the Library and the Deck. Ways are still being looked at to improve the connectivity and experience between the drop off, Central Forum, the new building and the Deck.
The building is also targeted to achieve the BCA Green Mark Platinum scoring thus, it has incorporated some green features such as natural ventilation, sky lights, courtyards and green spaces. (The BCA Green Mark is a green building rating system to evaluate a building for its environmental impact and performance. It is endorsed and supported by the National Environment Agency).
Students and staff can expect the building to be more open, naturally ventilated and with more greenery. There will be a computer cluster located there which all students can utilize. In preparation for the demolition and construction, electrical and water services within the building will end on 29 August 2013 and a perimeter around the block will be erected. Directional signs will be posted to guide and direct people to other walkways in view of the safety of pedestrians walking near the site.
With the ongoing construction, all staff and students visiting the Central Library should keep in mind that they will no longer be able to use the Block ADM elevators and are advised to use the main stairs in the Forum area to access the Library. Car park (CP) 18 at Block ADM will be closed during the construction period. Other available car parks within the vicinity are CP 14 and CP 17 (for staff season labels only) and CP 15 and CP 16 (for all labels and public parking).
The new building is expected to be completed in early to mid 2016.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS AROUND NUS CAMPUS
Other new developments in NUS include the Engineering Design & Innovation Centre (EDIC) which will be breaking ground in the later half of 2013. EDIC aims to be an internationally recognized centre for engineering design and innovation, and will house the Engineering Faculty’s Design Centric Programme.
The new Alice Lee Plaza is slated to complete in early 2014. The plaza will serve as an important node linking the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum to the University Cultural Centre and the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. The Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum will be ready in late 2014.
The dining spaces of the Frontier canteen in the Faculty of Science will also receive a new facelift starting towards the end of 2013 which will see it house new Food & Beverage outlets and provide additional social and study spaces for students. There are also ongoing discussion and plans to improve the diversity of food and to enhance the dining experience at three other locations: Techno Edge in the Faculty of Engineering, The Terrace at the School of Computing/Business School and The Summit at the Bukit Timah Campus.
If you have any feedback or questions regarding the demolition or construction
of Block ADM, please do not hesitate to contact the following officers:
1. Mr Koh Yong Loo
(Associate Director, OED)
DID: 6516 6075
e-mail: oedkyl@nus.edu.sg
2. Mr Goh Cheng Wah
(Senior Manager, OED)
DID: 6601 2607
e-mail: oedgohcw@nus.edu.sg
Artist’s impression of the new ADM building