carbuncle
03-05-12, 12:04
Fiona Chan, Property Reporter
Mon, Aug 27, 2007
The Straits Times
What's in a condo name? More
than you can imagine
IF PROPERTY developer Lippo
Group had its way, the
condominium it is building in Kim
Seng Road would be called
Trinity rather than Trillium.
But the group's original
application for 'Trinity Towers'
was deemed too 'religious' by
the authorities, revealed Lippo's
executive director Thio Gim
Hock.
'It was rejected because it had
religious connotations. They even
said not to bother to appeal,' he
said. The three-tower project was
renamed Trillium, after the name
of a three-petal flower.
Now, as Lippo and other
developers gear up to launch a
slew of new condos, they are
cracking their heads over what
to name them. It may seem like
a small problem, but unexpected
rejections such as the one Lippo
received can make the task
surprisingly knotty.
Indeed, the name game is so
important that Mr Simon
Cheong, head of luxury
developer SC Global, personally
names each of his projects -
from the iconic The Boulevard
Residence to the latest Marq on
Paterson Hill.
Larger developers, such as
Frasers Centrepoint and City
Developments (CDL), pick names
from proposals that sometimes
number in the hundreds.
At CDL, the final say for condo
names lies with executive
chairman Kwek Leng Beng. But
suggestions are pooled from all
sources, including an occasional
staff competition. Even Mrs Kwek
reportedly put in her two cents'
worth for CDL's latest project,
Cliveden at Grange.
The main reason naming a
condo is not as easy as just
calling it The ABC lies in a
surprisingly strict set of rules for
building and estate names,
outlined by the Street and
Building Names Board (SBNB).
For instance, condo names,
according to a fairly recent rule
change by SBNB, must not end
with 'park' - in case the project is
mistaken for an actual park.
But more than 100 condos
already have that word in their
names, including older estates
Bedok Park and Clementi Park.
To get around the rule,
developers have recently taken
to using the French word 'parc'
instead and putting it in front of
the name, such as in Parc Emily.
SBNB also advises against using
'place' and 'link' because the
terms are also used for road
names. 'Tower' can be used only
for buildings of at least 30
storeys, and 'villa' only for
landed houses. And 'city' - such
as in the 910-unit City Square
Residences or the 600-unit
Citylights - is applicable only for
developments 'on a grand scale',
says SBNB.
With more and more words
struck out over the years, it is no
wonder many developers now
find it easier to come up with a
whole new one.
This has led to the latest rage in
condo-naming: coined words,
such as in The Lumos in Leonie
Hill and The Marq.
'It's partly because developers
are running out of names, and
partly because of the new
guidelines on naming projects,'
said Ms Diana Kuik, executive
director of Sim Lian Land. 'It is
now a very 'in' thing to do as it
gives the project a modern feel.'
Sim Lian's Viz at Holland is a
good example. 'The condo is
near Holland Village, and there's
a lot of buzz and activity in the
area,' said Ms Kuik.
'So we combined 'village' and
'buzz' to get 'Viz'. It's short, easy
to remember, and hip-sounding.'
But newly coined names are only
one of the current trends in a
market where condo names
appear to come and go in waves
of fashion.
In fact, Ms Kuik said it is often
possible to distinguish a condo's
age from its name.
'If you look at a name, you can
tell which era the development
was built in,' she noted.
'Anything with 'garden' or 'view'
is likely to be in the 1980s. If it's
'vale', probably the 1990s, and if
it starts with 'The', it's after
2000.'
Other current naming fads
include the almost ubiquitous '@'
sign - officially known as the
'commercial at' and unofficially
used in every attempt to be
trendy. At least 30 condos in
Singapore boast this symbol.
Almost all are new projects that
surfaced after the dot.com
boom.
Property watchers have also
observed that the recent boom
in high-end condos has led to a
proliferation of names using
'residences'. Indeed, about half
the 50-odd condos in this
category - including Marina Bay
Residences and The Orchard
Residences - are located
downtown or in the prime
districts of 9 to 11.
A more longstanding trend is
foreign words. These have long
been de rigueur among
developers, who seem to think
they add a certain je ne sais quoi
(meaning 'an indescribable
attribute') to a moniker.
For instance, there are 34
condos here with names that
start with 'Casa', the Spanish
word for 'house'. Another 21
begin with 'Le' or 'La', the
French words for 'the'.
Some projects are named after
actual foreign locations, such as
Cote d'Azur in Marine Parade,
which sits uncomfortably on the
tongues of most Singaporeans.
But while foreign names might
sound more chi-chi, they are
also more chancy.
One developer related the story
of how SBNB once rejected a
French name for a condo
because the word sounded like
'danger' in English.
'We wanted to name the condo
'Perle', which means 'Pearl' in
French,' the developer said. 'But
the board said it sounded too
much like 'peril', so we had to
change it.'
Interestingly, while SBNB is sticky
on grammatical accuracy in the
use of 'Le' and 'La' - they refer
to male and female nouns
respectively in French - it
appears unconcerned about
condo names that begin with
'De' or 'D'.
'De' is a French proposition that
usually means 'of' or 'for'. It is
used as 'D' only if followed by a
word starting with a vowel.
But Singapore's condos include
such grammatical eyesores as
D'Dalvey and D'Hillside Loft. The
Straits Times understands that
these are considered to be
coined words, rather than
foreign derivatives, and thus
allowable.
As developers try to stay on
SBNB's good side,
straightforward combinations of
road names and numbers are
also getting popular. The latest
trend is names beginning with
'One', such as One Shenton,
which 14 condos have adopted.
But this does not mean
developers have no room for
creativity, as shown by the
unusual 2 rvg and 66 OGR,
which stand for River Valley
Grove and Orange Grove Road,
respectively.
Even if a name does not meet
with contention by SBNB, other
unexpected circumstances may
force it to be changed at the last
minute.
Industry insiders, for instance,
know that Pharos on the
Waterfront was the original
name for the CDL condo near
the Singapore River that is now
called Tribeca. But what they
might not know is that the name
was changed mere weeks before
the condo's launch because CDL
discovered that Pharos referred
to a lighthouse that had been
destroyed by an earthquake.
'We didn't want anyone to make
the association,' said CDL general
manager Chia Ngiang Hong with
a laugh.
At the end of the day, however,
a project's name is probably one
of the lowest factors on a
buyer's list of priorities, said Mr
Ku Swee Yong, director of
marketing and business
development at Savills
Singapore. 'The product quality
and returns potential are the top
things people look at. In the final
evaluation, buyers almost never
consider names.'
Mon, Aug 27, 2007
The Straits Times
What's in a condo name? More
than you can imagine
IF PROPERTY developer Lippo
Group had its way, the
condominium it is building in Kim
Seng Road would be called
Trinity rather than Trillium.
But the group's original
application for 'Trinity Towers'
was deemed too 'religious' by
the authorities, revealed Lippo's
executive director Thio Gim
Hock.
'It was rejected because it had
religious connotations. They even
said not to bother to appeal,' he
said. The three-tower project was
renamed Trillium, after the name
of a three-petal flower.
Now, as Lippo and other
developers gear up to launch a
slew of new condos, they are
cracking their heads over what
to name them. It may seem like
a small problem, but unexpected
rejections such as the one Lippo
received can make the task
surprisingly knotty.
Indeed, the name game is so
important that Mr Simon
Cheong, head of luxury
developer SC Global, personally
names each of his projects -
from the iconic The Boulevard
Residence to the latest Marq on
Paterson Hill.
Larger developers, such as
Frasers Centrepoint and City
Developments (CDL), pick names
from proposals that sometimes
number in the hundreds.
At CDL, the final say for condo
names lies with executive
chairman Kwek Leng Beng. But
suggestions are pooled from all
sources, including an occasional
staff competition. Even Mrs Kwek
reportedly put in her two cents'
worth for CDL's latest project,
Cliveden at Grange.
The main reason naming a
condo is not as easy as just
calling it The ABC lies in a
surprisingly strict set of rules for
building and estate names,
outlined by the Street and
Building Names Board (SBNB).
For instance, condo names,
according to a fairly recent rule
change by SBNB, must not end
with 'park' - in case the project is
mistaken for an actual park.
But more than 100 condos
already have that word in their
names, including older estates
Bedok Park and Clementi Park.
To get around the rule,
developers have recently taken
to using the French word 'parc'
instead and putting it in front of
the name, such as in Parc Emily.
SBNB also advises against using
'place' and 'link' because the
terms are also used for road
names. 'Tower' can be used only
for buildings of at least 30
storeys, and 'villa' only for
landed houses. And 'city' - such
as in the 910-unit City Square
Residences or the 600-unit
Citylights - is applicable only for
developments 'on a grand scale',
says SBNB.
With more and more words
struck out over the years, it is no
wonder many developers now
find it easier to come up with a
whole new one.
This has led to the latest rage in
condo-naming: coined words,
such as in The Lumos in Leonie
Hill and The Marq.
'It's partly because developers
are running out of names, and
partly because of the new
guidelines on naming projects,'
said Ms Diana Kuik, executive
director of Sim Lian Land. 'It is
now a very 'in' thing to do as it
gives the project a modern feel.'
Sim Lian's Viz at Holland is a
good example. 'The condo is
near Holland Village, and there's
a lot of buzz and activity in the
area,' said Ms Kuik.
'So we combined 'village' and
'buzz' to get 'Viz'. It's short, easy
to remember, and hip-sounding.'
But newly coined names are only
one of the current trends in a
market where condo names
appear to come and go in waves
of fashion.
In fact, Ms Kuik said it is often
possible to distinguish a condo's
age from its name.
'If you look at a name, you can
tell which era the development
was built in,' she noted.
'Anything with 'garden' or 'view'
is likely to be in the 1980s. If it's
'vale', probably the 1990s, and if
it starts with 'The', it's after
2000.'
Other current naming fads
include the almost ubiquitous '@'
sign - officially known as the
'commercial at' and unofficially
used in every attempt to be
trendy. At least 30 condos in
Singapore boast this symbol.
Almost all are new projects that
surfaced after the dot.com
boom.
Property watchers have also
observed that the recent boom
in high-end condos has led to a
proliferation of names using
'residences'. Indeed, about half
the 50-odd condos in this
category - including Marina Bay
Residences and The Orchard
Residences - are located
downtown or in the prime
districts of 9 to 11.
A more longstanding trend is
foreign words. These have long
been de rigueur among
developers, who seem to think
they add a certain je ne sais quoi
(meaning 'an indescribable
attribute') to a moniker.
For instance, there are 34
condos here with names that
start with 'Casa', the Spanish
word for 'house'. Another 21
begin with 'Le' or 'La', the
French words for 'the'.
Some projects are named after
actual foreign locations, such as
Cote d'Azur in Marine Parade,
which sits uncomfortably on the
tongues of most Singaporeans.
But while foreign names might
sound more chi-chi, they are
also more chancy.
One developer related the story
of how SBNB once rejected a
French name for a condo
because the word sounded like
'danger' in English.
'We wanted to name the condo
'Perle', which means 'Pearl' in
French,' the developer said. 'But
the board said it sounded too
much like 'peril', so we had to
change it.'
Interestingly, while SBNB is sticky
on grammatical accuracy in the
use of 'Le' and 'La' - they refer
to male and female nouns
respectively in French - it
appears unconcerned about
condo names that begin with
'De' or 'D'.
'De' is a French proposition that
usually means 'of' or 'for'. It is
used as 'D' only if followed by a
word starting with a vowel.
But Singapore's condos include
such grammatical eyesores as
D'Dalvey and D'Hillside Loft. The
Straits Times understands that
these are considered to be
coined words, rather than
foreign derivatives, and thus
allowable.
As developers try to stay on
SBNB's good side,
straightforward combinations of
road names and numbers are
also getting popular. The latest
trend is names beginning with
'One', such as One Shenton,
which 14 condos have adopted.
But this does not mean
developers have no room for
creativity, as shown by the
unusual 2 rvg and 66 OGR,
which stand for River Valley
Grove and Orange Grove Road,
respectively.
Even if a name does not meet
with contention by SBNB, other
unexpected circumstances may
force it to be changed at the last
minute.
Industry insiders, for instance,
know that Pharos on the
Waterfront was the original
name for the CDL condo near
the Singapore River that is now
called Tribeca. But what they
might not know is that the name
was changed mere weeks before
the condo's launch because CDL
discovered that Pharos referred
to a lighthouse that had been
destroyed by an earthquake.
'We didn't want anyone to make
the association,' said CDL general
manager Chia Ngiang Hong with
a laugh.
At the end of the day, however,
a project's name is probably one
of the lowest factors on a
buyer's list of priorities, said Mr
Ku Swee Yong, director of
marketing and business
development at Savills
Singapore. 'The product quality
and returns potential are the top
things people look at. In the final
evaluation, buyers almost never
consider names.'