http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/prem...a-one-20130220
Published February 20, 2013
German wins bid to design Marina One
PM Lee, PM Najib unveil design of the $7b building, set to open in 2017
By Lee U-wen
[SINGAPORE] The architect behind Google's Silicon Valley headquarters has been tasked with designing the $7 billion Marina One development in Singapore's Marina Bay financial district.
M+S Pte Ltd, a company 60:40 owned by Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional and Singapore's Temasek Holdings, yesterday announced that Christoph Ingenhoven had won the bid to design the complex, comprising 30-storey-high office towers, retail space and more than 1,000 residential units.
The design of the building, set to open in 2017 a stone's throw from the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort, was unveiled by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday.
Marina One, to have 3.67 million square feet of gross floor area, will be designed by the 52-year-old German known for his work on some of the world's top "green" buildings, including the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg and the 1 Bligh Street skyscraper in Sydney.
Mr Lee, speaking to reporters after the unveiling, said he was happy to see the bricks and mortar starting to come up on site following the ground-breaking last July.
"This is a very important project for both Singapore and Malaysia, and it's going to be an iconic project in the middle of our new business district for many more years to come," he said.
"This is a project which we will both be very proud of, and which will thrive and prosper and add to our city and to our friendship."
Mr Najib, here for meetings with Mr Lee, hailed the mixed-use development as a "real winner" that met the criteria for a landmark, iconic building.
The two leaders were yesterday also briefed on the progress of the other joint-venture project called Duo, in the Ophir-Rochor area nearby.
This development, valued at $4 billion, was designed by Ole Scheeren, also a German.
Duo's gross floor area of 1.73 million sq ft will house office, residential and hotel components. Like Marina One, it is scheduled to be completed by 2017. Duo and Marina One are among six prime land parcels being jointly developed by Singapore and Malaysia under a land-swop deal agreed upon three years ago.
After visiting the Marina One site, Mr Lee and Mr Najib went over to the Medini region in Johor's Iskandar Malaysia, where they officially launched two wellness projects.
They rounded off their leaders' retreat in Danga Bay to witness a signing ceremony for a new joint venture between Temasek, CapitaLand Malaysia and Iskandar Waterfront.
Danga Bay, a short drive from the Causeway, is one of five flagship zones in the Iskandar Malaysia development zone.
Under the deal, the three parties will develop a $3.2 billion township comprising high-rise and landed homes, a waterfront hub and retail and office space.
The project has an estimated total gross floor area of 11 million square feet and is expected to be developed in phases over 10 to 12 years.
With this being CapitaLand's first direct large-scale township investment and development in Malaysia, the company's president and group chief executive Lim Ming Yan said it was a "compelling investment opportunity" in a new, upcoming development region.
In a speech at the signing ceremony at the Danga Bay Convention Centre, Johor Chief Minister Abdul Ghani Othman said the joint venture would "give confidence to others waiting on the sidelines, that investment in Iskandar Malaysia is an opportunity not to be missed".
CapitaLand Malaysia will own 51 per cent stake in the joint venture, Iskandar Waterfront 40 per cent, and Temasek, the remaining 9 per cent.
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