Raffles City was undertaken in a climate of nation building shortly after Singapore's independence. Upon completion in 1986, the 370,000 m2 project was the largest private commercial development in Southeast Asia with the tallest building in the Far East, the world's tallest hotel, and the largest continuous concrete pour ever attempted.
The complex includes a 39-story office tower, a 1,200-room, 72-story tourist hotel and a more exclusive hotel with 800 guest rooms in two angled 27-story towers. All components are interconnected and rise from a seven-story podium housing shops, health/sports and convention facilities. A central atrium provides the building with its own climate controlled town square; in both density and activity, Raffles is itself a mixed-used city.
An innovative aluminum curtain wall unifies the exterior. The mass of the building is shifted away from the historic Raffles Hotel and toward the grassy Padang. Like a piece of monumental sculpture, the tall cam-shaped tower mysteriously changes profile, appearing curved or orthogonal from different perspectives. No attempt was made to integrate with existing low-rise neighbors of uncertain urban renewal fate. The project was designed to look ahead, not back, and relies on contrast to express its role as a centerpiece of Singapore's redeveloped future.