FEASIBILITY STUDY OF UNDERGROUND SCIENCE CITY, SINGAPORE PAPER 2: PLANNING, ARCHITECTURAL, ENGINEERING, FIRE SAFETY AND SUSTAINABILITY

Singapore is an island city state with an area of 710 sq. kin and a population of 5.1 million people. To meet multiple land use demands, Singapore has made use of strategies like land reclamation, compact and high-density development to expand and optimize the use of its limited land. Going underground is another option to increase the utilization of Singapore's land. Several feasibility studies for underground space developments are currently being carried out in Singapore. The purpose of these studies is to identify suitable and economically viable applications for underground space. Underground Science City (USC) is one of these feasibility study projects. R&D and Data Centers are identified as promising activities. The facility will provide safe, conducive and comfortable office and laboratory space of highest technical standard for a large number of scientists, researchers and other professionals and room for data centers. Providing working space for a large number of people in underground cavern is unique. and to our knowledge it is a first of its kind worldwide. This is the second of two papers dedicated to the feasibility study of the USC project. It describes the characteristics of this project, the special challenges and merits of underground facilities, and essential considerations and conclusions regarding planning, architectural, engineering, fire safety and sustainability aspects of the USC. Underground space for applications such as office, laboratory and data center is, by comparison with normal above ground solutions, costly because in simple term it means constructing 'buildings inside caverns'. Emphasis must therefore be laid on optimizing the utilization of the created underground space. In this study, a detailed concept design with full consideration of all operational needs was carried out and the key provisions are briefly described in this paper. The USC study aims to provide learning points for the design and operation of future cavern developments with work environments, in Singapore and elsewhere.