OCBC Centre
Encyclopedia : O : OC : OCB : OCBC Centre
| Buildings in Singapore | |
| |
| Chinese: 华侨银行大厦 or 华厦中心 | |
| Location Address - Postal code Planning - region - area - subzone | 65 Chulia Street 049513 Central Raffles Place CBD |
| Building type | High-rise |
| Usage | Office |
| Specifications Height Floors GLA | 201 m, 659 ft 52, 1 (subterranean) 74,963 m3 m² |
| Current status | Occupied |
| Construction Period - broke ground - topped-out - TOP | 1975 - 1976 To be filled in To be filled in 26 November 1976 |
| Architect | I. M. Pei with BEP Akitek |
| Real estate developer>Developer | OCBC Bank |
| Owner | OCBC Bank |
| Contractor | Morrison--Knusden and Low Keng Huat Joint Venture |
| Notes: | |
Republic of Singapore | |
OCBC Centre is the current headquarters of OCBC Bank in Singapore. It has 52 floors and a height of 201 metres. The main building was completed in 1976 and was the tallest building in the country at that time. The building was on the site of the there are two extensions, OCBC Centre South and OCBC Centre East. There is an Executive Club on one of the higher floors of the building. OCBC Centre East has food and beverage outlets such as, Burger King and Starbucks.
History
OCBC Centre was the result of the second Sale of Sites of the Urban Renewal Department of the Housing and Development Board in 1968. The building was designed by I M Pei & Partners (now Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners) together with now defunct BEP Akitek (Pte) Singapore and started construction in 1975. Its constrution period was shortened due to a "three-tier system" as such it took only two years to complete. The building took two years to build and was completed on 26 November 1976 and was Singapore and Southeast Asia's tallest building at the time. A bronze sculpture designed by Tan Teng Kee sat at the building until 1983 when it was moved to the now defunct Bras Basah Park. A reclining figure sculpture by Henry Morre has been replaced and a new plaza and reflecting pool was built outside the front entrance of the building. The building has underwent several modernisations and OCBC Centre East and South was constructed at a later date.Architecture
It is supposed to be a symbol of strength and permanence, and its structure consists of two semi-circular reinforced concrete cores as well as three lateral girders which helped made construction faster. The building is divided into three sections due to the stell trusses being constructed off-site and were put into position. Each section consists of floors that are cantilevered 6 metres from each column, with load transfer girdrs spanning at each end taking up boxed sections of the pre-stressed concrete. Lattice steel models strengthened by steel and concrete compression was installed on the 20 and 35 floors of the building. The building has been nicknamed the "calculator" due to its flat shape and windows which look like button pads.See also
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