New Development (2000s till present)

Under the earlier master plans, urban design parcels have been developed further and major infrastructural projects were completed under these plans. They include:

i. The Master Planning of Alumni Complex – BIZ in 2004 :

Infrastructural Projects Completed include:

• 
  The Shaw Foundation Alumni House was completed in September 2008, providing 11,500 m2 of space which is designed to be a vibrant confluence where alumni, staff, students and friends of the University can interact and bond amidst a plethora of events that promote networking, partnerships and lifelong learning. Located on the Kent Ridge campus, this building will serve the NUS alumni community, benefactors, students, faculty and staff. The design concept will allow for NUS alumni to engage in lifelong learning – access information on continuing education, career advancement, alumni cultivation and fundraising. The Alumni house is a place where alumni can work with each other and with the University to reach its vision of becoming a Global Knowledge Enterprise. It will help facilitate the nurturing of entrepreneurial graduates from a world-class university with a global outlook. Facilities such as an auditorium, seminar and breakout rooms, as well as a multi-purpose function hall will provide spaces for seminars, workshops and luncheon talks that will contribute to the lifelong personal growth of Alumni. Alumni, staff and students can make use of the auditorium or function hall for events that bond alumni and engage alumni in the aspirations of the University.
  
  
• 
  The 8-storey Mochtar Riady Building for the NUS Business School which will promote collaborative and action-based learning that is the hallmark of top-notch business schools was ready in November 2009.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

ii. The Master Planning of NUS High School in 2004 :

• The NUS High School is located at Clementi Avenue 1 in a quiet residential neighborhood within 2 km of NUS. The school campus sits on a 4.67 ha plot of land which will accommodate a steady state student population of 1250 by year 2010. A key feature of the campus is a keen sense of openness which is evident from the vast open spaces designed to encourage interaction and discussion, as well as to stimulate students’ passion in exploring new scientific ideas. The NUS High School with its resident block will serve not only as a container for support of learning and teaching but also foster community spirit among staff and students throught it multitude of shared gathering spaces. It is envisaged that the learning is not confined within the walls of the classrooms or laboratories, but will extend to the outdoors and natural environment as well.
  
  [Please see http://www.nus.edu.sg/oed/onsite/issue1/NUSHighSchool.htm]

iii. The Master Planning of Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in 2005 :

• 
  
  
  
  Targeted for completion by the third quarter of 2011, the Centre forTranslational Medicine is being constructed for the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. This flagship building will provide 15 storey (approximately 41,000 m2) of space for teaching, learning, training and research and will be equipped with cutting-edge technologies and facilities such as the Clinical Imaging and Research Centre (CIRC), digital media classrooms for medical and nursing students, as well as a simulated hospital complete with an operating theatre, an intensive-care unit and clinical skills laboratories. The Cancer Science Institute of Singapore and the National Specialty Centres in Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer will be accommodated in this building together with an expanded Investigational Medicine Unit, where first-in-man and early phase clinical trials of new drugs and biomarkers would be conducted. Bio Safety Level 3 facilities will also be provided which are required for elevation to the next level of research capabilities to allow for the study of highly infectious agents.
  

• 
  Infrastructural Projects Completed include:
  • A re-construction of the former Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) Building was completed in June 2006 to meet the strategic needs of Bio-medical research. This building known as the Centre for Life Sciences (CeLs) allows centralization of large, expensive equipment into shared core facilities. Extension works was carried out to add another floor to the building. The modular design of laboratory workbenches makes full use of limited space and incorporates safety features that are integral to Bio-Safety Level 1 and 2 laboratories.

iv. The Master Planning of Bukit Timah Campus in 2005 :

• The return of the Bukit Timah Campus (BTC) to NUS in late 2005 was a milestone of historical significance. This resulted in the availability of an additional 38,700 m2 (as at October 2008) of space to accommodate the relocation of the Faculty of Law and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and other complementary policy-related and research institutes to strengthen the University’s position at the forefront of the study of Asia. [Please see https://www.alumni.nus.edu.sg/alumNET/alumnus/article.jsp?issue=jul2007&id=newsflash2_btc  for more information regarding BTC]
  
  

v. The Master Planning of University Town in 2007 :

• A significant addition to the University’s physical resources is currently being constructed at the University Town (UT) site at the former Warren Golf Course on Dover Road. The University Town will pioneer an innovative model of live, learn and discovery, featuring integrated residential colleges housing with teaching, research and commercial spaces and ancillary facilities such as a sports complex. The campus will provide more than 240,000 m2 of integrated learning and living space for a cosmopolitan mix of students starting 2011. Thrust with a strong research agenda, UT will be a key strategic development that will host the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, the first research centre within the National Research Foundations’ Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE). UT will be connected to the Kent Ridge campus via a vehicular and pedestrian bridge across the Ayer Rajah Expressway. The bridge will be a strategic gateway, not only by bringing the two campuses closer together physically, but also in fostering a sense of one NUS community.

vi. The Planning of Centennial Pond in 2006 (Under construction):

Other major projects that are recently completed include:

• The 7-storey administrative building, University Hall, was completed for the corporate services sector in June 2005, adding 21,700 m2 of new space to the University’s resources.
• The new 3-storey Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM) building that was officially opened in October 2006. Equipped with state-of-the-art facilities comparable to the top conservatories in the world, the YSTCM building is a key milestone in the development of Singapore as a global arts hub, and a boost to NUS’ standing as a world-class university.
• To further enrich student support services and to provide them with a one stop service experience, a new Student Service Centre was constructed by upgrading facilities at the Yusof Ishak House in August 2004. Apart from the upgrading canteen facility at this area, a pedestrian mall of retail, food and beverage outlets provide students with space for work, study, dining and recreation.
• 
  The T-Lab Building is a joint development project between the University and the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA). The building is fully owned by the University after its completion and is used to house the Temasek Laboratores and other University research initiatives. This building was completed in February 2009.
  
  
  
  
• 
  
  To offer a fresh dining experience for the NUS community, the Deck canteen located at the Faculty of Arts and Social Science was upgraded and re-opened in August 2007. The previous 966 seat single storey canteen area now operates as a new 2 storey food court styled building with the first floor accommodating 1018 non air-conditioned seating and the second storey housing a new 236 seat air-conditioned dining area. Diners now have a choice of different types of cuisine within the same premise. The first level features an open-air canteen with high ceilings and hawker style food from 13 food stalls. The second level which is fully air-conditioned is home to 3 food outlets. This provides alternative space for staff and students to mingle in an air-conditioned environment.
• To create a pedestrian friendly campus environment that promotes and facilitates movement and inter-mingling of people, a sheltered walkway was constructed in January 2008 connecting the NUS Business School to Kent Ridge and Sheares Halls. The main aim of this project is to create interesting indoor and outdoor meeting places that are safe, comfortable and seamlessly connected.

Major challenges faced by physical campus – Space Constraints

The approximate built-up gross floor area for teaching, research and support facilities has increased from 886,000 m2 as at 2003 to 936,000 m2 as at 2008 (including 72,700 m2 of space for external research institutes residing in Kent Ridge Campus).

The surge in new academic initiatives and research thrust has made the space constraint a constant challenge. Despite the substantial growth in new physical space created over the past years, the proportion of the space increase is still inadequate in comparison to the expansion in enrolment and increasing research programmes.

The increase in the student enrolment figures which have grown from 28,986 full time equivalents (FTEs) to 32,366 FTEs in the same period, as well as research growth with new research programmes in new areas of research as well as the imperative to improve the quality of campus experience for the growing student population have fuel the substantial growth in space.

Sustainable Planning

In the past, planning was often environmentally insensitive, with a general disregard for the effects of transportation, water consumption, and energy usage that runs counter to the obligation to provide a healthy future for our society. With a more acute awareness of the impact of each decision, the planning process can be used to create sustainable learning environments that respect natural resources, adapt to climatic conditions, and set new standards for building performance. As innovation- ready community, university is well positioned to be models of sustainable planning. By living and learning in an environmentally conscious community, students learns to consider the impact of everyday decisions, carrying the principles of sustainability beyond the confines of the university campus and into their lives as global citizens. Because of the widespread benefits, NUS has made sustainability a priority in new projects and campus planning efforts.

Other major challenges faced by physical campus

Since 2005, lab safety requirements in high risk labs have been progressively addressed. The regularization work plan targets to regularize all non-laboratory based buildings by 2010 and laboratories by 2015.

As our buildings age with time, the building upgrading and subsystems renewal programme will continue to play an important part in our constant efforts to maintaining a conducive learning and teaching environment for our community.

Another challenge that will be posed to the University and the country in general, will be the increasing costs of construction, renovation and materials. A shortage of funds committed for capital projects and development will be a serious impediment to the aspirations of the University in terms of providing a holistic and comprehensive physical infrastructure to attract the best talents to study and work in NUS.

Moving Forward – Precinct Master Plans

Currently, university is reviewing the last master plan to take into account the latest developments in physical infrastructure and to seize opportunities in the higher education arena to meet the aspirations of its community. A university- wide strategy precinct master planning will be undertaken starting from the first precinct of Bio-Medical Science Cluster consisting of FOS – SOM- FOD and NUHS and work progressively to the other precincts [please see attached map] to ensure that its strategic intent in physical planning is relevant and would help NUS be competitive against the ever growing global competition. The review process will seek broad-based feedback from NUS stakeholders, including faculty and staff, students, alumni and employers, through a series of meetings, charades, focus group discussions and surveys.