Singapore Sports Hub.
When it is completed in April 2014, the $1 billion-plus Singapore Sports Hub is expected to take the multipurpose venue concept to the next level.
The entertainment facility includes a 55,000-seat stadium, a sports complex with hard courts, a skate park, a climbing wall, beach volleyball and an aquatic center designed for training Olympic hopefuls. It will also include a sports library and museum, public parks, retail shops and restaurants. And unlike other venues of this type, a number of these areas will be open 24/7.
“One of the unique aspects of this project was figuring out how to design six new venues that will be on an international stage from time to time but also be accessible on a daily basis to nearly six million Singaporeans,” said Mark Collins, managing director of Global Spectrum Asia.
Global Spectrum Asia will serve as venue operator of the complex, and is one member of the Singapore Sports Hub Consortium, a group of private companies that makes up the private entity in the public-private partnership that owns the Sports Hub. The other members of the Consortium are Infrared Capital Partners, DTZ Facilities and Engineering, a UGL company who will oversee facility maintenance, and Dragages Singapore, the construction contractor.
The Sports Hub allows Singapore, which is only about 20 miles wide and 20 miles long, to compete for international sporting events with other Asian regions, including Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong.
A National Icon
Despite the many facets of the complex, the objective from the start was to create a facility that promotes sports in Singapore. It was only after the design and construction were underway that Singapore Sports Hub was chosen to host the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in 2015.
“From an events programming perspective, when you compare this project to similar ones around the world, it is like a mini Olympic park. The major difference is that Singapore’s government decided to build this park without the promise of the Olympic games,” said Poh Yu Khing, COO of Sports Hub Pte Ltd. “The goal was to provide a platform for year-round programming geared for residents and visitors. We want to get as much use out of the complex as possible.”
Serving the Singapore community was the primary consideration in the design of the complex, which is located on a more-than-86-acres site in Kallang.
“Our starting point was very different from other countries’ with this project,” said Yu Khing. “We looked at programming from the bottom up, starting with providing very affordable or free public facilities.”
This includes a 9,700-square-foot Sports Promenade, which will become Singapore’s largest fully-sheltered civic space and be open to the public 24/7. Including community areas for sports activities open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., the promenade will combine a skate park; leisure water area with wave pool, lazy river and water park; fitness corners; Tai Chi zones; lawn bowl; a rock climbing wall; two beach volleyball courts; three hard courts for basketball; big chess; and jogging and cycling tracks.
What also distinguishes this project is that, in addition to the arenas, sports facilities and outdoor community areas, Singapore Sports Hub will include more than 440,000 sq. ft. of shops and restaurants, creating a lifestyle area that faces Singapore’s Kallang Basin and Marina Bay.
“This allows the nonsporting community to also have reason to come, and hopefully we can cross-sell to them,” Yu Khing said. “Entire families that may have different interests can gather at the same complex for a day out.”
Also geared for family use as well as a training complex for professional athletes is the Water Sports Centre. Located along the Kallang Basin, this area’s 500m course will be mapped out on the water and its 1km course will be accessible from Marina Bay. The course is designed for canoeing, kayaking, rowing and Dragon Boat races.
Although the project’s focus is on multiuse and public access facilities, the centerpiece of the Sports Hub will be the new 55,000-seat National Stadium. This venue’s retractable seating capability allows for reconfiguration of the stadium’s bowl to provide appropriate sightlines for various sports and nonsporting events.
Designed as a multifunctional sports facility, the stadium will host international athletics, soccer, cricket, rugby, concerts and the country’s annual National Day Parade, which celebrates Singapore’s Independence Day.
In addition to the new stadium, the pre-existing Singapore Indoor Stadium (SIS) also will be integrated as a key venue within the complex. Managed by Global Spectrum Asia since 2010, the 24-year-old facility will continue to operate as an event space for indoor sports events, performances and concerts, in addition to hosting institutional programs that will connect this venue to the complex.
“The Singapore Stadium holds more than 50 events and 100 shows each year,” said Yu Khing. Lady Gaga recently performed here as well as Canadian standup comedian Russell Peters. “The Singapore Slingers, part of the ASEAN Basketball League, is our resident team. They play a total of 12 home games each season in the stadium.”
Singapore Sport Hub’s 3,000-seat Aquatic Centre & the Leisure Water Centre will be open to the public daily, in addition to serving as a training center for swimming and diving Olympic hopefuls and a competition venue. Its 50-meter competition pool, 50-meter training pool and 5-meter deep diving pool will play host to the 2014 SEA swimming championships as well as be accessible to leisure swimmers.
The complex’s MultiPurpose Indoor Arena (MPIA) is designed as two multipurpose modules that flank a central public atrium. This flexible design allows the six sports halls to be utilized simultaneously for various indoor sports, including badminton, fencing, martial arts, basketball, volleyball, rhythmic gymnastics and table tennis.
A sports-themed library at the complex’s Visitor Centre will provide a range of school-based and public programs for the general public, athletes and those involved in professional sports.
“The purpose of the community facilities, including the MPIA, library and aquatic center, was to replace aging facilities for future Olympians’ daily training regimes,” Collins said. Half of the venues’ opening hours will be dedicated to elite athlete training, while the other times are designated for the general public. “Not everyone can utilize the U.S.’ Colorado Springs Olympic training facilities but, at Sports Hub, anyone can use the same space as an Olympic athlete.”
The final component of the complex is a 24,700-sq.-ft. interactive Sports Museum dedicated to the history and culture of Singapore’s sports. In addition to displays on the country’s international sporting moments, athletes and trends, the museum will include a Partners’ Activation Zone for corporate partners to highlight their contributions to Singapore sports and an exhibit area for the Singapore Sports Council to display temporary exhibitions. The museum will also provide campus heritage, education and engagement programs, a Sports Walk of Fame, Heritage Trail and Sporting Milestones.
Longterm Legacy
Singapore Sports Hub has set aside a budget to cover the next 20 years of operating community sporting programs and activities, in addition to learn-to-play programs.
There is no admission charge to enter the complex’s campus, and a majority of the outdoor facilities, including the basketball, beach volleyball, skateboard park and jogging tracks, are free. There will be fees for the public to use the aquatic center facilities and the public can reserve areas such as the volleyball courts, in advance.
“We also will offer membership programs and tie access to the training facilities into loyalty programs,” Collins said. “Our pricing will be in line with the Singapore Sports Council’s, which charges about $1.50 (U.S.) for swimming pool access or $200 a year for a membership. We want to keep it very affordable.”
The Singapore Sports Council is currently working with various sporting organizations to determine the athletes who will train on site. So far, the national swimming and badminton teams plan to train at the complex. It is expected that fencing and martial arts athletes also will come on board.
“We also are in discussions with Malaysia’s football league, which our Singapore team is a part of, to bring teams here,” Yu Khing said. “In addition, we will host national school competitions and community events, like track and field and swimming.”
Singapore is part of the bid for the Women’s Tennis Association World Championships, which is currently being held in Istanbul.
There also are plans to partner with Feld Entertainment, which has hosted events at the SIS in the past, to host the country’s first-ever Monster Truck event.
“In addition to a number of Singapore-centric events, we are partnering with promoters including Live Nation, and have six concerts planned in the first nine months we’ll be open,” Collins said. “We have a healthy calendar in place.”
Looking ahead, a bid for the Asian, Commonwealth or Olympic games is not out of the question, Yu Khing said.
There also has been talk about adding a hotel adjacent to the site in the future.
“We have strategically determined how to become a self-contained ecocenter that attracts people at all hours of the day, and that was our goal,” Collins said. “There are other entertainment complexes that have aspects of what we offer, but not every component, and that’s what differentiates us.”
Singapore Sports Hub will serve as a test case for multiuse venues offering both public and private access.
“We believe there will be others who will want to emulate us, so we can take the lead with Global Spectrum to assist in the development of projects such as this in the future,” Yu Khing said.
Interviewed for this story: Mark Collins, 65-9424-3586; Pho Yu Khing, 65-6603-1706