d+a | Issue 124 • 2022

/ OFFICE / 42 ensure the entire foreground could be clarified to emphasise the presence of the monument.” This they did by removing the canopies, linkways and the open-air carpark that used to stand before it, parallel to Sentosa Gateway. In place, a driveway was designed with a light and slender aluminium canopy for the drop-off point, and a low-slung concrete linkway connecting all three blocks stained in the same terracotta colour as the brick façade. Even the landscaping is careful not to intrude into the airspace to ensure the monument can be appreciated from afar in all directions. THE BASE BUILD On the inside, Mok reveals that all non- structural walls and partitions were demolished in order to fulfil the brief of converting the space into an office, including increasing the gross floor area. “After everything was removed, it was basically a huge volume of space. The main challenge then was how to put in all the extra floor area, while still conserving the architectural quality of the power station, which is a very unique typology,” he elaborates, of the base build that W Architects was responsible for. The concept behind the solution was to insert a “timber box” into the steel-and-brick enclosure to inject warmth into a space that could potentially feel cold from all that exposed metal. This was articulated through three floor slabs resembling floating decks that span what was the Boiler and Turbine Houses, now called Blocks A and B, respectively. The Switch Gear House, which became Block C, was already composed of smaller rooms across four floors, and was left relatively untouched. MOK WEI WEI, MANAGING DIRECTOR, W ARCHITECTS 03 04 03-04. A low- slung concrete linkway connects all three blocks, stained in the same terracotta colour as the brick façade.