Sitting on the banks of the Singapore River in the city’s central business district, it’s hard to miss the two iconic towers that make up the UOB Plaza – instantly recognizable by their post-modern design, rising up and transforming into an octagonal star shape towards the top.
The first tower of the complex was built in 1974, but it wasn’t until 14 years later, when UOB hired Japanese architect Kenzo Tange, that the complex took on its now iconic form. A new 66-floor skyscraper was built next to the original tower, which was retrofitted with new floors and a matching design. The two skyscrapers are linked by a lobby block that houses the banking hall. And UOB Plaza 1, at a height of 280 meters, is still one of the tallest buildings in the country.
Now, 30 years on from when the complex was fully reopened in 1995, its vertical mobility system has been upgraded by our modernization team, who replaced 33 elevators, including 13 double-deckers, and 11 escalators.
Throughout the entire project, the building continued to operate at full capacity – a remarkable feat. Schedules had to be kept, and meetings had to be made – which meant people had to get to where they needed to be quickly and efficiently.
With this in mind, before replacing any of the elevators, our team installed a Schindler PORT Overlay. This is where they deploy our state-of-the-art destination control system to optimize the existing elevators. As Schindler PORT works with almost any elevator – whether it’s one of ours or originally from a third-party – it’s the best way to start any modernization.
Guru’s team then replaced one elevator at a time – to ensure there were always enough available to cater for the flow of traffic and make sure it was business as usual for the people working in the towers. All the units have now been replaced with our high-performance Schindler 7000 elevators, providing a faster, smoother, and more comfortable ride throughout the UOB Plaza complex.