Shorter waiting time for Tengah BTO flats

Two upcoming Build-To-Order (BTO) projects in Tengah will pilot construction technologies such as 3D concrete printing to increase productivity and cut material wastage, which may set the standards for future BTO developments.

The 2,077 units in Garden Waterfront I and II @ Tengah will have one of the shortest waiting times of three years and four months in the BTO sales exercise on Nov 23, said the Housing Board (HDB) on Monday.

A bumper crop of nearly 10,000 flats across 10 projects will be launched.

The shorter waiting time is because the construction technologies used in both Tengah sites are expected to yield a 25 per cent improvement in site productivity, as compared to other BTO projects, said HDB.

Waiting time for buyers is reduced as more floor areas are completed with the same amount of labour.

“With the same available construction resources, higher productivity reduces construction time,” added HDB.

The two projects in Tengah comprise 18 residential blocks ranging from nine to 16 storeys. They will house the full range of flat types, from rental to two-room flexi to five-room.

With the launch of Garden Waterfront I and II @ Tengah, almost 17,000 units will have been offered in Tengah since the first BTO project in November 2018.

While there have been some Covid-19-related delays, more than 70 per cent of these projects currently have a waiting time of four years or less, said HDB.

Tengah is Singapore’s 24th HDB town and billed as a “forest town” with a car-free town centre. The 700ha town – around the size of Bishan – is estimated to provide 30,000 units of public housing and 12,000 units of private housing across five housing districts when it is completed.

Garden Waterfront I & II @ Tengah is part of the HDB’s Construction Transformation Project, which kick-starts the board’s journey to improve overall site productivity by 40 per cent by 2030, up from the 25.9 per cent that was achieved in 2020.

For the two Tengah projects, HDB is collaborating with construction firm Obayashi Singapore to adopt technologies, such as a hybrid precast system which allows flats to be designed without beams – a first in Singapore.

The beamless design will give residents greater flexibility in configuring the layout of their flats.

Artificial intelligence in tower crane operations will optimise hoisting routes for precast components, to reduce the manpower required for such repetitive and labour-intensive activities.

Landscape features within the two BTO projects will be done via 3D concrete printing, which uses a special fibre-glass reinforced concrete material to provide structural strength. This paves the way for larger and more complex structures to be potentially fabricated in this matter without the need for complex moulds, said HDB.

Located in the Garden district, Garden Waterfront I & II @ Tengah will sit next to the Promenade Park, which lines the northern edge of the 14ha Tengah Pond.

Tengah Pond is a man-made pond that serves to detain stormwater for the southern part of the town. There, residents will have access to nature play gardens, fitness facilities and lookout decks.

The projects will be next to the upcoming Hong Kah MRT station on the Jurong Region line. To encourage green commuting, a 16m-wide car-free garden corridor will run parallel to the MRT tracks.

A garden farmway, which has a 1,000 sq m community garden space, childcare centres and naturally landscaped rain gardens, runs through the two projects.

It will also link both projects to the car-free town centre and a 20ha central park.

The housing blocks will be fitted with rooftop solar panels that generate energy to power common services such as lifts and corridor lighting, and a pneumatic waste conveyance system.

Residents can also subscribe to a centralised cooling system offered by SP Group, which offers up to 30 per cent cost savings compared to conventional air-conditioning systems.

On Nov 23, HDB will launch around 9,500 BTO flats across 10 projects in Queenstown, Kallang/Whampoa, Bukit Batok, Tengah and Yishun.

Of these, three projects – two in Queenstown and one in Kallang/Whampoa –will come under the prime location public housing model.