ALPHA CENTRE AT SINGAPORE-HANGSHOU SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY PARK
Client / Capitaland-Ascendas
Sector / Experience Centre
Service / Experience Design, Spatial Design
An office lobby is a place that we might not think about much - for many of us, we walk through it to get to our place of work or we meet and wait for colleagues and guests there. But that is where the opportunity to take it even further lies. The humble office lobby can become a key landmark in the office space environment.
Here's how we worked together with Ascendas to develop Alpha Centre, the heart of the Singapore-Hangzhou Science and Technology Park 3.
Background
Surrounded by 14 universities, Alpha Centre is the heart of the Singapore-Hangzhou Science and Tech Park (SHSTP). It is an integrated hub, exhibition, office, event and experience centre within Phase 3 of the SHSTP, and a vibrant community.
Located at the lobby of the office buildings in Phase 3 our clients, Ascendas, wanted to do more than have a seating area and an F&B stand. They wanted to work together with us to create a vibrant platform that complements and enhances the purpose of SHSTP. We co-created a central node that is set to be the life and heart of the entire park.
Conceptualization
We were challenged to design a hub for the workers at the SHSTP, students of the nearby universities, as well as government officials who would visit the park. These were three different groups of people with different intents and different things that would interest them.
The office crowd would need regularly refreshed content, visiting government officials would need a formal but engaging overview of the park, and the programming would need to be useful and inspiring for the university students who could pop over.
A hub of inspiration and collaboration
Measuring 15,000sqft, Alpha Centre thus materialised as an integrated hub, exhibition, event and experience centre within Phase 3 of the SHSTP. It can hold activities and showcases such as product launches, networking sessions, graduation shows, competitions and pitches.
The space provides various work settings with the enhancement of productivity and well-being in mind, as well as well-positioned programmatic spaces that allow visual dialogues of the working community’s dynamics and energy. Meeting and event spaces seamlessly connect, allowing fluid movement between spaces and even activities with different setups and functional requirements. The modular furniture here can be adapted to suit the seating configurations of many event types as well.
The platform steps are the core of Alpha Centre. By showcasing exciting brand portfolios, products, and culture here, it encourages interactivity, inspires new ideas, and prompts the discovery of new experiences. Furniture on the steps is portable too, so visitors can easily customise their working and collaboration arrangements. The design palette here is warm and neutral to make people feel comfortable and open for discussion and ideas.
Developing a passionate “open-source” community
As the heart of Alpha Park, Alpha Centre needs to be the central node of life and innovation. Thus we designed different entrances to excite, inspire and encourage collaboration and sharing of knowledge, imbuing the spirit of an “open-source” community that everyone can benefit from.
The East Entrance aims to organically attract walk-in visitors and students from the 14 universities around Alpha Centre to discover its unique culture and innovation, and ultimately join our community. Aspirational prototype showcases of innovation possibilities that the future can bring will be the main highlight. Established brands that do high-level future technology research will be invited every quarter to showcase their prototypes here.
Retail spaces in the Central area give the limelight to small and medium sized companies. In the spirit of innovation and creativity, crowd-funded projects feature prominently and visitors can watch, touch, like, share and buy products through interactive touchpoints. Creators can get real time feedback on products, make changes, and then test with the market, all in the same space.
The office crowd would enter using the North Entrance. As they are at Alpha Park often, they are kept engaged with intuitive content that can be refreshed regularly such as new technology showcases, brand features, as well as innovation and tech events happening around SHSTP.
At the West Entrance, visitor groups, especially specially invited government officials, are brought through here. They can get an overview of the entire development, its functions, features and also a 10m long interactive cultural wall that celebrates Singapore, Hangzhou, and Japan’s culture (a Japanese engineering company is one of the biggest tenants in the park).
For further questions regarding this project, please feel free to reach out to hello@theafternaut.com for more information.
Zero One Tech Festival 2018
The Afternaut Group Pte Ltd. 2024
