The Biggest Property and Development Awards in Singapore Handed Out 48 Awards Across Different Trending Categories Including Sustainability and Innovation Excellence

GuocoLand (Singapore), the developer for Wallich Residence and Martin Modern won the most number of awards

eCO and The Venue Residences and Shoppes named Singapore's most sustainable buildings

Duo Residences won the most loved building in Singapore based on 4354 votes

SINGAPORE -- 4 October 2018 - More than 15 developers and property organisations were recognised at EdgeProp Singapore Excellence Awards 2018 held today at The Fullerton Hotel. GuocoLand (Singapore), Frasers Property Limited and City Developments Limited are amongst the biggest winners who bagged eleven, seven and six awards respectively.

A total of forty-eight awards were handed out during the second edition of the gala dinner cum ceremony, including key accolades such as: Sustainability Excellence Award, Innovation Excellence Award and Value Creation Award. The event was attended by more than 250 guests.

The annual EdgeProp Singapore Excellence Awards is organised by EdgeProp, the fastest growing property portal for home-seekers, buyers, investors and real estate agents alike in Singapore. The awards aims to identify the best property players and developments in the city state, and reinforces the commitment to integrity, innovation, design and community among the real estate industry, setting the ultimate benchmark of excellence in Singapore's property development.

The shortlisted projects and the ultimate winners were based on a rigorous judging process by an independent panel of judges from 53 submissions received from over 20 property developers. The esteemed judging panel comprises Ong Choon Fah, Chief Executive Officer, Head of Research & Consulting, Edmund Tie & Company (SEA); Lee Liat Yeang, Senior Partner -- Real Estate Practice, Dentons Rodyk & Davidson; Yu Shi Ming, Department of Real Estate, National University of Singapore; Quek Tse Kwang, Co-founder and Director, RT+Q Architects; and Yvonne Tan, Director, MSILA, Accredited Landscape Architect DP Green.

For full transparency, the scores by the judges were audited by KPMG Singapore, one of the Big Four auditors worldwide.

Integrated and Hotel Development Excellence Award: Tanjong Pagar Centre and Sofitel Singapore City Centre by GuocoLand (Singapore)

As we progress and improve on our way of life, the importance of seamlessness while traversing within a development is on the rise. With the newly introduced Integrated Development Excellence Award[1], EdgeProp recognizes developments that are able to serve the community through space planning and efficiency, whilst also seeking to push boundaries in architectural and design excellence.

The winner of the inaugural Integrated Development Excellence Award, Tanjong Pagar Centre combines premium office space with hotel, retail, urban park and luxury residences in a vertical city, creating a new landmark for Singapore. 

As the tallest integrated development in Singapore, it integrates 890,000 sq ft of premium Grade A office space at Guoco Tower, a 100,000 sq ft lifestyle and F&B component, 223 rooms of 5-star business accommodation at Sofitel Singapore City Centre, 181 units of prestigious homes at Wallich Residence and a unique two-layered landscaped Urban Park in the CBD. The development also features seamless and direct connectivity to one of the city's busiest commuter hubs, Tanjong Pagar MRT station.

On the other hand, the Hotel Development Excellence Award[2] aims to recognize the finest service providers in Singapore's real estate hospitality. In addition to the judges' scoring for aesthetics, facilities and accessibility, EdgeProp also obtained ratings from 5 hotel portals: Booking.com, Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Tripadvisor.com and Trivago.com which contributed to the total scores of the submitted projects.

The Sofitel Singapore City Centre managed by AccorHotels won the prestigious award. It offers guests the finest luxury accommodation complete with an outdoor pool, a plush executive lounge with stunning city views, a 620 sqm ballroom and eight meeting rooms plus world-class restaurant and bars. Surrounded by a wide array of dining and entertainment options, the Sofitel are exceptionally positioned to take advantage of strong corporate and leisure demand

Sustainability Excellence Award: eCO by Far East Organization, Frasers Property and Sekisui House & The Venue Residences and Shoppes by City Developments Limited and Hong Leong Holdings Limited

The Sustainability Excellence Award is a recognition of developments that push the envelope to succeed in a variety of areas such as recreational services, community health initiatives, sustainability, construction productivity, safety advancements, energy efficiency, green initiatives and many others. The criteria are as follows:

1.    Ecological & Environmental Values: planning of resources to achieve sustainability within the development, eg. provision of habitat for biodiversity, maintenance of soil quality, nutrient cycling, water cycling, heat mitigation, erosion control, and storm water management

2.    Maintainability: Ease of maintaining building facade, facilities, amenities, common areas, etc.

3.    Green Mark Certification: Scores were allocated based on Building & Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Certification

The winners of the award are eCO and The Venue Residences and Shoppes. eCOwas widely recommended by the judges due to its green strategies to optimise design sensitivities, harvest natural resources to conserve energy and water consumption, as well as utilisation of bio philia to not only aesthetically please, but perform multiple functionalities. 

Developed as a community in a garden, the 748-unit development integrated native flora and fauna from the surrounding landscape with five residential lifestyles offered within a gated community -- SOHO, Suite, Loft, Condominium and Townhouse. In particular, during its development, 18 existing mature rain trees were conserved. The design and construction of the development took into consideration the health of the heritage rain trees. The development was awarded the BCA Greenmark Gold Plus Award.

Designed by Aedas, The Venue Residences and Shoppes is located on the fringe of downtown Singapore at Tai Thong Crescent. 

The combination of materials and design elements used to reduce energy consumption of the building, environmental-friendly and sustainable construction materials used and technologies employed contributed to The Venue Residences and Shoppes obtaining this award. 

For example, more than 81% of the kitchens, bathrooms, toilets achieve adequate Natural Ventilation and daylighting. The development was awarded the BCA Greenmark Platinum Award in 2013.

Innovation Excellence Award: Wallich Residence by GuocoLand (Singapore) & Westwood Residences by Koh Brothers Development Pte Ltd and Heeton Homes Pte Ltd

The Innovation Excellence Award celebrates developments in Singapore that display market novelty and embrace new technology while remaining relevant to the needs of their communities. The criteria are as follows:

1.    Concept novelty: Newness and originality of ideas

2.    Use of technology: Adoption of new technology to achieve results

3.    Relevance to community: Practicality of innovation

Wallich Residence by GuocoLand (Singapore) is one of the two winners this year. Designed with nature and sustainability in mind, Wallich Residence adopts innovative technologies to reduce the building's total energy demand. 

The entire building façade is covered in high performance glass which is further enhanced by an extensive shading device configuration in all sides of the buildings to achieve a lower thermal performance value. 

Highly efficient chillers with variable speed drives, provisions for dual speed escalators, and regenerative elevators are also part of its effort to achieve maximum energy efficiency.

The other winner is Westwood Residences by Koh Brothers Development and Heeton Homes Pte Ltd. The first bicycle-centric designed development in Singapore, it has introduced a series of initiatives to encourage bicycle ownership and cycling. 

Each and every unit has access to proper bicycle storage, and as such, a ratio of 1:1 bicycle parking slot with secured covered garage and biometric vein scanner access are located at basement level. Cycling enthusiasts who have more bicycles can also opt to rent a full-size bicycle locker to secure their belongings.  

Value Creation Award

To determine projects that have given buyers the best return on investment, EdgeProp analysed data from the Real Estate Information System (REALIS) provided by Urban Redevelopment Authority to quantify the top three developments that saw the most capital appreciation and yielded the best rental income. 

By achieving growth in both aspects, these developments have created the best value for their buyers. The winners are as follows:

1.    Coco Palms by Hong Realty (Private) Limited, City Developments Limited & Hong Leong Holdings Limited

2.    The Panorama by Wheelock Properties (Singapore) Limited

3.    Urban Vista by Bayfront Realty Pte Ltd

Singaporeans also had a say in the building that they love the most. Overseeing a spectacular panorama of the dazzling Singapore city skyline, the iconic 49-storey Duo Residences was honoured as People's Choice Award. About 4,300 votes were casted online on awards.edgeprop.sg over a span of one month that ended on 24 August 2018. (mor/*).