If you have seen our Midtown Modern article, you probably would have noticed that GuocoLand has been establishing a rejuvenation for the Bugis precinct with Guoco Midtown and Midtown II. Sounds a bit confusing? Don’t worry, we were a little as well. To keep things simpler…

Guoco Midtown II is the name of the plot, Midtown Modern is the residence within the plot. It is an extension from Guoco Midtown, which is located across the road, housing the office tower, Midtown Bay and other spaces.

Guoco Midtown and Midtown Modern make up 3.2 ha with a maximum gross floor area of 1.5 million sq ft. It is positioned as a trendsetting, future-forward area within the Bugis district, with flexi-rental schemes for Grade A offices and a breathing ecosystem consisting residential, retail and networking spaces. A healthy confluence of business and other activities, to say the least. It also aims to link up 3 micro-markets — City Hall, Marina Centre and Bugis.

Landscape & public spaces totalling 170,000 sq ft, there are over 10 different plazas and gardens for social interaction and plentiful event spaces.

With the preview launch this Saturday, 20th March, don’t go in without brushing up on some info.

Here’s 3 things you need to know about Guoco Midtown and Midtown II, that you probably didn’t expect.

1. Guoco Midtown is fiercely looking to dominate the modern professional market in Bugis.

And we do mean fierce. Guoco Tower is currently the tallest building in Singapore, and usually around The Central Business District, it’s always a competition — it was the only Singapore entry to clinch the 2019 Urban Land Institute (ULI) Global Awards for Excellence.

Raymond Choong, GuocoLand group president and chief executive officer iterated that Guoco Midtown will have similar precinct-wide impact as Guoco Tower. So what can we expect from GuocoLand this time round?

10 different buildings, all interconnected through sheltered walkways, paths lined with shrubbery and conveniently lined underground access.

Guoco Midtown

One and two-storey retail pavilions

Three-storey conserved police station

Five-storey network office building

30-storey office tower

Level 7: Mid Levels Garden

• Sanctuary garden for relaxation, a bamboo grove with a jogging track and an event space

Rooftop: Sky Gardens

• Event space

• Spectacular views of the entire skyline

14-metre high Midtown Square

Nine-metre high Midtown Market Place

• Located behind Old Beach Road Police Station building

• Retail space

• An ideal space for informal markets, concerts and festival celebrations

Midtown Garden

• Retail Cluster

• Possible event space?

Midtown Network Hub

2. Exclusive membership to Midtown Hub?

This space is designed as a members-only business and social club. It is exclusive to office tenants at Guoco Midtown and residents of Midtown Bay and Midtown Modern. As a five-storey network hub, it unveils 80,000 sq ft of space for members’ lounges, tech-ready meeting rooms, private dining rooms and quick travellers’ lounges. It is also directly connected to the 30-storey office tower.

What we have heard is that membership is free for about a year for residents, and subsequent years will be payable. We haven’t confirmed this, but we’ll be sure to keep you informed when we catch wind of this.

3. Guoco Midtown’s Grade A office tower will adopt a “core and flex” strategy

As a 770,000 sq ft of space, the new concept will provide tenants a flexible rental, with both long-term dedicated office space (core) and shorter-term dedicated offices (flex) for project-based teams and smaller enterprises that require offices for the short-term.

How does it match against other office towers? There’s three strong reasons why. Firstly, the accessibility of the offices. Secondly, it adopts a flexi concept of tenants (will be covered later). Lastly, it is within the Guoco Midtown project. This gives you privy to all facilities within the office tower, and being within the newest project, will definitely help with your business’s positioning.

As Cheng Hsing Yao, group managing director of GuocoLand Singapore adds, office tenants can reduce their office space requirements, this space contraction is possible. He believes a shift towards a hybrid of office- and home-based working in future is imminent. He also mentions how the office space will play a critical role to encourage collaboration and innovation among staff.

In fact, this concept was embraced by GuocoLand even before COVID-19 swept the world.

Before we end, have another pointer from us, and one which you probably have realised from the residence’s site models and overall concept.

Guoco Midtown aims to be the greenest development in Bugis.

30 thematic gardens with landscaped spaces spanning 3.8ha, these gardens spread across the landscape and vertically to the rooftops of the buildings. 10 of these gardens will have public access, providing the community to immerse themselves in nature.

“The biophilic design will also demonstrate how the private sector can play a role to contribute to the Singapore Green Plan 2030” says Cheng.

The gardens are not just common interspersed green spots. Rather, the gardens are thematic, to encourage exploration. The 350 species of plants include several rare and endangered native species.

The following highlights the verdancy within the mega-project.

Native Garden

• Consist indigenous plants and orchids

Forest Giants Walk

• Tall tropical forest trees

• Other featured plants in Guoco Midtown’s public areas include Dipterocarp, found at the Forest Giant Walk. It is the world’s tallest tropical tree which averages about 45 metres and can reach over 80 metres at maturity in its natural environment

Water Garden

• Fresh waterside plant collection

• Located next to Midtown Market is the Water Garden (see fig. 3), a garden of serenity featuring freshwater waterside plants such as the native Paku Wangi, Sakat Hitam

• (Phymatosorus scolopendria) and flowering plants such as the Giant Spider Lily (Crinum x amabile) and the Bamboo Orchids (Arundina graminifolia).

Midtown Market

• Midtown Market with epiphytes from the ceiling.

• Visitors can dine al fresco at one of the gastro bars under the collection of epiphytes, or plants with hanging foliage and flowers such as the Curtain Ivy (Cissus verticillate) and Jade Vines (Strongylodon macrobotrys).

Midtown Square

• Overlooking Midtown Square on Level 3 is the Native Garden, an outdoor botanical library of native plants and orchids, and home to one of the world’s largest orchid species, the Tiger Orchid (Grammatophyllum speciosum).

Midtown Modern

The landscaping is designed with more than 10 thematic gardens comprising almost 200 species of trees and flora, spread over 1 ha – a rarity for a condominium in the heart of the CBD. Many of the gardens are designed as forests, and plants and trees species are selected to create the atmospheres of Spring, Summer and Autumn. The garden also provides a backdrop to a wide range of amenities including a 50m pool, tennis court, hot spring and a clubhouse, among others. At the heart of the expansive Level 3 gardens at Midtown Modern is the Grand Lawn, surrounded by the Summer Wood.

Midtown Bay

Owners of the premium business homes at Midtown Bay can also look forward to their own green facilities like the Pool Gardens on Level 7 with a 30m lap pool, lawns for exercising and pavilions, or the Sky Terrace on Level 25 with its panoramic views. They can choose to unwind and relax or use them as picture-perfect spaces to work or hold informal business meetings, or to use them to entertain friends and business associates.

We hope you have found this article. If you’re keen on checking out what Guoco Midtown has to offer for residences, such as Midtown Modern which will be launched this weekend, do give PropertyLimBrothers a beep here.