New covered linkways, new windows and grilles in homes possible

SOME 54,000 households in Hougang, Tampines and Pasir Ris can look forward to new amenities in their neighbourhoods with upgrading works now under way.

The improvements could include new covered linkways, car porches and upgrading of children’s playgrounds.

Residents may also get upgrades to their flats, such as new waterproofing for their bathroom floors, and new windows and grilles.

No target completion date has been given for the works but the Government has set aside an extra $550 million for the three HDB towns under the Main Upgrading, Interim Upgrading and Lift Upgrading programmes.

As long as the Government had the financial resources, it would continue to rejuvenate housing estates, said Deputy Prime Minister and adviser to Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC grassroots organisation Teo Chee Hean yesterday. He was speaking at the launch of a community roadshow in Tampines Central to cap HDB’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Tampines, Hougang and Pasir Ris are mature towns that were developed in the 1980s and early 1990s. Together with the newer towns of Sengkang and Punggol, they are home to 197,100 flats, about 22 per cent of the total number of HDB homes in Singapore.

Some $540 million has already been spent to improve amenities for more than 67,000 households in the three towns.

Of the extra $550 million, around $263 million will go towards estates in Tampines; $180 million to Hougang and $107 million to Pasir Ris.

Mr Teo, noting how the three housing estates have transformed over the years into modern and bustling towns, said commercial and other social facilities will also be upgraded to keep up with renewed residential areas.

For example, six sites in Tampines and Hougang have benefited from HDB’s Revitalisation of Shops Scheme (ROS) to increase the vibrancy and competitiveness of shops in the heartland.

Under the scheme, HDB provides partial funding for shopkeepers to spruce up their shopfronts and carry out promotions to attract more customers. The scheme will be extended to seven more sites in the two estates.

Loyang Point shopping centre in Pasir Ris will also be revamped at the end of the year.

Long-time residents welcomed the improvements to their neighbourhoods and shopping areas.

Mr Lee Kam Mun, who has lived in Tampines Central since 1998, said residents have got a lot out of the upgrading programmes.

Said the 42-year-old terminal manager in the oil and gas industry: ‘We have a nicer outlook in the estate. You come back and feel relaxed. There are also more common areas that encourage us to meet and make friends with neighbours.’

Source: Straits Times, 26 Jul 2010

THE Housing Board has come up with a novel lift design to tackle the problem of blocks that are not able to provide direct lift access for residents.

Offered under the HDB’s Lift Upgrading Programme, the new plan involves a separately built lift shaft, with landings accessible via new doors within residents’ homes.

This design was initiated to overcome the challenge faced in building lifts for the 180 ‘half-landing’ blocks in Singapore.

Units in such blocks are located along staircase landings between floors and do not share common corridors, making it necessary to build a new lift shaft next to existing staircases.

Previous designs, which would have required residents to climb a flight of stairs to and from the lift, were deemed less ideal by the HDB.

To date, upgrading works have been completed in two blocks in Tampines. Work continues at five other blocks in Hougang.

At least two other blocks, both in Clementi, have also been offered the scheme although works have not commenced there due to insufficient support from residents.

Visits by The Straits Times to the three estates found differing views on the new design.

A survey conducted by HDB showed that 90 per cent of residents at Block 906, Tampines Avenue 4 – where lift upgrading was completed earlier this year – were satisfied or very satisfied with the new lifts.

Madam Lim Ah Choo, 74, who has lived in her fourth-storey unit in Block 906 for more than 20 years, said she is glad to finally have a lift. ‘Now I won’t have to spend 15 minutes climbing the stairs to get home,’ she said.

It is a different story at Blocks 101 and 103 in Clementi Street 14, where the majority of residents hoped the new lifts would be approved, despite a straw poll for the new design showing that support fell short of the 75 per cent needed.

‘I definitely hope the lifts will eventually be built. My mother can’t come to visit me because she is unable to climb the stairs to and from the lift,’ said a 49-year-old lab technician who lives in Block 101.

But some of those who said no to the new lifts cited the view from their balconies as a reason.

A retiree who wanted to be known only as Mr Gue said the proposed new lift shaft would block the view across the Ulu Pandan Canal from his 13th-floor unit in Block 101.

‘This scenery was one of the main reasons I bought this flat,’ he said. ‘I would rather not have lift upgrading if it means I have to give it up.’

Residents in ‘half-landing’ blocks in Hougang, where lift upgrading works are well under way, also expressed some misgivings about the new design, even though a majority of them had voted for the upgrade.

Some feared strangers would be able to easily look into their homes from the new lift landings.

Safety is also a concern for residents like Mr Jimmy Chan, who lives with his family at Block 245 in Hougang Avenue 1.

‘The lift landing is separated from the staircase, which I feel is not safe,’ said the retiree. ‘If there’s a fire or lift breakdown, people would be trapped.’

The HDB said that such privacy and security issues were taken into consideration in the new design. Emergency buttons at lift landings allow residents to call for assistance in case of any emergency or lift breakdown.

Metal grilles will also be installed at lift landings to protect residents’ privacy.

Source: Straits Times, 7 May 2009

ONCE found only in places such as shopping malls and hotels, bubble lifts are going up at Housing Board blocks.

Since January, residents of Block 46, Owen Road, near Farrer Park, have been enjoying the view from their very own glass lift – the first of its kind in an HDB block.

As part of HDB’s Lift Upgrading Programme, four other blocks in the precinct will be fitted with 10 such lifts. They will be ready for use by July.

These lifts are different from conventional ones as they have transparent glass panels along their walls. Instead of being enclosed, they also adopt a shaftless design, which gives passengers in the lifts a view of the outside.

As part of a pilot trial by HDB, bubble lifts will find their way to 19 HDB blocks in areas such as Jurong East Street 24, Buffalo Road in Little India, and Sims Drive in Aljunied.

Depending on the residents’ receptiveness as well as the lifts’ performance, bubble lifts might eventually pop up all over Singapore.

Bubble lifts are not only attractive for the views they afford, they are also faster to build. It takes about one year to construct a bubble lift, while a conventional lift takes a couple of months more.

Bubble lifts are also cheaper. An HDB spokesman said the design of a bubble lift means there is no need to construct an enclosed shaft, which is required for a conventional lift. This shaves off about 25 per cent of the total construction cost.

This also means a more affordable price for residents. For an eight-storey block of three-room flats like Block 46, Owen Road, each household has to pay only $760, or 5 per cent of the lift upgrading cost. The rest is subsidised by the Government and the town council.

But due to its design, a bubble lift is not suitable for all estates. HDB explained that for places with little shade, it might get too hot in the lift car or the sun’s glare might be too strong during the day.

Constant exposure to the elements also means that the lift has to be built with materials that can withstand weathering, or problems might occur.

The Straits Times understands from residents of Block 46 that during its first three months of operation, the bubble lift stalled a few times every week.

‘My daughter got stuck in there before,’ said Mr Andrew Liew, a 63-year-old retiree.

‘But it’s not so bad now,’ he added. ‘It’s definitely much more convenient to have a lift on every floor, plus the view is nice.’

Indeed, the see-through concept of the lift is proving popular with many residents.

Madam Xuan Gui Zhu, 56, said in Mandarin: ‘My two grandchildren love it. When the lift was ready, they would take it up and down again and again.’

She also saw things from another angle: ‘Not only can we look out, other people can also look in. That makes it safer for everyone.’

Source: Straits Times, 7 May 2009

THE pace of lift upgrading in HDB blocks will be increased by as much as 12 per cent this year – a move that will give struggling local builders a timely leg up.

The Senior Minister of State for National Development, Ms Grace Fu, said yesterday that the HDB is ‘going to hasten the pace of the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) because we think this is a very good time’.

‘The construction prices are moderating, and I think it’s good for us to take advantage. At the same time, we also see this as a way of injecting new work into the market,’ added Ms Fu, who was speaking on a visit to Block 906, Tampines Avenue 4, a pilot project for one of the lift upgrading schemes for HDB blocks.

Ms Fu said in Parliament recently that some government infrastructure projects, each with a value of up to $50 million and including lift upgrades, would be brought forward to help the building industry.

The HDB chose 60 precincts for lift upgrading last year – 10 more than was initially planned.

For this year, Ms Fu said yesterday: ‘We will look at bringing forward more, but a lot depends on the prices that we get as well.’

The HDB has spent $2.4 billion over the past five years on various upgrading programmes with a further $4.6 billion earmarked to be spent over the next five years.

The entire lift upgrading programme, which is slated for completion by 2014, will cost $5.5 billion.

Carrying out lift upgrades is part of a broader exercise to help struggling small- and medium-sized contractors get through the worsening recession by offering them a range of projects, each valued at $50 million or less.

About $1.3 billion worth of such work, from upgrading lifts and parks to schools, will be tendered out this year.

It will bring the total value of small- and medium-sized public sector projects to $4.8 billion for the year. This is 67 per cent more than the average annual value of such projects awarded in the past five years, said Ms Fu.

Ms Fu’s visit to Tampines Avenue 4 highlighted some of the innovative solutions needed in lift upgrades.

There are about 180 such uniquely designed half-landing blocks islandwide. In the past, lift upgrading still left residents needing to climb half a flight of steps from the lift to reach their homes.
Now they will get direct lift access thanks to new entrances built in the living rooms. These are connected by a common lift landing directly to the new lift shafts.

Work at the 21 pilot blocks began in November 2007 and was completed in January this year.

Resident Chew Geok Poh, who is in her 30s, said the lift upgrading was a ‘great help’ for her mother, who was finding it difficult to climb four flights of stairs to get to their home at the four-storey block.

The HDB has been working on the 21 blocks in its pilot project and will continue to offer such lift access to the remaining eligible blocks.

Source: Straits Times – 7 Mar 2009

SINGAPORE: The Housing Development Board (HDB) said it’s on track to complete its Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) by 2014.

The LUP is now being carried out in more innovative ways. For example, a four-storey block at Tampines housing estate is the first to be upgraded by carving out a new doorway in every home.

So residents can access the new lift without having to climb half a flight of stairs.

Each flat owner paid a subsidised rate of S$2,250 for the improvement. The new lifts in the block are smaller and take only four passengers instead of the usual ten.

The National Development Ministry said 150 blocks with structures similar to the Tampines flat will adopt this form of lift upgrading. Other creative ways on adding lifts to existing blocks will be looked into.

Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of National Development, Grace Fu, said: “We will have similar solutions. But some of the blocks have different configuration.

“So we have to look at the specific design of the blocks and find the right solution for it. But it shows us what is possible. It has tested some of the innovative ways, for example – of opening a new door into flats.”

Source: Channel News Asia, 6 Mar 2009