Ground-breaking of new building for SMU School of Law
[Singapore, 20 January 2014 (Monday)] – Singapore Management University held the ground-breaking ceremony of its School of Law building today. The event, which was graced by The Honourable Attorney-General Mr Steven Chong, S.C., was attended by 200 distinguished guests, faculty, students, donors, and SMU’s partners in the legal fraternity.
The new School of Law building will be a distinctive landmark that will contain state-of-the-art facilities used both to enrich the learning experience of SMU law students as well as to involve others within the legal fraternity who are important stakeholders.
A key feature integrated into the 22,000 sqm School of Law building is the Kwa Geok Choo Law Library, named in memory of the late Madam Kwa Geok Choo, wife of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The 2,600 sqm Law Library will take on a distinct architectural form that is reminiscent of a pearl. It will sit more than 500 users, and will be fully equipped with modern technology and wired for legal research in the 21st century. Also housed within the new School of Law building are the David Marshall Moot Court, the SMU Pro Bono Centre and other research centres.
SMU President, Professor Arnoud De Meyer, highlighted the significance of the new law school building in fostering closer ties among its law students, and with its alumni and the law fraternity. “SMU’s city campus already enjoys close proximity with the law courts, being less than a kilometre from the Supreme Court. We are also near the offices of many of our partners in the legal fraternity. The new building, with its inclusive facilities, will further promote these links and engagement as it will provide an ideal location for students, alumni and the fraternity to meet and interact.”
“The project team and architects have also done a good job in incorporating design elements that will bring students and faculty closer to the lush nature that embraces the new building. These sustainable and inclusive design elements are an extension of the current SMU campus design, and stand true to the essence of SMU being both a global city university and integral part of the local environment and community,” he added.
Professor Yeo Tiong Min, Dean of SMU School of Law, said, “We believe that the new School of Law building must have the power to inspire. In fact, the Kwa Geok Choo Law Library will be the inspirational heart of the School of Law. The library is strategically placed at the high point of the site next to Stamford Green and is expressed architecturally as a sculptural form to represent an ‘inspirational beacon’ that seeks to illuminate the lives of SMU’s law students. It will be symbolic of a ‘moral compass’ to remind students of the importance of dignity, truth and justice in society.”
The SMU School of Law, which proudly welcomed its first cohort of 116 students in August 2007, will see its tenth intake of students and seventh batch of alumni in 2017, the year in which the new building is slated for completion.
Bringing alumni, the community, and partners closer together
The new School of Law building will house several research centres that will provide relevant research on local and regional legal issues, as well as conduct conferences and seminars. These Centres and the teaching facilities in the building will also help to enhance the School's collaboration with both public entities and private organisations. When the building is completed, the SMU Pro Bono Centre will also be relocated here, and will further the law school’s pro bono mission and service to the community.
The increase in space and facilities is an important milestone in the development of the SMU School of Law and will ensure that it is able to continue to provide its growing student body with teaching and facilities of the highest order, as well as to cater to its growing alumni. Besides providing an environment that is conducive for interaction in group study and project work, meeting, networking and events, these increased facilities will also encourage the law school’s alumni to return to the School more often, thus strengthening the bond between them and the School.
Currently SMU’s School of Law and School of Accountancy share the same building; the offices of some law faculty members are also housed in the business school. The new building is thus seen as an important step for the law school to develop its distinct identity and enhance its recognition and visibility among the public, its supporters as well as local and overseas stakeholders.
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