New SMU School of Law building on track for completion next year
SMU’s new School of Law building is on track to be completed by the first half 2017. Commendably, the development has also achieved more than one million safe man-hours – this exemplifies the project team’s commitment towards workplace safety.
These milestones were revealed at a topping-out ceremony held to commemorate the successful conclusion of all concrete structure works for the building. The momentous occasion was celebrated on 13 May 2016 with several members of the SMU Board of Trustees; key members of the SMU senior management; School of Law faculty members, staff and alumni; as well as the project team from SMU’s Office of Campus Development, Kajima Overseas Asia Pte Ltd, and the project’s Architect and consultants.
In his remarks, SMU Chairman Mr Ho Kwon Ping was heartened that since SMU moved into the city campus, it has ‘grown from strength to strength’ and has also become a ‘key stakeholder’ of the community in the Bras Basah District. He said that engaging with other stakeholders ‘has not been an entirely easy job’, but we have managed to do so under the leadership of SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer. “SMU clearly has played a very important role in the revitalisation of this whole area. Today is another significant event that will help continue that tradition,” said Mr Ho.
The opening of this building is also significant because SMU has grown in terms of people. “We are facing a space crunch, so having a new building is of enormous importance to us,” Mr Ho.
[Photo: SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer (on stage in photo on left) and SMU Chairman Mr Ho Kwon Ping (photo on right) addressing the attendees of the topping-out ceremony held on 13 May 2016.]
He congratulated the project team for their tremendous efforts so far, especially given the construction challenges faced.
For example, from the topographical point of view, the undulated ground posed many obstacles. Being located at the foothill of Fort Canning also meant that the site was a natural drain-off for rain water. Furthermore, special care had to be taken to minimise the impact on sensitive infrastructure development nearby, such as old shop houses, museums, road tunnels and train tunnels – all of which are susceptible to construction vibration. There were also many old trees around the site, including a few which had been ear-marked as heritage trees.
Mr Ho also said that it was ‘a great sign of commendation’ that one million man-hours have been spent on the building without any accident at all.
In highlighting the importance of this new ‘home’ for the SMU School of Law, Mr Ho noted that the law school – the latest addition to SMU’s Schools – has made significant achievements in a relatively short period of eight-and-a-half years. SMU’s law students have earned a lot of accolades overseas and have made the University proud; more importantly, they have added to the diversity of the student body, he said.
Come August this year, the School of Law will accept its 10th batch of students and enter its 10th year of legal education.
[Photos: Members of the SMU Board of Trustees and SMU Senior Management were taken on a site tour of the building, following the topping-out ceremony.]
About the School of Law building
SMU broke ground on its School of Law building on 20 January 2014. The new 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 involve others within the legal fraternity who are important stakeholders of the University.
Standing at the junction of Armenian Street and Canning Rise, the new 23,000-square-metre building – about the size of 52 basketball courts – will be ready by 2017. A key feature of the new building includes a 2,200-square-metre Law Library which will be fully equipped with modern technology wired for legal research in the 21st century. Also housed within the new building will be the David Marshall Moot Court, the SMU Pro Bono Centre, and other research centres. More info here.
[Artist’s impression of the SMU School of Law building.]
[Featured photo: (L-R) Professor Arnoud De Meyer, SMU President; Mr Koji Sugimoto, Vice Managing Director of Kajima Overseas Asia Pte Ltd; Mr Ho Kwon Ping, SMU Chairman; Mr Siew Man Kok, Chairman and Founding Director of MKPL Architects Pte Ltd; and Professor Yeo Tiong Min, Dean, SMU School of Law. They are seen here posing with concrete tiles on which they have just signed their names – the tiles were thereafter fitted into the recess of the concrete beams (laid before them), which will be placed at the top floor of the completed building.]