Located just one degree north of the equator, Singapore’s high-tech hub one-north was developed to house the country’s burgeoning R&D industry. This was done by re-imagining the existing landscape and pushing existing planning norms to create an intellectually stimulating environment for research, innovation and entrepreneurship.
The ‘live, work, play’ mantra is very much alive in one-north and has attracted companies of all sizes to set up shop here. This has led to the development of many public facilities, such as cafes, supermarkets and enrichment schools for children.
It is also home to many heritage buildings that have been saved from demolition. This includes colonial bungalows, built for British military families in Rochester Park and Wessex Estate.
As the area has grown, there have been more and more new developments popping up. Zaha Hadid’s Pixel building for example, houses specialised computer animation and programming schools in support of the infocommunication technology industry.
Fusionopolis, another acclaimed part of one-north, is a hub for research and development in infocomm technology, media and physical science sectors. It is an integrated work-live-play development that promotes serendipitous interactions among research organisations.
A*STAR – The Agency for Science, Technology and Research, which is the umbrella organisation for all Singapore’s scientific and research agencies, is situated in Fusionopolis. It is home to many key national agencies and is a major draw for global talent looking for an exciting new place to work.
The French business school INSEAD is also based in one-north. Its partnership with Singapore has been very successful and its campus is now a permanent part of the neighbourhood.
One-north has also seen the construction of a number of commercial, residential and entertainment complexes. The Vista Xchange cluster, for instance, is expected to be the premium business centre, residential and lifestyle hub in one-north.
It will feature offices, a business hotel and retail-cum-entertainment centres. It will also have a transport hub, making it the perfect location for businesses of all types and ages to be in.
There are a number of different clusters at one-north, each dedicated to a specific type of business. The main hubs include Biopolis, Fusionopolis and Mediapolis.
These are surrounded by a number of other smaller clusters that are designed for different sectors. The biomedical research hub, Biopolis, for example, is located in Biopolis@one-north and is home to public and private institutions.
This is not to say that there aren’t other types of businesses within one-north, but the main clusters have been primarily focused on science and technology. It’s here that you will find some of the country’s most prestigious research and tertiary institutes.
Among these are Singapore Science Park, which is a joint research and development hub between governmental and private organisations in the field of biomedical sciences. It is also home to the country’s leading institutions such as the Defence Science Organisation and National University of Singapore.
There is also the Mediapolis cluster, which consists of two towers of six-storey office and business park space. It is also home to many of Singapore’s top digital startups and VC funds. the hill one north