Singapore, Republic of Singapore
The new campus headquarters for Surbana Jurong (SJ) — a leading, Asia-based global consultant for urbanization, industrialization, and infrastructure — reconceives the traditional corporate campus as an integrated community hub.
Located in Singapore’s Jurong Innovation District (JID), the campus is one of the first in Singapore to depart from the densely developed high-rise buildings of the central business district.
Envisioned as a new center of research and innovation, it serves SJ’s 4,000 on-site employees, as well as the wider community with spaces and amenities designed and programmed to bring people together.
SJ Campus by Safdie Architects, won an 2025 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.
Drawing inspiration from the tranquility of the site’s natural setting, the campus fosters engagement and interaction while providing moments of intimacy.
Pavilion-like buildings are connected along a curving central glazed pedestrian spine linking covered and uncovered promenades, a new public park, and access to walking and bike paths.
By interweaving interior and exterior landscapes, and having parkland penetrate deep into the campus, a unique network of workspaces is immersed in a lush and natural setting.
Merging office and garden, workspaces are open and agile, facilitating ad-hoc collaboration and the cross-pollination of ideas.
The atrium spine and pavilions connect workers to the world beyond the office, providing visual access to activity happening across levels, as well as direct sightlines to the surrounding Eco Garden.
The program provides a range of private, semi-private, and public working environments, including closed offices with expansive vistas, dedicated spaces for research, a sunken courtyard and event space, shaded seating alcoves overlooking greenery, and a 1,200-seat multipurpose hall.
The arrangement of the buildings and the position of the curving central spine allows the campus to integrate harmoniously with the natural environment.
A model for optimized passive design, the SJ Campus is the first building in Singapore to achieve Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy status, the highest rating awarded by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore for environmentally sustainable design.
Situated on a previously undeveloped Greenfield site, the design achieved high green area replacement, with over half of the existing green area on the site being maintained and the rest replaced with roof gardens.
Smart facility management solutions have resulted in over 40% energy savings compared to code-compliant buildings.
One of the largest developments in Singapore to implement underfloor air distribution, SJ Campus has improved indoor air quality and additional energy savings of up to 15%.
Strategies incorporated within the design include solar collection, rain gardens and bioswales, pre-cast concrete, screen facades, ETFE atrium roofs, and extensive use of native plant species.
The campus is a key part of JID’s transportation network, with a central spine on the ground level providing 24/7 direct access to a future MRT station.
The campus provides a variety of transport options including shuttle bus services to Nanyang Technological University, electric vehicle charging stations, bicycle parking lots with end-of-trip facilities, and seven miles of pathways for pedestrians and cyclists.
Project: SJ Campus
Architects: Safdie Architects
Lead Architects: Moshe Safdie, Charu Kokate, David Brooks, and Jeffrey Huggins
Executive Architect Design Team: Ivy Koh, Ahmad Zaky Diani, Laura Tan, David Oktavianus, Soon Lay Kuan, Nur Farah Huda binte Muhamad Fauzi
Design Team: Dan Lee, Howard Bloom, Jeremy Schwartz, Karlo DeGuzman, Lee Hua Tan, Lewina Lee, Lusha Wainford, Peter Morgan, Prashanth Raju, Reihaneh Ramezany M., Roderick Delgado, Sarah Rinehart, Sean Chew, Seunghyun Kim, Tunch Gungor, Zhuang Guo
Executive Architect: SJ
General Contractor: Boustead Projects E&C Pte. Ltd.
Landscape Architects: PWP Landscape Architecture, Surbana Jurong Consultants
Client: SJ Capital (JID) Pte. Ltd.
Photographers: Timothy Hursley and Darren Soh
