A Big Vision on the Little Red Dot

Education, healthcare, hospitality, housing and infrastructure - China Construction (South Pacific) Development Co has contributed extensively to Singapore's construction sector over the past 30 years.

Established in 1992, the company is a subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), a leading global engineering and investment group. CSCEC is headquartered in Beijing, and has a presence in over 100 countries and regions.

During its three decades in the republic, China Construction (South Pacific) Development Co or CSCEC Singapore has built over 40,000 public housing units, or HDB flats - the name they are locally known by.

Tang Xun is a Project Manager with MKPL Architects. The company serves as a consultant for Singapore's Housing Development Board's (HDB) Bidadari estate - one of the country's newest public housing projects located near the heart of Singapore.

It is important to note that over 80% of Singapore's population lives in public housing. It is subsidised, built and managed by the Government of Singapore and therefore it is mandatory that each HDB development meets tight guidelines.

"There is a very high standard. The building itself maybe not so complicated but the requirement, the audit that the project team has to follow is of a very high standard," explained Tang Xun.

When asked about his experience of working with CSCEC Singapore, Tang Xun said that "China Construction is an international company. (They have) very good support from top management, also the staff is very competent," Tang Xun added.

While working on the Bidadari project, Tang Xun said that any and all issues that came up during construction, whether they were related to manpower or raw materials, were resolved swiftly and "within the time frame" by the CSCEC team.

Alkaff CourtView and Alkaff LakeView are located in the Bidadari estate. The two built-to-order (BTO) developments comprise a total of 1789 units, and each unit is designed to allow residents greater flexibility in configuring their home layouts.

At first glance, CSCEC's Alkaff projects don't look like regular public housing estates. The projects boast of picturesque greenery and landscaped rooftop gardens.

Alkaff CourtView faces the future Bidadari Park, which is currently under construction. Once completed, the 10-hectare park will feature a lake, open lawns, a heritage walk and six kilometres of wooded trails.

It is this sense of "living in a garden" that attracted the nature-loving Ong family to Alkaff CourtView as the ideal location for their first home.