Samsung Hub
Encyclopedia
The Samsung Hub, formerly called 3 Church Street, is a high-rise skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...

 located in the central business district
Downtown Core
The Downtown Core is a 266-hectare urban planning area in the south of the city-state of Singapore. The Downtown Core surrounds the mouth of the Singapore River and southeastern portion of its watershed, and is part of the Central Area, Singapore's central business district...

 of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

. Located on 3 Church Street, it is situated just next to the Prudential Tower. It is a 30-storey office building development, which includes a 6-storey podium block. It currently sits on 35,000 m² of land. The development is currently a freehold
Fee simple
In English law, a fee simple is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. It is the most common way that real estate is owned in common law countries, and is ordinarily the most complete ownership interest that can be had in real property short of allodial title, which is often reserved...

 Grade A office tower.

History

Samsung Hub was completed in 2005. Firms involved in the development included Chinese Chamber Realty Private Limited, Church Street Properties Private Limited, China Square Holdings Private Limited, CapitaLand Limited
CapitaLand
CapitaLand Limited is the result of a merger in the year 2000 of then DBS Land and Pidemco Land. It is one of Asia's largest real estate companies. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, the company's core businesses are real estate development, hospitality and real estate financial services...

, and Samsung Corporation. It was formerly owned by CapitaLand, but the company soon sold the development to Ho Bee Group.

The space in Samsung Hub is owned by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce, its subsidiary, the Chinese Chamber Realty, and OCBC Bank.

Selling of stake

In 2007, CapitaLand
CapitaLand
CapitaLand Limited is the result of a merger in the year 2000 of then DBS Land and Pidemco Land. It is one of Asia's largest real estate companies. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, the company's core businesses are real estate development, hospitality and real estate financial services...

 announced that it was selling its stake in Samsung Hub to the Ho Bee Group for over $140 million. This works out to almost $1,400 per square foot, based on the net lettable area of about 105000 sq ft (9,754.8 m²) involved in the transaction. The space owned by CapitaLand comprises the lowest stack of office floors in the building - from the eighth to 15th floors (the first to seventh floors are used for car parking).

Architecture

Due to its recent completion in 2005, the building exhibits a post-modern style of architecture, and is built mainly of glass and steel.

Usage of quality building materials, such as the heat-strengthened, double-glazed and turquoise-tinted glass was applied during its construction. The average size per floor plate of the building is about 12500 sq ft (1,161.3 m²) and it has a total lettable area of 290000 sq ft (26,941.9 m²).

Tilting incident

On August 2002, a tilt on the building was detected by Samsung Corporation
Samsung
The Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...

. The building sank 3 mm to 39 mm to one side between August and November 2002. Although this 0.1 degree tilt, caused by soil settlement, was minimal compared to 4 degrees for the Leaning Tower of Pisa
Leaning Tower of Pisa
The Leaning Tower of Pisa or simply the Tower of Pisa is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa...

, it could have adversely affected the building's structural stability, resulting in cracks
Fracture
A fracture is the separation of an object or material into two, or more, pieces under the action of stress.The word fracture is often applied to bones of living creatures , or to crystals or crystalline materials, such as gemstones or metal...

 or severe damage had it not been corrected.

After discovering the tilt, Samsung immediately initiated rectification efforts. Micropiles were injected to redistribute the weight of the building and to correct the tilt. Owners of neighbouring buildings reassured tenants that their buildings were structurally sound, free from such problems, having been certified by the authorities as fit for occupation
Occupancy
Occupancy in building construction and building codes is the use or intended use of a building or part thereof for the shelter or support of persons, animals or property. A closely related meaning is the number of units in such a building that are rented or leased, or otherwise in-use...

.

It took a total of 2 years for the rectification work to be completed. Losses due to the construction delay were ameliorated by an agreement between the companies involved, ceding Samsung a portion of the space in the 30-storey tower. Samsung also made "improvements" to the building's facade.
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