Trailblazers City Developments Limited and Obayashi Singapore Pte Ltd Honoured With Top BCA Awards for Business and Workforce Transformation

Friday, 6 September 2024

-        CDL and Obayashi win the inaugural BCA “Company of the Year” pinnacle award for being at the forefront of business and workforce transformation
-        Five winners of the BCA “Project of the Year” award showcased exemplary efforts in transforming the way we build across different building typologies 

City Developments Ltd (CDL) and Obayashi Singapore Pte Ltd have each been accorded the prestigious BCA "Company of the Year" award for their outstanding performance and growth. Both companies have also made significant progress in their business and workforce transformation efforts.

2            CDL has been a trailblazer in transformation. They are also pioneers in bringing along value chain partners in their transformation journey through various initiatives. For example, they introduced green leases for their tenants, and helped their SME suppliers to develop the SMEs’ carbon reports and sustainability road maps[1]. Through a Green Buildings Innovation Cluster (GBIC) demonstration project, CDL and its joint venture partner IOI Properties will partner local startups to pilot the use of AI and machine-learning to optimise South Beach Tower Office’s cooling systems to achieve 75% energy efficiency (EE) improvement over 2005 levels[2]. 

3            Despite facing initial challenges, CDL was undeterred and was guided by their steadfast belief in promoting sustainability.

4        CDL has also been a leader in adopting innovative technologies. They have adopted Common Data Environment standards to enable the digitalisation of construction processes and have adopted the 360 camera and A.I. for virtual smart inspections. These have allowed CDL to transform the way they build.

5            To enable its transformation efforts to succeed, CDL continually invests in staff development and has redesigned jobs roles to adapt to new needs.

6        These efforts have contributed to CDL’s long track record of delivering quality developments. CDL’s 12^th consecutive Quality Excellence Award (QEA) win is a testament to CDL’s commitment to quality.  

7            Mr Chia Ngiang Hong, Group General Manager, CDL, said, “As a homegrown developer, we have been contributing towards shaping Singapore’s skyline and the built environment for over six decades. It is a tremendous honour to receive this prestigious inaugural BCA Company of the Year award, which affirms our unwavering commitment towards quality and excellence. Through our continued focus on digitalisation and innovation, we will chart new growth pathways and drive transformation within our value chain, as well as support the shared vision of a future-ready built environment for Singapore.”  

8            The other winner of the BCA “Company of the Year” award is Obayashi Singapore Pte Ltd. As a builder, Obayashi has also been a pioneer in technology adoption. For example, Obayashi makes use of a photogrammetry software, combined with images taken from a drone camera, to generate precise point cloud data and models. This system helps to track, monitor and verify site progress more efficiently. They also set up a Construction-Tech Lab to advance technology development in Singapore.  

9            Obayashi has also been highly committed to upskilling its workforce. Obayashi develops career progression pathways for each employee and provides mentorship programmes and sponsorship opportunities to encourage employees to continuously upskill. Obayashi also sends selected employees for training at their Japan headquarters.

10      In addition, Obayashi has also supported their value chain partners, such as their subcontractors, to upskill by organising study trips for them.

11          Mr Nakagawa Atsushi, Deputy Managing Director, Obayashi, said, “This is one of the proudest moments for our team at Obayashi Singapore. It gives us further motivation to continue developing technologies and upskilling our workforce.”

Project of the Year winners exemplifying outstanding achievements

12          There are five winners for the BCA "Project of the Year" award. The winners were selected based on their achievements in adopting innovative construction methods, driving digitalisation, improving productivity and advancing sustainability.  

13          The Sentosa Sensoryscape project is lauded for groundbreaking achievements in the use of Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) methods to bring complex architectural designs to life. The project team used digital tools to break down the complex designs into smaller components that were fabricated offsite, before being transported and assembled onsite. The team also incorporated time- and manpower- saving solutions, such as mechanical joints instead of more common welded joints.  

14          Another winner, Geneo, overcame the manpower and supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 period to achieve extraordinary results in sustainability. They utilised Carboncure concrete in 44% of their project concrete needs.This is estimated to have reduced almost 3.4 million kg of CO2 emissions. More details on the “Project of the Year” Award recipients can be found in Annex A.

15          "We are honored to recognise CDL, Obayashi Singapore as well as the winning projects and their teams for their exceptional contributions to our built environment sector," said Mr Kelvin Wong, BCA CEO. "Their achievements exemplify the innovation and excellence that our new and rebranded award categories aim to celebrate."

16          Ms Indranee Rajah, Second Minister for Finance and Second Minister for National Development graced the BCA Awards ceremony on the 3^rd day of the International Built Environment Week (IBEW) 2024. Ms Indranee also announced several sustainability-related initiatives, including:

• the launch of a tender for consultancy study for Design Prototyping for Decarbonisation (DPfD) challenge to accelerate efforts to achieve the national target of 80% energy efficiency improvement for best-in-class green buildings by 2030; and

• the upcoming Energy Efficiency Grant (EEG) for the construction industry that will co-fund the cost of energy-efficient construction equipment, including electric and other energy-efficient machinery, to help construction firms’ transition towards being more energy efficient. The grant will be available for application at the end of this year.

Download the PDF version of the Media Release here
Download the Annexes here

[1] Supported by Enterprise Singapore’s Supplier Queen Bee Programme.

[2] Super Low Energy: 60% improvement in energy efficiency over 2005 levels.