Building a backbone of safety with The Arc

Er Aaron Foong is the recipient of BCA’s DESA for several developments in Singapore.

By BCA

Mr Aaron Foong is the Managing Director at KTP Consultants Pte Ltd.

Engineer (Er) Foong’s technical leadership and hands-on multidisciplinary engineering approach has seen the successful completion of a wide range of building typologies and infrastructure project developments in the region.

In Singapore, he is the Qualified Person commended under the Building and Construction Authority (BCA)’s Design and Engineering Safety Award (DESA) for several developments. This includes CT Hub, The Luxurie, The Scotts Tower, NUS AS8, and most recently, The Arc at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). The awards recognise engineering solutions that overcame project challenges and ensured safe design and construction.

A firm believer that good structural design goes hand in hand with good architectural design, Er Foong advocates an open-minded and collaborative approach in his work.BuildSG Magazinespeaks to him about how he confronted safety challenges and developed technically sound and innovative solutions for The Arc.

Opened in 2018, The Arc is a smart learning hub within the NTU campus. (Photo Credit: DCA Architects Pte Ltd and Richard Kirk Architect)

Project challenges

The Arc is one of NTU’s newest buildings in its campus with 56 smart classrooms and a 108-seat lecture theatre. Its architectural design resembles a piano or a harp (i.e., a curvilinear building geometry) and includes two basement levels of classrooms and workshops.

Er Foong faced multifold challenges for this project. He had to integrate the building architecture with an existing 16-metre unbalanced sloping terrain comprising an underground network of telecommunication and electrical cables, as well as fire hydrant pipes that lead to other buildings. He also had to manage the site’s proximity to many existing buildings.

To overcome these challenges, Er Foong used building information modelling (BIM) for The Arc’s design and construction of its structural elements, to detect and avoid clashes with the existing service pipes and cables.

With Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) technology, the engineering team could view three dimensional maps of the underground cables and develop safe distances between the building’s underground structures and these cables.

Ingenuity in excavation

A strut-free excavation system involving a contiguous bored pile wall with removable ground anchors was also implemented. These anchors are temporary structures that stabilise and secure the slope excavation works without encroaching into the useable space of basement construction.

This enabled the safe construction of the substructures, which could be wedged inside the cut slope to keep it from collapsing. This solution removed the need for more conventional methods, which might have reduced productivity.

Handling complex curves

In the search for an elegant and cost-effective solution, Er Foong shared that the engineering design proposal went through rigorous engineering analysis, from conceptual hand calculations right up to detailed finite element analysis.

Er Foong and his team also communicated frequently with the project’s stakeholders to manage expectations and worked closely with the architects to devise solutions.

It was through this mix of technology, stakeholder engagement, and innovation that enabled the project’s construction to be smooth and efficient, despite the site’s complexities.

Safety as priority

Er Foong highlighted that in the past, technology was the outcome of engineering. Today, the reverse is true – technology is a tool to assist engineering. Technology such as VDC is no longer just an operational requirement. It makes a strategic difference in the built environment.

He also stressed that safety is everyone’s responsibility, including property developers and designers.

“Integrity underpins the core foundation of our work,” he says. “While we engage in bold design solutions… we are always guided by first principles of safety.”