BCA unveils new extension to the BCA Academy

It’s a living lab and a microcosm of BCA’s initiatives.

The Building and Construction Authority has unveiled its new extension to the BCA Academy as it continues to lay the foundations for a future-ready built environment for Singapore.

According to a media release, with the new extension, the BCA Academy will become a living lab for built environment disciplines and professions, the first of its kind in Singapore. Future students of the Academy will learn and experience about how a building "lives", "breathes", functions and "interacts" with its occupants, thanks to features that facilitate experiential learning.

The new extension, which has attained the BCA Green Mark Platinum certification, boasts many green building features that contribute to 35% energy savings - one of the highest in Singapore.

The new extension also features many advanced technologies and methods that improve construction productivity. One of the features is that the structural elements are constructed 88% pre-cast, one of the highest ever in Singapore. The project achieved a high Constructability score of 65, with 40 being the minimum required.

A Rotatable Laboratory will be constructed on the roof of the new extension in 2015 - the first to be built in Asia. A collaboration between Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory of the USA and the BCA, the Laboratory will allow professionals and researchers to test building materials, components and systems that they have developed and monitor their effectiveness under our local climatic conditions.