6 CONDOMINIUM FLATS CONDOMINIUM FLATS 1 Unlike flat developments, condominium housing requires a larger land area. Condominium flats, too, form the bulk of medium to high density housing in Singapore. There are usually more generous provision of communal and recreational facilities in condominium flats. The communal facilities are under the common ownership of the residents and are provided for their enjoyment. The residential units are only allowed strata subdivision. 2 In larger sites, the building height of condominium flats may vary among the various blocks of flats. The development could comprise a mix of 4 storeys low-rise blocks and high-rise blocks of 30 storeys and above subject to the allowable height limit. For small sites, there could be only space for one apartment block up to the allowable height, but with generous provision of communal and recreational facilities. LOCATION 3 Like other flats or apartments, condominium flats are allowed in mixed housing areas zoned residential in the Master Plan or Development Guide Plans. They are not allowed in areas designated for bungalow, semi-detached and mixed landed housing. PARAMETERS 4 The parameters for condominium flats are: (a) Site Area (i) (ii) The minimum site area for a condominium development is 0.4ha. This is to ensure that there is enough space to provide for communal and recreational facilities in a luxurious green setting. For all breakaway proposals for either flat/condominium (or landed housing development) within non-safeguarded landed housing areas, the aggregate land area for the left-behind plots must fulfil the following minimum plot sizes: a) 600m 2 for areas zoned Residential at GPR 1.4 or 1.6 in the Master Plan; and b) 800m 2 for areas zoned Residential at GPR 2.1 or 2.8 in the Master Plan. (iii) (b) Site Coverage The actual parcellation and configuration of the redevelopment proposals will continue to be left to private negotiation between the land owners concerned as long as the guidelines on minimum plot size in Para (ii) and other prevailing development control guidelines are met. Site coverage is a measurement of the footprint of all buildings expressed as a percentage of the nett site area. It is an indication of how much the site has been built on. The maximum site coverage allowed for condominium development is 40% (including covered car parks). (c) Communal Open Space (COS) There is no Communal Open Space (COS) requirement for condominium developments. (d) Green Planting Strip To preserve Singapore s image as a garden city, a 2m-wide (minimum) green planting strip is to be provided along all sides of the development site boundary except where it fronts a public road: in which case, the relevant green buffer requirement shall be provided. The planting strip for tree planting purpose should be continuous (except where an access road is required), and shall be free of encroachment from structures such as boundary wall/ retaining wall, drains and ventpipes.
Where planting strips are to be provided, these should be clearly annotated as tree planting strips in all submission plans to Development Control. The 2m planting strips and green buffers which form part of the communal greenery provision within the development should not contain any Private Enclosed Spaces (PES). Greenery within the 2m planting strips and green buffers can be better achieved if they are maintained by the Management Corporations as communal spaces. (e) Buffer Requirements All developments fronting a road in Singapore must observe a certain green buffer distance and building setback distance from the road. The buffer requirement depends on the hierarchy of the road, type of the development and the building height. For residential developments, the buffer varies from 7.5m to 30m wide. (See Figure 1: Buffer Requirements for residential Developments in Part 1 Flats). The green buffer (ranging from 3.0m for minor road to 5,0m from expressway) fronting the road shall be free of encroachment from structures such as boundary wall/retaining wall, drains and ventpipes. A new objective-based guideline has been introduced to allow greater design flexibility and to safeguard the intentions of the buffer requirements. Although the green buffer is meant for tree planting and turfing only, some minor ancillary structures are allowed for functional reasons. Applicant can choose to either apply the prescriptive guidelines or the objective-based guidelines if the structures proposed are not on the prescriptive list. For details of the objective-based guidelines, please see "Figure 20: Objective-based Guidelines on Ancillary Structures within the Green Buffer and 2m Planting Strip Along Common Boundaries" in Part 2 General Considerations. (To be administered by NPARKS with effect from 1 August 2005. Please refer to NPARKS Circular: http://www.corenet.gov.sg/einfo/circulars/htmlandpdf/nparks_2005071901.pdf) For the types of ancillary structures located within the physical buffer or building setback, the new objective-based guidelines replace the prescriptive guidelines. Such ancillary structures can be allowed as long as the objectives and performance criteria are met. For details of the guidelines, please see "Figure 20: Objective-based Guidelines on Minor Ancillary Structures within the Physical Buffer and The Building Setback Area" in Part 2 General Considerations. (f) Boundary Clearances The setback requirements are as follows: (i) Setback from Road - The setback controls of buildings from public roads are determined by the road buffer only (see Figure 1a). Where a development site fronts two or more roads (e.g. corner site, sandwich site. See Figure 1b for a few possible configurations), the buffer requirements from the roads will be applied to all boundaries fronting the roads. (ii) Setback from Common Boundaries - The setback requirements from the common boundaries for condominiums are in Figure 1a. (iii) Incremental Setback per Storey - The taller the block. the greater the requisite setback. For condominiums beyond 36 storeys, the setback requirement is capped at the same setback as for a 36-storey residential building. (iv) Using Drainage Reserve/Open Space to Offset Requisite Setback - Further reduction of setback through the use of drainage reserve/ open space is not permitted.
Figure 1a: Setback Requirement for Flats and Condominiums STOREY HEIGHT SETBACK FROM PUBLIC ROAD FOR FLATS AND CONDOMINIUMS (IN METRES) SETBACK FROM COMMON BOUNDARIES (IN METRES) FLATS CONDOMINIUMS 1 3.0 3.0 2 3.0 3.0 3 3.0 3.4 4 3.0 3.8 5 3.3 4.7 6 3.6 5.5 7 3.9 6.4 8 4.2 7.2 9 4.5 8.0 10 4.8 8.7 11 5.1 9.0 12 5.4 9.2 13 Road buffer 5.7 9.5 14 requirement 6.0 9.8 15 6.3 10.1 16 6.6 10.3 17 6.9 10.6 18 7.2 10.8 19 7.5 11.1 20 7.8 11.3 21 8.1 11.6 22 8.4 11.8 23 8.7 12.1 24 9.0 12.4 25 9.3 12.7 26 9.6 12.9 27 9.9 13.2 28 10.2 13.4 29 10.5 13.7 30 10.8 14.0 31 11.1 14.2 32 11.4 14.5 33 11.7 14.7 34 12.0 15.0 35 12.3 15.2 36 and above 12.6 15.5 NOTE: Bay window, which is a cantilevered window with a maximum projection of 500mm and raised at least 500mm above the ground can be allowed within the setback distance. The width of the bay window shall not exceed the length of 1 normal residential structure bay.
Figure 1b: Examples of Development Sites Fronting 2 or More Roads (g) Landscape Deck Landscape decks can be now be allowed within residential flat and condominium developments, subject to compliance with locational criteria. Landscape decks are essentially raised platform, partially covered with earthfill, to give an impression of a sunken basement. Uses such as carparks can be tucked beneath it. Landscape decks allow for additional communal greenery and facilities, thus enhancing the identity of the development. Being an alternative building form, it is an option for developers to consider, as opposed to building fully submerged basement carparks or multi-storey carparks. As the landscape decks are not meant to replace the current mandatory greenery provision of the 2m planting strips and green buffers, the deck structures are not to encroach onto these areas. For details of the landscape deck guidelines, please see Figure 21: Guidelines for Landscape Deck in Residential Flat & Condominium Developments in Part 1 General Considerations. (h) Spacing between Buildings Currently, there is no specific guideline on building spacing. However, SIA, REDAS, SIP and URA have jointly released an Industry Guide of Good Practices to minimize wall-like developments on 4 March 2010. You are advised to refer to this guide and adopt the good practices highlighted in it. (i) Building Orientation For a building of a certain storey height, the requisite setback is the same, regardless of whether the facade has a bedroom facing, a living room facing or a blank wall (see example in Figure 1c).
Figure 1c: Revised Setback Standards for a 4-storey Condominium Development (j) Storey Height Condominium developments vary in height. In general, condominium flats are high rise unless there are urban design and/or technical constraints or special requirements affecting the site. The allowable building heights are available in the Development Guide Plans. (k) Floor-to-Floor Height The floor-to-floor height control for flats and condominium developments is as follows: STOREY GPR 1.4 SITES GPR 1.6 AND ABOVE SITES 1 ST STOREY 5.0m 5.0m TOP STOREY 3.6m 5.0m ALL OTHER STOREY 3.6m 3.6m SKY TERRACE STOREY* 3.6m 5.0m NOTE: A sky terrace floor is a storey where the sky terrace areas within the 45-degree line occupy at least 60% of the floor plate. Only such sky terrace floors will be allowed a 5.0m floor-to-floor height. Otherwise, 3.6m will apply. Variation to the floor-to-floor height of each storey can be allowed, subject to the overall absolute height being maintained (see Figure 2a for illustration). If allowed, the overall building height (in metres) must comply with the control in relation to the proposed number of storeys. If any floor is used as a sky terrace floor, a floor-to-floor height of 5.0m is allowed. However, if the proposed sky terrace floor is less than 5.0m, the unused height cannot be transferred to other floors (see Figure 2b for illustration). For residential development sites proposed on GPR 1.4 sites in the 2008 Master Plan, the floor-to- floor height control for the 1 st storey is 5.0m. All other floors are 3.6m. If any floor is used as a sky terrace floor, and a higher floor-to-floor height beyond 3.6m is required, it will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Figure 2a: Example of Floor-to-Floor Height Control and the Overall Allowable Height Figure 2b: Example of Floor-to-Floor Height Control Whereby Unused Height from Sky Terrace Floors Cannot be Transferred to Other Floors
(l) Setbacks for Multi-storey Car Parks The setback distance for multi-storey car park building from the property/ boundary line or road reserve line is as shown in Figure 3. Figure 3: Setbacks for Multi - Storey Car park (MSCP) setback from road Setback from property boundary Setback from property boundary fronting open areas (i.e. open space, drainage reserve of width >6m) road buffer requirement 6m (minimum) for MSCP with openings at the facade 4.5m (minimum) 4.5m (minimum) for MSCP with no openings at the facade* NOTE : * Solid wall with no opening at the facade (lesser setback as adjoining developments will not be affected in terms of noise, fumes, or car headlights) A multi-storey car park building which abuts and is integrated into a residential tower block can be allowed to follow the same setback requirements as if the multi-storey car park building is a standalone building (see Figure 3a). This relaxation will be assessed based on the merits of the proposal i.e. based on the height and length of the multi-storey car park building and its impact on the surrounding environment. It will apply if the proposal demonstrates that the integration of the MSCP with the residential tower block and results in a better designed development that will benefit the environment. Figure 3a (m) Building Length Currently, there is no specific guideline on building length. However, SIA, REDAS, SIP and URA have jointly released an Industry Guide of Good Practices to minimize wall-like developments on 4 March 2010. You are advised to refer to this guide and adopt the good practices highlighted in it. (n) Setback of Condominiums from Good Class Bungalow Areas (GCBA) (i) The minimum setback of condominiums from Good Class Bungalow Areas (GCBA) are in Figure 4.
(ii) Figure 4: The revised setbacks would enable developments to achieve their development potential while ensuring that the amenity of the GCBA would not be compromised. Setback of Flats and Condominiums from Good Class Bungalow Areas (GCBA) STOREY HEIGHT MINIMUM SETBACK FROM GCBA BOUNDARY 1-2 storeys* 3m or road buffer requirement (if fronting road) 3-5 storeys 25m 6-35 storeys setback to be increased by 1m beyond 25m for each storey height increase: eg a 6 storey flat would be set back 26m; a 7 storey flat would be set back 27m; and so on 36 storeys and above 56m *Roof terrace, if proposed, shall be orientated to face away from the good class bungalows. (o) Development on Sites Separated by Road or Canal If a site is physically separated by a proposed or existing public road or canal, the resultant separated sites should each have a separate independent development, each with its own amenities. Each site will be treated as an independent development for compliance with the development control guidelines. (p) Development involving 2 or more Contiguous Lots Where the development is on contiguous lots and the design and layout are intended as a single development, amalgamation of the plots under one lot number is required. Where there are existing contiguous odd lots of State land which cannot be meaningfully developed on their own, the developers may be advised to apply to the Land Office to have them amalgamated with the development site. (q) Private Enclosed Space (PES) A Private Enclosed Space refers to a private outdoor area adjacent to a strata unit. It is intended to be an open uncovered space, with its extent defined by low fencing or wall to be owned by the adjacent strata unit owner for use as a private garden. There is no control on the size of the PES and the material for the enclosure or fencing that defines extent of the PES. However, the PES enclosure or fencing must not exceed 1m in height to ensure that PES retains an open and outdoor character as shown in Figure 5. To protect the PES against falling objects and litter, PES protection / covering is to be provided for all new residential developments with proposed PES by adopting either one of the following 2 approaches i) To propose a customised design solution for PES taking into consideration the floor plan and the effectiveness of the proposed design solution in protecting the PES without adversely affecting other units (eg. provision for easy maintenance to avoid accumulation of litter on covers which could cause nuisance to other units) and comprising the open and outdoor character of the PES. OR ii) To provide a minimum covering of 2m in depth along the external wall of the unit abutting the PES as shown in Appendix 4. The covering provided should facilitate easy maintenance to avoid accumulation of litter (see Figure 5).
PES that is protected by a cover up to 2m in depth measured from the external wall not computed as part of the overall gross floor area of a development. The subsequent covering of the PES beyond 2m in depth will generate additional GFA and requires planning permission. Submissions for additions and alterations within a strata unit which involve an increase in gross floor area are subject to the provisions in the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act. Figure 5: PES Covering and PES Enclosure or Fencing MANAGEMENT CORPORATION OFFICE 5 The management corporation office should form part of the common property in the development. No strata subdivision as a separate strata unit will be allowed.