Capella Singapore, designed by the Norman Foster, the famous British architect, is set to open in March 2009. It will be run by the West Paces Hotel Group of Atlanta. Costing some $400 million about six years in the making, Capella Singapore is the first property in Asia to be managed by the West Paces Hotel Group.
Pontiac Land appointed Foster to design the new building on a 30 acre site it acquired on Sentosa, including two buildings built in the 1880’s. Foster is known as the architect of the new Beijing airport, the Supreme Court building in Singapore and the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank in Hong Kong.
Working with colonial era buildings would not be something new for Foster. He renovated and combined both the old and the new, just like the Reichstag in Berlin.
According to Stephanie Kwee-Ng, West Paces Hotel Group Asia vice president, he was chosen first for his ability to combine the old and the new. She said, “every detail was considered so that even the new copper roof matched the colour of the original terracotta tiles on the roof. The eaves of the old building are also in line with the new ones – it’s a seamless blending.”
It resulted to a beautiful building which follows the area’s natural topography– a sign, she said, that Foster took into account the environment.
The interiors are designed by Mr. Jaya Ibrahim, while Mr. Andre Fu and Mr. Yasuhiro Koichi are responsible for the restaurants.