Lendlease to open $29m digital construction centre in Singapore

Australia-headquartered property group Lendlease will set up a $29m (S$40m) digital construction development centre in Singapore, with help from the state’s Economic Development Board (EDB), to push the property and construction sectors in a more high-tech direction. 

Slated to open by October, the centre will employ 50 people in the first year, with expansion planned in subsequent years. 

Lendlease said it is trying to create a "scalable supply chain and integrated logistics software platform for property development and construction projects".

"We are very excited to have the support of EDB to propel the built environment sector’s transition to the digital economy and position Singapore as a global innovation hub that leads the market in automating the creation of tomorrow’s smart buildings," said Tony Lombardo, Lendlease’s chief executive in Asia.

Lendlease’s new Singapore centre will create digital products and services for use in its new digital property lifecycle platform, "Lendlease Podium".

Dawn Lim, vice president of the EDB, said: "The Product Development Centre by Lendlease will add exciting digital capability to the built environment ecosystem."

Lendlease said the centre would push the adoption of a Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) mindset, "shifting from labour intensive to skilled-based ways of working". 

Separately, Lendlease told the Australian Securities Exchange on 9 September that it had completed the sale of its engineering business to Acciona Infrastructure Asia Pacific.

However, Lendlease will retain the NorthConnex, Kingsford Smith Drive and Melbourne Metro Tunnel projects.

Image: View of Singapore by Swapnil Bapat/Unsplash

Further reading:

• "Most ambitious": Apple’s new Singapore store is ‘floating’ glass orb in Marina Bay
• Planning permission granted for Sydney station and Lendlease tower