With the building, the challenge was to deliver the same positioning and experience that’s consistent with Audi facilities around the world, whether it’s in Japan, Germany or Italy,” adds Reinhold Carl, Managing Director of Audi Singapore.
“If we consider Audi in the same light as one of the big fashion brands – Prada, Louis Vuitton, or Chanel – when you look at their stores, all over the world they have the same quality, the same standard,” says Jens Niemann, Corporate Architecture, Audi Ag.
When you take away the street level, you’re left with a square. And a square doesn’t really go with Audi’s linear elements. That is why we played with the facade, and created offsets and double layers.
What we did was separate the square into two rectangles; with the offset you get a shadow along the curved edges – it is the same materials, but it looks like a picture.
Standing eight-storeys high, Audi Singapore's newly unveiled flagship store is the first ever high-rise Audi Terminal, and at 1,350 square metres per floor, is also the largest Audi showroom in Southeast Asia.
The façade is clad in aluminium with hexagonal cut-outs forming a honeycomb pattern, while full-height glass windows for the lower floors make the building appear to float off the ground.
This one-stop terminal offers a variety of services in a single location, housing showrooms, workshops, offices and even a café and waiting lounge for visitors.
As many as 35 of Audi's latest models are displayed in the showrooms on the 2nd and 4th floors. the cars are arranged in a "power curve", making the formation seem as if they are zooming by on a race track.
A specially designed lift carries cars to the servicing workshop that spans from the 5th to the 7th floor, while the offices take up the building's top level.
Within the three basement floors are an Audi Cafe, quattro shop, customer waiting lounge, reception areas as well as a carpark.
Location: Alexandra Road, Singapore Architect: ONG&ONG Team Director: Ong Tze Boon Project Team: Chin Yoon Han Structural: J S Tan Associates Mechanical and Electrical: Rankine - Hill Quantity Surveyor: Rodney Chng Associates Year: 2013 Client: Audi