1993 Church Building Project
A New Challenge For PLMC
Chow Kok Fong​
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ACQUISITION BY THE STATE
Once again Paya Lebar has to brace itself for a new challenge. The land on which the church sanctuary currently stands will be acquired by the State in 1994 for a major road expansion project.
After several months of representations to the authorities, the government eventually agreed to sell to the church the land on which the covenant centre is sited. (This land is currently leased to us under a temporary occupation licence.) The price and the other terms of the purchase remain to be negotiated.
However, we thank God that this development removes at once a whole lot of uncertainty and anxiety. It moves forward quickly the agenda to get the new premises in place.
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DESIGN BRIEF
Following the decision, a project design brief was drawn up. In essence this brief encapsulates our vision that Paya Lebar will grow into a 4,000 member church with a Sunday School attendance of 800. We also visualise a similar order of growth in our other outreach programmes such as the Family Service Centre and the Kindergarten. The new building premises will, therefore, have to cater to a Paya Lebar which is roughly twice the size of what we are today.
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Model of new church building
THE SELECTED DESIGN
Two architectural firms were invited to submit design proposals on the basis of this brief. In the end, the LCEC accepted the design proposal submitted by a team of young Singaporean architects. This proposal was considered to be more compatible with the character of Paya Lebar and lends itself to be constructed efficiently. The selected design is characterised externally by 3 components: the church sanctuary, the bell tower, and the covenant centre. All three combine to confer an unmistakably Venetian flavour of the external form.
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The Bell tower sits on a generous plaza which is designed to retain the social focus of the church. The whole plaza serves also as a pronounced entrance from Joon Hiang Road to both the sanctuary and the covenant centre.
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The sanctuary shall have two-tiered seating for up to 1,200 worshippers at any one time. The altar, cry room, choir, AVA room and supporting facilities have been expanded in the new sanctuary to varying degrees.
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The new covenant centre shall house a 400 seater contemporary worship hall. It shall also have 15 classrooms and two assembly halls for Sunday School. These should double up as kindergarten facilities during the week. The other facilities housed in the covenant centre includes a 200sq-metre library, the church offices and facilities for our social outreach programmes.
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Underpinning the entire complex will be a semi basement car park with 90 car park lots. This will extend over the larger part of the site. Basement construction is expensive and for this reason, it was thought that we should not proceed deeper than the single basement level.
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CONSTRUCTION COST
The construction cost has been estimated by the quantity surveyors at $7.76 million. Consultancy fees, submission expenses and clerk of works supervision will cost another $670,000 making a total of $8.5 million.
THE TASKS AHEAD
The main activities in the coming months are these. We will need to finalise our requirements for the various facilities by the end of quarter 1993. This will permit the design and consultancy teams to develop the design.
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Simultaneously a series of value engineering exercises will be undertaken to trim down the cost estimate as much as possible. This includes looking into alternative technical solutions to each critical aspect of the project before committing to a particular solution.
KEY DATES
A key date will be the date when we take possession of the site. This will be when the boundaries of the covenant land site have been formally demarcated and it is expected to take place around the first quarter of 1994. We would like to begin piling the moment we have site possession and this is expected to last five to six months. We will need another 20 to 22 months following this for the building works proper (so called “main contract work”) to be completed. By scheduling these activities as close as possible to the date of the site possession, we can minimise the time we need to worship elsewhere as a church. On this schedule therefore, we aim to worship in the new premises by Christmas 1996.
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CHURCH UNITY
Despite almost two decades of acquaintance in the construction industry, I expect this project to be a very sobering experience for me. It has helped me know my church leaders well and it has led me to understand their great love for Paya Lebar and God’s work in this part of Singapore. At the end of the day, I pray that even as we labour together to build the new premises, God will build up our faith and love in Him and for one another.
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The other members of the Building Subcommittee are Mr Henry Kwek (Vice Chairman), Dr NC Tan, Mr Lee Hon Leong and Mrs Shirley Kee (Secretary).
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