Punggol Digital District is Singapore’s first smart and sustainable business district.
JTC received the Top Integrated Development award for its 50ha Punggol Digital District, marking the first time a government statutory board has been recognised at the EdgeProp Singapore Excellence Awards (EPEA) 2025.
JTC was also presented with the Top Sustainable Developer award, recognising the organisation’s leading sustainability efforts and its transformative impact on the local industrial real estate market.
The Punggol Digital District (PDD) is the first business district built from the ground up that incorporates smart technologies and sustainable building practices. Master-planned by JTC and designed by WOHA Architects, the waterfront district integrates industry players, academia, retail and community facilities, as well as digital infrastructure.
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The panel of judges gave the development top marks for its contemporary and sustainable designs, district integration and smart infrastructure to create a future-ready work-play-learn environment.
The Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) campus, which can accomodate 12,000 students, sits within the district. (Picture: JTC)
PDD showcases how JTC is developing and leasing new industrial spaces to meet the needs of corporate industrial tenants, by creating an ecosystem that clusters research and talent with business partners across the same value chain to catalyse innovation and growth, says David Tan, assistant CEO (Development Group) at JTC.
Some of the flagship tenants at PDD include financial institutions like OCBC and UOB, government agencies such as GovTech and Cyber Security Agency (CSA). Private sector tenants include companies and startups involved in artificial intelligence (AI) development, cybesecurity and robotics. The district also hosts Singapore Institute of Technology’s (SIT) Punggol Campus, which will accommodate up to 12,000 students.
Located within Punggol in the Northeast Region, Punggol Digital District features the largest concentration of new business park space with eight towers that will add about 1.9 million sq ft of office and business park space.
The interior design philosophy prioritises flexibility and employee well-being through intentional spatial planning. Open-plan workspaces are complemented by quiet zones, collaboration hubs and wellness amenities that support diverse work styles and promote productivity.
Bright, naturally lit environments with high ceilings also add to the comfort of workspaces, while strategically placed breakout areas encourage spontaneous interactions and knowledge sharing.
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The new district is served by the new Punggol Coast MRT Station, an extension of the North-East Line that opened last December. Together with a new bus interchange, it is the 15th Integrated Transport hub, enhancing public transport connectivity within Punggol.
The Nexus at Punggol Coast Mall is a public plaza for place-making activities in PDD. (Picture: JTC)
A new 290,520 sq ft retail mall has also been completed to complement the district’s mixed-use ethos. The Punggol Coast Mall is located above the MRT station and is next to the SIT Campus. This retail zone features lifestyle amenities like childcare centres and a hawker centre. It serves the students and professionals working in the area, as well as Punggol residents.
Punggol Digital District is the largest mixed-use district to achieve BCA’s Green Mark Platinum certification. The district features the tallest industrial building constructed using engineered timber, which also attained BCA’s Green Mark Super Low Energy certification.
Future industrial districts and estates developed by JTC will follow the example of PDD, creating ecosystems where different types of buildings across various industries may work together in the same district, says Tan.
Achieving this involves creating a more cohesive and integrated mixed-use estate, drawing connections from a broad industry perspective. At Punggol Digital District, this is reflected in its Work-Play-Learn approach.
“At PDD, it was important for us to develop strong synergy between companies establishing themselves there, but to also generate integration at the community level,” says Tan.
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PDD achieved a 100% landscape replacement area and a 40% green coverage. (Picture: JTC)
For example, parks and green spaces are used by students and workers as well as residents from nearby housing estates. Highlights include the Campus Heart featuring a 4ha community park and the transformation of the old Punggol Road into a 1.3km tree-lined Heritage Trail.
“In addition to our goal of achieving Green Mark Platinum for some of our upcoming industrial buildings. We also set ourselves the challenge of developing more Green Mark Platinum districts,” adds Tan.
The design concept of Punggol Digital District reflects a broader Industry in Nature approach by JTC, one that mirrors Singapore’s urban planning vision of a City in Nature, says Tan. He adds that sustainability in industrial real estate needs to consider the protection of natural ecosystems and the potential impact of climate change, as well as the sustainable use of natural resources and energy.
Some of these considerations include how to locate new developments within a conducive environment to reduce heat island effect. This can be achieved with efficient landscape planning and the integration of water bodies or features into the development. For example, in PDD and the one-north precinct the green cover target is about 40% of the entire area and these spaces are designed to ensure sufficient green or blue coverage.
The Punggol Heritage Trail is a 1.3km tree-lined park connector, on the former Punggol Road, that will link Punggol Waterway Park to Punggol Point Park. (Picture: JTC)
This could come from sky terraces, sky gardens, ground floor landscaping and urban gardens. But it also includes buildings with biophilic designs such as the colour of the facades, the orientation and the shape of the building to reduce the thermal heating effect.
“With these twin efforts, we believe we can accomplish our vision of Industry in Nature, and how this harmonises with biodiversity and industry development could be more integrated,” adds Tan.
Developing future-ready industrial districts and buildings requires more than the physical infrastructure; it also includes a robust digital infrastructure to support the needs of Industry 4.0. This refers to the advancement of industry and a phase of industrial change that incorporates rapid technological advances such as artificial intelligence and advanced robotics.
At PDD, the layout of the office units and business park spaces focuses on scalability and adaptability that can support both small startups and large established firms. Across the eight towers, floor plate sizes range from 13,988 sq ft to 43,040 sq ft, with floor-to-ceiling heights of about 3m.
Individual units range from 1,237 sq ft to 9,038 sq ft and can be combined horizontally to create larger units over entire floors or multi-floor setups. Units accommodate diverse fit-out requirements from standard business park spaces to heavier technical equipment, as well as flexible unit configurations and customisable partitioning.
Punggol Digital District features a digital infrastructure to support ODP which is used to improve district management. (Picture: JTC)
JTC also rolled out its proprietary Open Digital Platform (ODP) at Punggol Digital District. It is the first district-wide smart operating system that connects buildings, utilities and services through a network of sensors and real time data analytics.
Co-developed by GovTech and JTC, the ODP integrates with district assets such as the smart electrical grid, district cooling and building management system. It leverages machine learning to optimise resource efficiency and achieve energy savings of up to 60% compared to traditional industrial districts.
Beyond its positive impact on sustainability initiatives at PDD, there are also space-saving benefits that improve the value proposition of the district. For example, district cooling systems reduce the need for multiple cooling towers, saving valuable real estate space and increasing the amount of leasable area in each building.
PDD demonstrates JTC’s strategic and thoughtful spatial planning in creating future-ready industrial spaces, and the development received high praise from the panel of judges for successfully weaving together different types of spaces into a cohesive and community-driven district.
This was achieved through careful vertical and horizontal layering, stacking SIT’s campus and green public spaces, alongside strategically stacked amenities that promote social interaction at multiple levels. The project also illustrates how high-tech clean industrial activities can seamlessly integrate with other uses like retail and residential, without being isolated by pollution buffers.
This is coupled with an unprecedented range of facilities for tenants, visitors and nearby residents. This spatial interweaving reflects evolving workplace needs where businesses thrive on knowledge exchange and collaboration, and redefines what an industrial district can look like.