My brother invited us over to his show-flat on the Saturday morning. From our house at East Coast, it is a direct 30mins ride over to Pinnacle@Duxton. This is the amazing sight that greeted us - the towering residential skyscrapers of Tanjong Pagar. The late morning sun is being blocked off completely.
The Pinnacle @ Duxton sign is just next to the main entrance to the carpark. I don't think you can email to 'pinnacle@duxton'
Pinnacle@Duxton has 50 storeys where 3 elevators serve storey 1 - 26 while the other 3 elevators serve storeys 27 - 50. Both lifts stopped over from Basement to Level 3 which are the common areas. Here is how the common lift landing on the 20th floor looks like.
Into a 4-room flat, here is the main living room. HDB has already renovated the place before, so it will save the occupants the trouble of renovating it again. (sorry for not using camera flash in the photo below)
A view straight ahead through the window.
Let's walk along the passageway into the 3 bedrooms.
Taking a peek into the master bedroom. One of the windows give a view of the sentosa IR (right window), while the other is looking out towards the financial district (left window).
Just a side note. I find the rooms to be rather small. The master bedroom is the same size as my bedroom in Marine Parade. Based on the current living space, it is suitable for singles, married couples with no kids, or married couples with a kid. Any larger than my recommended size is just not suitable. It is impossible to convert the two smaller bedrooms into bedrooms with study bench. Unless the Japanese room style is designed - sleep on the floor with no permanent bed.
Here is how the bathroom looks like.
Relaxing by the window and overlooking into the distant.
I went out to the central corridor and check out the other units in the area. There is this newspaper report of 'security-flaw' in the central units. It is true indeed. Any burglar who want to break in can just easily climb over the ledge, through the 50cm opening and onto the unit on the left hand side. HDB has made its stand by replying (Sunday Times 10th Jan 2010) "Residents can install grilles with locks and security appliances to make their homes more secure. HDB will work with police to step up patrols there." Those who got the central units are quite unfortunate and there is nothing they can do except to complain and pray that the HDB will seal off the top openings from the Common Corridor.
After the show-flat visit. We went up to the 26th floor. My brother got 4 access cards and just nice each of us have one of them. It uses RFID cards to gain access into the Sky Bridge. (The card looks exactly as the same my company is using).
Finally we are out in the open, away from the housing concrete. From this view, we can see the financial district.
Some lovely outdoor benches and tables where residents can chill out.
Looking up to storeys 26th to 50th while walking through the sky bridge.
Some play grounds for kids to have fun.
Another playground.
Looking down from the top, we can see the 3rd storey common area where there is a basketball court.
The apartments come with different customization requirements. There are some with balconies where residents can place flower pots or create a mini-gardens in there.
Two lovely flowers blossoming on the 26th floor concrete jungle.
Back to the lift landing and we are going up to the 50th storey next.
The 50th floor sky bridge. While on the 50th floor sky bridge, we have observed there is actually a method how visitors can go around the access gate. As long as they have a single card, it can be tapped in by one visitor, the card is tapped out (without the visitor coming out) and is tapped in again by another visitor. It can be repeated until all the visitors are in. While on the 50th floor, we noticed a security guard hanging around the gate (with a makeshift chair). I guess he is there to prevent anyone from trying out anything 'funny'. There's also CCTV at each gates. But I mentioned when visitors try the above trick, it will take a while for them to notice and come up 50 floors.
The view from here is just impressive. MM Lee and MBT were here and it is here where they gave a few notable quotes:
"Property prices will go up" - MM Lee
"HDB flats are still affordable" - MBT
I believe visitors walking around the 50th floor sky bridge will also give the same comments. I quoted them a few times while I'm up there. :P
Anyway, from below you can see Brani Port, Vivo City and of course the Sentosa IR. Residents can easily catch fireworks from here.
There are more al fresco dining area where residents can enjoy themselves.
Walking through a wide opening area to the next few flats.
Taking a closer look.
Design is nice and perfect for a photography shot.
Overlooking the financial district of Singapore. Pinnacle@Duxton locality is just amazing!
Some benches for residents to sun-tan.
At the 3rd storey common area, there is an introduction on Pinnacle@Duxton as well as the history of HDB. The first blocks of HDB are built in this area.
And of course, we have Mr Lee Kuan Yew inaugurating the ground-breaking ceremony. Residents moving into Duxton have lots to thank MM Lee for. For the rest who are planning to get married or own a house in Singapore from 2007 onwards, you have missed the property cycle. Let's wait till supply to outstrip demand and hope it will go down one day.
But our prophet has said "Property prices will go up"
From Pinnacle@Duxton, residents can walk to the community centre which is just next to it. At the 'old Tanjong Pagar town', the hawker centre has some great selection of food.
