one-north represents Singapore's progress into a knowledge and innovation-intensive economy. It is a self-sustaining centre where you can live, work, learn and be inspired by leading scientists, researchers and technopreneurs from around the world.
one-north plays host to 3 purpose-built hubs to house key public and private institutes and organizations: Biopolis, the biomedical R&D facility; Fusionopolis, dedicated to R&D in the Infocomms, Media, Science and Engineering industries; Mediapolis, a self-contained digital media cluster.
The growth of these industries is supported by one-north’s key infrastructural development. Within one-north, private-sector research labs are co-located with public-sector research institutes, tertiary hospitals and universities. Shared facilities reduce ramp-up time and promote collaboration between researchers in both private and public sectors.
one-north is designed such that homes, offices, parks, playgrounds and commerce are mixed into a vibrant social melting pot. Universities and foreign systems schools have set up campuses within one-north. They include INSEAD, Tanglin Trust and United World College. Facilities such as gyms, clubs and childcare centres are also available for residents to live and play within Wessex Estate.
Biopolis is the hallmark of Singapore's R&D success. Today, leading pharmaceutical companies such as Abbott, GlaxoSmithKline, Lilly, Novartis, Schering-Plough and Takeda have established their R&D base in the Biopolis. There are now more than 2,000 scientists from around the world carrying out research in this campus.
The Biopolis co-locates public sector research institutes with corporate labs and is designed to foster a collaborative culture among the institutions and organisations under its roof. Researchers are able to access state-of-the-art facilities, scientific infrastructure and specialised services. These allow companies to cut R&D costs significantly and accelerate the development timeline. In addition, there are conference facilities and meeting rooms that companies have easy access to.
Cafes, shops and amenities are located within the complex to create a 'work, live and play' environment to help stimulate exchange of ideas amongst the researchers. Biopolis, with about 2.4 million square feet of space, is almost completely taken up. Construction for Phase III commenced in April 2008. This will provide an additional 440,000 square feet of space for biomedical sciences R&D activities by end 2009.
The Biopolis is strategically located next to the Kent Ridge Campus, where our public hospital and medical school are located, thereby facilitating translational and clinical research. The specialized research institutes in Kent Ridge include the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, which is headed by Prof Daniel Tenen from Harvard. Leading companies such as AstraZeneca and Bayer Schering Pharma are partnering research units in the National University Health System at Kent Ridge for translational cancer research.
Fusionopolis is the first integrated work-live-play-learn development in one-north. It is dedicated specially to research and development in the Infocomm Technology, Media, Physical Sciences & Engineering industries. Equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities, this complex will provide the ideal environment to foster synergistic collaborations, experimentation and collaborations between the public and private research institutes.
When completed, Fusionopolis will boast a massive test-bed for new technologies which includes 103,600 sqm of business park and R&D space, as well as dry and wet laboratories, clean rooms and vibration sensitive test-bedding facilities.
More than 1,500 researchers from the public labs under A*STAR will be located at Fusionopolis. Their capabilities span a broad spectrum ranging from high performance computing to infocomm research, data storage and microelectronics. The public labs work alongside corporate labs like those of Vestas, Thales Technology and Seiko Instruments to accelerate the development of technologies and new products, and bring them to market.
Mediapolis at one-north is a digital media capital where top quality content will be produced for international markets.
When completed, Mediapolis will house a media ecosystem of soundstages with green screen capabilities, including digital production and broadcast facilities and interactive digital media (IDM) and R&D activities, amongst an extensive range of other facilities and amenities. Its IT infrastructure and technology platform will draw media companies which rely on high-speed broadband connectivity to enable the processing, management and distribution of digital media content and services.
Award-winning local media production company, Infinite Frameworks (IFW), will invest, occupy, develop and build Singapore's first soundstage facility at Mediapolis.
