Lendlease and Surbana Jurong partner on digital platform Podium for Development

Lendlease and Surbana Jurong have come together to create a digital platform, Podium for Development (P4D). Its overall purpose is to improve construction productivity, while promoting sustainable solutions for the built environment. These efforts to introduce a digital ecosystem seek to streamline and enhance the decision-making process from feasibility to design and construction.

A 2015 KPMG report reveals that inadequate communication and collaboration between stakeholders on the value chain lead to design errors, which accounted for 38% of construction disputes. This same report states that only 31% of projects managed to stay within 10% of their proposed budgets. A 2017 McKinsey Global Institute report also found that the construction industry’s productivity has only grown by 1% in the past 20 years, yet it is responsible for 40% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

P4D is a useful tool that can generate building designs based on building regulations, kit-of-parts, estimated costs and time frame. It also seeks to dramatically reduce the time it takes to design a building. According to Chief Product Officer for Podium, Richard Kuppusamy, the system can generate a structural design in 15 to 20 minutes, whereas current methods can take months. Moreover, P4D enables designers to focus their energy and efforts on more complex and subjective aspects of creation, as up to 70% of the building design can be automated.

The ambition of P4D is to alter entrenched methodologies and behaviors to reimagine how people create. Lendlease is working with Surbana Jurong to bring P4D to fruition, and is in negotiations with other developers and building authorities, both in and outside of Singapore, to leverage and utilize P4D to design projects.

Senja Close EC Bukit Panjang offers the ultimate convenience for residents with its 5-star facilities. There is a sprawling pool where you can cool off from the afternoon heat, a children’s playground for kids to let off steam, and a fully-equipped gymnasium for residents to break a sweat. Besides that, the development also offers retail shops, a childcare centre, and a tranquil landscaped garden to spend some time with nature.

For nature lovers, and avid hikers, Jemaluang Nature Park and Senja Hills Park are within close proximity. Furthermore, Senja Close EC Bukit Panjang is just a stone’s throw away from popular recreational spot – Bukit Panjang Park.

Moreover, it seeks to promote best sustainable building practices to benefit various communities around the world. Bill Ruh, CEO for Lendlease Digital, agrees that P4D gives architects, designers and suppliers increased control to increase productivity in the built environment, as well as bring net zero and zero waste objectives into the early stages of a project life cycle in order to minimize embodied carbon levels. Asean CEO from Surbana Jurong, Yeo Choon Chong, adds that the company is enthusiastic about the possibility of collaborating with multiple project stakeholders on the P4D cloud at the design stage.