Singapore's New Public Housing Project Looks A Lot Like A Luxury Condo

Over 80 percent of Singapore's population lives in government housing.

That's because the cost of housing is astronomically expensive in the dense city-state. Generally, only millionaires live in private condos, while the rest of the population — anyone who makes under about US$97,000 per year — resides in public housing complexes.

Click here to go straight to the housing complex >

But Singapore's version of public housing is glamorous, and looks much more like luxury condos than what we typically think of as public housing in the U.S.

I recently toured the Pinnacle @ Duxton, a public housing complex in Singapore that opened in 2010. There are 1,848 units — almost all of which are spacious and modern three-bedrooms — in the seven towers. The towers are connected by a furnished roof deck on the 50th floor, which has gyms, running tracks, playgrounds, and spectacular views of the city and harbor.

Of course the Pinnacle @ Duxton represents the higher end of public housing and plenty of people live in older units, but it also marks the direction that Singapore's Housing & Development Board (HDB) will go in the future.

Architecture firm ARC Studio constructed the complex with the goal of housing an extremely dense population in a very livable way. One of the ways they do that is with greenery: the outdoor spaces have gardens and leisure facilities.

"We are fascinated by how greenery and nature collide with architecture," principal architect Khoo Peng Beng said.

The result is a modern, livable housing complex that feels surprisingly intimate despite its huge scale.

Disclosure: Our trip to Singapore, including travel and lodging expenses, was sponsored by the Singapore Tourism Board.