90 | theceomagazine.com
And on her status as a female icon?
“I’m not very conscious of that. It’s probably
more incidental that I am recognised. For me, it’s
a job in hand and I want it to be done well.”
Her ‘job in hand’ over the past six years has
been to oversee the construction of two sprawling
developments covering 500,000 square metres of
land in the heart of Singapore’s CBD. M+S, a joint
venture between Malaysia’s investment fund Khazanah
Nasional (60 per cent) and Singapore’s state-owned
investment company Temasek Holdings (40 per cent),
was created in 2011 to develop two land parcels
in Ophir-Rochor (DUO) and four land parcels in
Marina South (Marina One). They are two integrated
developments in Singapore of an unprecedented scale,
comprising office, residential, hotel and signature
retail, dining and entertainment facilities.
Construction for DUO began in 2012 and was
completed in phases between 2016–17. The first sod
for Marina One was turned in 2013, with operations
beginning last year. Kemmy’s blithe description of the
project as being ‘quite transformational’, doesn’t quite
cut it. Revolutionary, avant-garde, phenomenal, spring
more quickly to mind.
DUO boasts 660 apartments, South-East Asia’s
first Andaz hotel and more then 50,000 square metres
of prime office space across 20 storeys. Marina One,
connected to four MRT lines, has 1,042 apartments
in two 34-storey blocks and some of the largest office
floor plates in Singapore, measuring from 3,000
square metres to approximately 10,000 square metres,
in two 30-storey blocks.
“The partnership has been great and the
developments have gone smoothly,” Kemmy says.
“It’s a unique project. I doubt you’d get a situation
anywhere else in the world where two countries have
come together to undertake real estate development.
“We gathered different people from different
businesses to work together from the beginning; to
conceptualise, construct and complete the project.
“We wanted to develop a legacy to last many
generations, reminding them of the historic
collaboration between the two governments.”
A bold and significant reminder of the partnership
is reflected through the artwork scattered throughout
the communal areas of both developments. Rather
than sourcing more renowned and popular
international pieces, the M+S curator sourced
local art from Malaysia and Singapore.
“We’re very proud of this idea,” Kemmy
admits. “Because this really is a once-in-a-lifetime
collaboration, we wanted to bring that feeling home
with art bought from both countries. You’ll see it in
the DUO plaza and the Marina One gardens.”
Yes, enter the gardens – a 6,000-square-metre
haven of lush vegetation nestled between Marina
One’s four towers. The Green Heart is an urban
sanctuary offering a slice of serenity to office workers,
residents and visitors. It is the largest biodiversity
garden within Singapore’s CBD and features a
heart-shaped green core surrounded by multipleINNOVATE | Interview