After half a year in two separate offices, the employees at Resorts World at Sentosa (RWS) finally came under one roof. In mid July, the company moved into its 6,000 sqm RWS corporate office building on Sentosa.

The five-storey building has two wings, and took four months to construct from design to completion. It is likely one of the fastest construction projects ever done in Singapore. The building features a staff cafeteria, an executive lounge, a landscaped courtyard and a gym for the staff to keep fit.

The façade and colour palette of the building are the creation of American architect Michael Graves, who is also the chief designer of the resort that is slated to open in 2010.

The corporate office, built outside the resort site, can house up to 500 staff and offers 31 car park lots. Wireless Internet connection is available throughout the premises.

Construction development

The project is on schedule. More than S$600 million in contracts has been awarded for works ranging from soil tests, road diversion, raft substructure and materials procurement. Another batch of contracts on building structures will be awarded by the first quarter of next year, making the total worth of construction contracts at S$1.6 billion by then.

On-site, demolition works are complete. Four jetties have been constructed for barges to ship materials to and from the site. A giant excavator three times the speed of regular excavators was shipped in from a quarrying site in Kalimantan. We expect to complete the underground sub-structure in the middle of next year.

HR matters

The company currently has about 100 staff members, and expects to add another 50 by year’s end. The positions are in the corporate departments such as finance, legal and human resources, as well as for the projects team.

RWS has pledged to practise fair and non-discriminatory employment standards. It has been in talks with the Ministry of Manpower, Singapore Tourism Board, Workforce Development Agency and the National Trades Union Congress on manpower needs and training.  RWS is committed to hire mature workers, the disabled, and job-seekers under the Yellow Ribbon programme. It has started engaging these groups on collaboration efforts.

Since breaking ground in April, RWS has made headlines for conservation efforts with trees and corals. It has also hosted more than 100 guests to a housewarming at its new office premises earlier this month and launched its inaugural webcast on the rwsentosa.com website.

The company has appointed TBWA as its creative agency. Over the next three years in the lead up to its opening, RWS expects to spend S$70 million in advertising.

A party was held on 3rd August to celebrate the new RWS corporate office. More than 100 guests attended the jazz night, which ended with a show of fireworks.