When my friend told me about the Pinnacle, I put it on my to go list immediately. I was there the next morning.
WHAT IS THE PINNACLE?
The Pinnacle is a block of seven residential flats in downtown Singapore, next to the central business district. It's developed by the government who, through the Housing & Development Board (HDB) has 80% of the properties, and are the largest property developer in the country. When the project was launched in 2004, it caused quite a bit of noise on the property market due to its location and the fact they were a lot classier than the normal government public housing. Needless to say, all the flats were sold out immediately even though it was a build to order property that would take five years to complete.
The other thing that is so special about the Pinnacle is its design. It is 50 storeys high and holds the record as the world's tallest public residential housing. The other record it holds, and which really bought me here, is the longest sky gardens. There are two skywalks on the 26th and 50th floor connecting the seven blocks. Each one of them is 500m long.
THE HERITAGE GARDEN
The location of The Pinnacle has historical significance. Singapore's oldest block developed by the HDB used to be on this site. In addition, the area was Singapore's founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's constituency. The man himself initiated the project in 2001 to commemorate the area. The Heritage Garden has a lot of interesting information about the HBD, and the area. For example, did you know that in the early 19th century, nutmeg was grown in this area?
OUTDOOR SPACE
One thing I noticed when I was in Singapore was the amount of green space where even I went. The Pinnacle was no exception. Despite it being downtown, right next to a busy road, the complex had plenty of outdoor area for the residents. There was a basketball court and lots of seating area, though most of them had no cover which wasn't very helpful given how hot Singapore is. There were also plenty of plants and trees around, and I loved how they had designed ramps and split levels to increase the amount of space.
THE SKYWALK
Access to the skywalk is via the management office which is at the far end of the complex past the Heritage Garden, basketball court and the rest of the open space. Both skywalks are 500m long and have a jogging track, playground area and a sky garden. The one on the 26th is not open to the public. Only residents can use it. Visitors can only access the one on the 50th floor, which is fine as the higher up it is, the better the view. Access is a modest $S6 roughly USD4.30 / GBP3.30. I was so looking forward to this.
I got to the management office and it was shut. Then I saw a notice which said CLOSED on a big red sign. Ok, it was a little over 1pm, maybe they close for the lunch hour. Then I read the notice beneath it.
Due to the orange dorscon alert for the novel coronavirus, we have closed the 50th skybridge to visitors.