The project will rise to more than 60 stories and include about 1,700 units, making it the tallest public residential project once completed, National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat told Parliament on Wednesday as reported by AsiaOne.

The project will exceed the height of The Pinnacle@Duxton, currently the tallest public housing complex in Singapore, by more than 10 stories.

Chee said constructing taller flats “where possible” forms part of the ministry’s strategy to expand public housing supply by intensifying land use.

The move follows an update by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore last August to regulations governing building heights near airports, allowing residential developments to be built up to 15 stories taller.

“A 60-story block can provide 50% more flats compared to a 40-story block, the height of most of our tallest HDB blocks today,” Chee said in a speech outlining his ministry’s spending plans for the coming year.

HDB refers to the Housing and Development Board, a Singaporean authority in charge of developing public housing.

However, he stressed that even with relaxed height limits, the government will build taller HDB blocks “carefully and sensitivity” and “only when conditions allow.”

Singapore authorities first revealed plans in 2023 to develop public housing on Pearl’s Hill, indicating that about 6,000 public and private homes would be built in the area over the next decade.

Situated at the base of Pearl’s Hill City Park next to Outram Park MRT station, the project will include around 1,700 flats comprising two-room Flexi, three-room and four-room units, along with more than 140 public rental flats.

It will feature green elements such as water features and a tree canopy, inspired by a traditional Chinese art style that portrays mountains and flowing water, according to The Straits Times.

“The residential blocks will be built with varying heights, like the mountain ridges in a painting,” Chee said.