The Assembly Place sets high bar for student co-living with Campus

Campus by The Assembly Place (TAP) won the Co-living Excellence Award at the EdgeProp Singapore Excellence Awards 2024, held at the Shangri-La Hotel on Oct 30. The 426-bed Campus is TAP’s first premium student housing project, and the panel of judges conferred the award for its overall excellence in design, innovation, accessibility, sustainability, and community development. Campus consists of two residential blocks, three and four storeys high, situated on a 104,469 sq ft site at 116 Lorong J Telok Kurau. Read also: Village Hotel Sentosa: The crowd favourite Advertisement Advertisement Eugene Lim, CEO and founder of TAP, conceived the project after noticing how undergraduate students struggled to find affordable accommodation options on a limited budget. “We began to deep dive into the student accommodation segment and realised that Singapore did not have quality purpose-built student accommodation,” says Lim. He wanted Campus to provide affordable student accommodations options while maintaining the high standard of quality seen at other TAP co-living facilities. This student-centric co-living facility primarily accommodates international students attending tertiary institutions here. Residents come from over 20 countries, with the majority hailing from China, India and Vietnam.

Designed for market

The opportunity to create a premium student co-living facility started when TAP partnered with Apricot Capital, the family office of Super Group founder David Teo, to acquire the site along Lorong J Telok Kurau on a 103-year lease for $40 million. TAP and Apricot Capital invested over $6 million in retrofitting the property, including replacing the plumbing, casement windows, air-conditioning systems and electrical wiring. Campus opened its doors last October. Read also: Guoco Midtown secures inaugural Top Commercial Property Award Advertisement Advertisement The property’s refit impressed judges with its refreshed facilities and use of sustainable technology. For example, a network of motion sensors in common areas increases energy efficiency while reducing the number of workers deployed onsite. TAP also spent nearly $1 million on the landscape design of Campus, repopulating the site with lush greenery. Thanapong Boonyasiriwat (Gong), director of Ecoplan Asia, helmed the landscape design. The site’s naturally undulating terrain was preserved and used to create pockets of private spaces across the property, encouraging social interaction among residents. “Before the renovation, the place was in a very bad and unkempt condition,” recalls Lim. “I remember that after the massive renovations, residents in the surrouding area thanked us for turning the space around.”

Premium student accommodations

Campus also impressed this year’s panel of judges with the design of its rooms and the variety of its facilities. Positioned as a premium student accommodation option, rooms are designed modularly, with each resident given a designated bed, desk, and study area. The sleeping quarters in the development are fully air-conditioned, with rooms accommodating between two and eight beds each. Read also: The Reserve Residences clinches awards for innovative homes nestled in greenery Advertisement Advertisement To ensure the safety and security of the residents, the development is outfitted with smart locks so that only assigned residents can access their sleeping quarters. A network of CCTV cameras monitors the common areas, and security personnel are on-site 24/7 on standby. “On-site staff are important not only for students,” Lim explains, “but also for providing a sense of security and assurance to parents and educational institutions.” The site also accommodates an outdoor CrossFit gym, a running track, a basketball court, and outdoor seating areas. Campus also features communal laundry facilities, study areas, meeting rooms, a residents’ lounge for community events and kitchen and dining spaces with vending machines stocked with instant noodles and ready-to-eat meals. The time and effort spent refitting and renovating Campus was validated when the first group of students from James Cook University toured the place before it officially launched, recalls Lim. He was happy to report that all the students in the group signed up for a space at Campus, with some even breaking existing leases to do so.

Sense of belonging

In addition to its physical facilities, Campus was evaluated on its services and its ability to foster a sense of community, which is central to co-living projects. Campus hosts a monthly community event for its residents, ranging from celebrations of local events like National Day to career talks in industries that interest the students. Lim participated in a recent community event where CEOs from various industries were invited to share their experiences with Campus residents. TAP also organises a daily shuttle bus service to help students commute to school. The shuttle bus service ferries residents from the property to Paya Lebar MRT Interchange, where they can continue their journey along the East-West or Circle Lines. Due to its strong product offering and student-centric services, Campus by TAP has attracted students from universities and polytechnics across the island. Despite its location in the east, Campus also houses students from universities such as the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), which are both in the western region. “My proudest moment for Campus was when our first undergraduate student from NTU chose to stay with us. That was when we realized we had created a compelling product, desirable enough for students to travel the extra distance to be here,” says Lim. To date, Campus has recorded an average occupancy rate of over 90% since April 2024, six months after the project launched in October 2023. The average rate per bed at the project is $850 per month. Premium beds, with just two or three occupants per room, can cost up to $1,600 a month.