SINGAPORE - Smart technology, such as facial recognition, at the new one-stop centre for national servicemen should cut queueing time for medical screenings by 30 per cent.
NS Hub in Bukit Gombak - which aims to be among the top 10 per cent of energy-efficient buildings in Singapore - could also save more than $700,000 in utility bills every year.
The features were unveiled on Monday (Nov 25) at the ground-breaking ceremony for the building, which is scheduled for completion in 2023.
Announced in March, NS Hub will see services for national servicemen - from national service registration to physical fitness training - brought under one roof.
It will be located near the Ministry of Defence and connected to Cashew MRT station by an overhead bridge.
Currently, national servicemen go to the Central Manpower Base (CMPB) for NS registration, fitness conditioning centres for physical training tests and the Military Medicine Institute in Kent Ridge for specialist medical and dental care.
The hub will house the first purpose-built, all-weather facility for the Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT) - with a 400m indoor running track - that can accommodate 300 to 500 servicemen a session, comparable to other fitness conditioning centres.
NS Hub will be open to the public and have facilities such as a foodcourt, an e-Mart, a childcare centre, a 500m outdoor running track and an exercise corner.
A mobile app will allow servicemen to book appointments and receive updates.
Mr Pang Lu Kit, 45, who is NS Hub project lead from the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), said that fluid dynamics simulations were done to determine the best way to place the building for maximum natural ventilation.
"We are benchmarking ourselves against the BCA (Building and Construction Authority) Green Mark Platinum standard. We are benchmarking ourselves against the super low energy certification and, ultimately, we want to be among the top 10 per cent of energy-efficient buildings in Singapore," he told reporters.
DSTA is the project manager, while DP Architects is the building design consultant.
Rainwater-harvesting features will result in estimated savings of 32,000 cubic m of water a year. That is enough for the use of 150 four-room Housing Board units in a year, said Mr Pang, who is from DSTA's Building and Infrastructure Programme Centre.
About 600 new trees will be planted - four times the existing number of trees on the current 9ha site where NS Hub sits. Half of the felled trees will be converted into usable features, such as seats.
CMPB, which administers the NS registration process, was first situated at Pearl's Hill Barracks in 1966, before moving to Kallang Camp the following year. In 1972, it moved to Tanglin Camp in Dempsey Road, before relocating to its current site in Depot Road in 1989.
Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, who officiated the ground-breaking ceremony, said in a speech that NS Hub would likely be CMPB's permanent site, where many generations of national servicemen would enlist.
Dr Ng was accompanied by Senior Ministers of State for Defence Heng Chee How and Maliki Osman; Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant-General Melvyn Ong; and DSTA chief executive Tan Peng Yam; as well as other senior defence officials.
Mr Matthew Yeo, 18, who completed his junior college this year and will be enlisting in two months, welcomed the decision to open NS Hub to the public.
"I think it's also really good that they decided to integrate public facilities into the place. Having public facilities allows us to bring Singaporeans closer to the NS experience, which is a common experience for all Singaporeans," he said.
