Things to do in Singapore | Wallich Street. Walk beneath Guoco Tower, step into one of the CBD’s largest privately owned public spaces, use Tanjong Pagar MRT as the transport anchor, compare the vertical city with conserved Peck Seah and Tras streets, and use this compact road to understand how Singapore combines skyscraper density with public space, mixed use and transit.
Wallich Street is where Tanjong Pagar goes vertical.
Guoco Tower rises above the MRT station.
Offices, residences, hotel, food and public space are stacked into one integrated development.
Only minutes away, Peck Seah and Tras streets remain two- and three-storey conservation streets.
- Walk the public space around Guoco Tower.
- Use the City Room canopy as a climate-design lesson.
- Ride Tanjong Pagar MRT directly into the development.
- Compare Wallich Street with Peck Seah Street.
- Walk toward Tras Street and Tanjong Pagar Road.
- Study how shops, offices, homes and hotels are stacked vertically.
- Use the area to understand transit-oriented development.
Read: Things to do in Singapore | Peck Seah Street
Read: Things to do in Singapore | Tanjong Pagar Road
Read: Things to do in Singapore | Anson Road
Start With the Big Idea: Wallich Street Is Transit-Oriented Vertical Urbanism
URA uses Guoco Tower as a case study in transit-oriented development.
The development sits directly above Tanjong Pagar MRT and combines offices, residences, retail, dining and a hotel within one high-density site.
The lesson is simple.
When many people can arrive by rail, a site can support extraordinary intensity without depending entirely on car access.
Official planning reference: URA | Connected and Inclusive City Guidebook
Walk the Guoco Tower Urban Park
URA describes the Guoco Tower Urban Park as one of the largest public spaces integrated into an office development in Singapore.
The space was deliberately placed above the MRT station rather than consumed by more building footprint.
That planning decision creates a public ground plane in one of the country’s highest-value locations.
Official planning story: URA | Public Space at Guoco Tower
Use the City Room Canopy to Understand Climate Design
The City Room canopy provides shade over a large open public area.
That matters in Singapore.
A plaza without shade may exist technically and still fail socially.
People stay where thermal comfort is acceptable.
Climate design therefore affects whether public space is genuinely public in practice.
Study Flexible Public Space
URA notes that much of the Guoco Tower public area was intentionally left open and flexible rather than filled completely with fixed programming.
That creates multiple possibilities:
- informal sitting;
- events;
- community gatherings;
- lunch crowds;
- children moving through the space;
- temporary installations.
Flexible public space can absorb changing needs without constant rebuilding.
Use Tanjong Pagar MRT as the Core
Guoco Tower has direct connectivity to Tanjong Pagar MRT.
The station is not merely nearby.
It is structurally integrated into the development.
That shortens walking distance and concentrates demand around a powerful transport node.
Current access reference: Guoco Tower | Getting Here
Understand the Vertical City
URA describes Guoco Tower as a vertical city with offices, retail, dining, residences and a hotel.
That mix compresses functions that would otherwise spread across several blocks.
The result is a vertical version of an old mixed-use town.
The principle is familiar.
The stacking is new.
Compare Wallich Street With Peck Seah Street
This is one of the strongest comparisons in Tanjong Pagar.
Wallich Street is high-rise, integrated and transit-oriented.
Peck Seah Street is low-rise, conserved and domestic in scale.
The walking distance between them is only minutes.
Singapore achieves diversity partly by allowing radically different building scales to coexist.
Continue nearby: Things to do in Singapore | Peck Seah Street
Walk Toward Tras Street
Tras Street extends the conservation story with long rows of historic shophouses.
Wallich Street therefore functions as a transition from vertical CBD urbanism into the lower-scale historic district.
Continue nearby: Things to do in Singapore | Tras Street
Use the Contrast to Teach Density Distribution
If every parcel remained two storeys high, central Singapore could accommodate far fewer jobs and residents.
If every parcel became a tower, the historic city would disappear.
The planning answer is selective density.
- very high intensity at transport nodes;
- lower historic intensity inside conservation areas;
- public spaces inserted between both;
- pedestrian links connecting them.
Wallich Street makes the strategy visible.
A Simple Wallich Street Half-Day Plan
- Morning: arrive at Tanjong Pagar MRT.
- Public-space stop: explore the Guoco Tower Urban Park.
- Architecture stop: study the tower and City Room canopy.
- Contrast stop: walk to Peck Seah Street.
- Heritage stop: continue into Tras Street.
- Finish toward Anson Road or Tanjong Pagar Road.
Wallich Street Through the eduKate Ecosystem
Things to do in Singapore | Peck Seah Street
Things to do in Singapore | Tras Street
Things to do in Singapore | Anson Road
Things to do in Singapore | Tanjong Pagar Road
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Wallich Street best known for?
Guoco Tower and its direct connection to Tanjong Pagar MRT make Wallich Street one of the clearest transit-oriented mixed-use nodes in the CBD.
Is the public space at Guoco Tower really public?
URA describes the Urban Park as a privately owned public space integrated into the development for public use.
Why is Wallich Street useful for learning about planning?
It sits directly beside low-rise conservation streets, making the contrast between high-density transit-oriented development and heritage preservation unusually clear.
What is the main learning idea?
Vertical integration. Wallich Street shows how transport, homes, offices, food, hospitality and public space can be stacked around one powerful urban node.
Official References and Current Sources
URA | Public Space at Guoco Tower
Things to do in Singapore | Wallich Street
Wallich Street is the vertical city beside the old city.
MRT below.
Public space at ground level.
Offices, hotel and homes above.
Conserved shophouses around the corner.
The power of the place comes from how quickly one urban system turns into another.