On Feb. 26, 2019, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) conducted a fire safety inspection at the Alexcier.

Here is the building:

It is a multi-use light industrial building with eight floors, well, at least most assumed there were eight floors.

Which is not a weird assumption considering only eight floors were seemingly displayed in the lift.

The SCDF was conducting a safety inspection based on feedback received from a member of the public.

And it was there that an entire hidden level was discovered.

Security

According to The Straits Times, this is how you enter the hidden floor.

1. Go in a specific office pantry on the eight floor.

2. Enter a number on a keypad on the wall.

3. This will unlock a door, disguised as a display shelf.

4. Go up two flights of stairs to find yourself in a 5,000 sq ft room.

This is, of course, really cool but also quite illegal.

Responding to queries from Mothership.sg, SCDF revealed they will be taking enforcement actions against the premise owners.

According to ST, the Building and Construction Authority, and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has also shared that this particular modification is unauthorised as well.

Not a floor

The eighth floor is owned by ZACD investments, which leased it to ZACD Posh. Both are under ZACD Group.

Stanley Yeo, chief executive officer of ZACD Group, insists that it isn't really an extra floor.

Speaking to ST, Yeo said:

"It's not an additional floor. It's a racking system. We built it four to five years ago for storage purposes. It's only about 3,000 to 4,000 sq ft."

A racking system would look something like this:

Kind of a floor

ST stated that the floor was the size of eight three-room HDB flats, with workstations, beds, a kitchen and a meeting room.

However, Yeo insisted that no one lived there, although people did work overtime there once in a while:

"Nobody lives there, but we have people who work overtime and overnight. We have a software engineering business and people work late. They are not there most of the time. Only once in a while."

Yeo also clarified that the ninth floor was only being used as a storage space.

He said the furniture was moved there after being used in showrooms, and the workstations from computers were placed there after the company's IT system was hacked.

Mezzanine, mezza-fined

The issue of mezzanine floors in Singapore buildings is not really a novel one.

The Office Designer previously wrote an interesting article about the allure of constructing a mezzanine floor in Singapore offices.

Here is their take on the feasibility of the construction process.

"According to URA, mezzanine floor construction in Singapore may violate the Gross Floor Area (GFA) Guidelines with respect to the plot ratio control and development charge.

Adding a “Fixed” mezzanine floor structure will be in violation of these guidelines. Therefore one should apply for a GFA recomputation and new development charges may apply."

Gross Floor Area means measuring all sheltered areas and unsheltered areas for commercial use for the purposes of plot ratio control and development charge.

One of the suggestions was to be upfront with the property developers of the company's intent to set up a mezzanine floor.

According to ST, Yeo would have ended up paying more than S$1 million for the additional floor space if it had been approved by the URA.

Floor technically able to take extra load

While some expressed reservations to ST about the presence of an extra floor they weren't aware of, The Alexcier's architect gave his insights on the issue.

While he acknowledged that the floor would not have passed inspections by the authorities ahead of their Temporary Occupation Permit, he insisted that the structure would be able to take the extra load, due to it being designed "for an industrial racking system which is to take a lot of goods".

Yeo told ST he will be sealing off the stairway to the ninth floor later this month.

Those who are found guilty of violating the Building Control Act will be liable upon conviction to a fine of up to S$200,000 and/ or jail of up to two years.

Image collated from Hidden Book Stores and Property2Day