Union Square Residences takes a different approach from the typical condominium, where most recreational facilities are concentrated around a large ground-level landscape.
Instead, the development adopts a more vertical and distinctly urban facilities concept.
The 366-unit development at 28 Havelock Road forms the residential component of the wider Union Square mixed-use redevelopment, which also incorporates offices, commercial spaces, co-living accommodation and conserved buildings. The residential tower rises 40 storeys, with commercial units occupying the first and second storeys.
For residents, the main recreational facilities are split across two elevated amenity levels: Social Vista on Level 3 and Union Vista on Level 34.
This is one of the more interesting aspects of Union Square Residences.
Rather than concentrating everything on a single podium, the development creates two very different lifestyle environments. Social Vista functions as the main everyday recreational deck, while Union Vista offers a more exclusive high-rise setting focused on skyline views, entertaining, wellness and relaxation.
Facilities at a glance
Level 3 — Social Vista includes the Lap Pool, Aqua Lounge, Pool Deck, Aqua Gym, Outdoor Showers, Secret Garden, Wellness Pool, Gourmet Pavilion, Wellness Pod, Club Social, Kids Club, Social Lounge, Yoga Studio, Co-working Studio, male and female changing rooms and steam rooms, accessible toilet and management office.
Level 34 — Union Vista includes the Aqua Lounge, Sky Pool, Pool Deck, Club Gourmet, Alfresco Dining, Spa Alcove, Outdoor Showers, Eco Wall, Club Union, Sky Gym and accessible toilet.
The number of facilities is substantial for a 366-unit development, but the more important question is how these facilities are organised and how residents are likely to use them.
A facilities concept that suits a vertical city residence
Union Square Residences sits within a much larger mixed-use environment. The overall Union Square development combines 366 homes with Grade A offices, co-living accommodation and 65 commercial F&B and retail units.
That changes what the residential facilities need to accomplish.
Residents are already surrounded by an urban environment where restaurants, cafes, retail, offices and entertainment are close at hand. The wider concept combines home, work, and play while integrating modern architecture with the area’s historic character.
The condominium facilities therefore do not need to recreate an oversized suburban resort. Instead, they function more as private retreats above the city.
And that distinction becomes especially clear when looking at the two facility levels separately.
Level 3 — Social Vista
The first major recreational level is Social Vista on Level 3.
This is the larger and more functionally diverse of the two amenity zones. It contains the main lap pool, along with a broad mix of wellness, social, children’s, and working facilities.
Social Vista can effectively be divided into several lifestyle zones.
Lap Pool: the main everyday swimming facility
The Lap Pool anchors one end of the recreational deck. This is likely to be the pool residents use for regular swimming and exercise rather than simply lounging in the water.
Its placement along the edge of the landscaped deck is sensible because it creates a strong visual boundary to the recreational area rather than sitting in the centre and disrupting circulation.
Around it are several complementary water-based facilities including the Aqua Lounge, Pool Deck and Aqua Gym. That creates something closer to a water-focused recreational precinct rather than a standalone swimming pool.
Aqua Lounge
The Aqua Lounge adds a more leisurely dimension to the pool environment. While the Lap Pool caters to residents who actually want to swim, the Aqua Lounge is better suited to relaxing in or around the water.
This separation is useful.
In many condominiums, recreational swimmers and residents who simply want to sit in the pool end up sharing the same space. By separating those functions, Union Square Residences should make its main pool considerably more practical.
Aqua Gym
Another relatively uncommon feature is the Aqua Gym. Water-based exercise facilities are less frequently seen than conventional gyms in Singapore condominiums, and its inclusion gives residents another lower-impact form of exercise.
It also reinforces the broader wellness theme running through Social Vista.
Wellness Pool
Separate from the main Lap Pool is the Wellness Pool. Again, the important point is that Union Square Residences does not expect one swimming pool to perform every function.
Swimming, water-based exercise and relaxation are distributed across different spaces. That makes the aquatic programme more sophisticated than simply providing one large recreational pool.
Secret Garden
Away from the more active pool areas is the Secret Garden. Substantial planting is distributed throughout Social Vista, helping to separate different activity areas.
This landscaping is particularly important in a high-density urban development.
Instead of looking down onto a completely hardscaped recreational podium, residents are given pockets of greenery that soften the transition between the residential tower and the surrounding city.
The development’s sustainability strategy also highlights landscaping and water features at the podium as measures intended to reduce urban heat build-up in common areas.
Gourmet Pavilion: outdoor entertaining within the landscaping
The Gourmet Pavilion stands out as one of the key social and dining facilities at Social Vista. It is designed as an outdoor dining pavilion surrounded by dense landscaping, with a long preparation counter and multiple dining tables.
This feels more refined than the conventional BBQ pavilion found in many condominiums. There is a stronger emphasis on actual dining and entertaining.
Residents could use the space for birthday celebrations, family meals or gatherings where the objective is to sit down for a proper meal rather than simply cook beside the swimming pool.
The surrounding greenery also separates the pavilion from the more active recreational areas.
Club Social: an extension of the home
Club Social is another particularly practical facility. It incorporates a dining environment with a large table, preparation counter and lounge seating, while also providing a more intimate lounge area with banquette-style seating.
This effectively gives residents an extension of their apartment. That could prove especially useful because a substantial proportion of Union Square Residences consists of compact homes.
The development contains 30 one-bedroom units, 72 one-bedroom-plus-study units, 134 two-bedroom units and 35 two-bedroom-plus-study apartments. Together, these smaller configurations make up the majority of the 366 residences.
Owners of these apartments may not necessarily want a large dining table or entertainment area inside their homes. Club Social gives them access to a much larger setting whenever they need it.
That is exactly the type of facility that makes sense in an urban condominium.
Social Lounge
The Social Lounge provides another communal environment for residents. Rather than treating the clubhouse as one generic multipurpose room, Social Vista distributes different types of gathering spaces across the facility deck.
Residents therefore have options depending on whether they are hosting guests, having a meal or simply looking for somewhere outside their apartment to spend time.
Kids Club
Families have not been forgotten either. The Kids Club introduces a dedicated children’s facility into Social Vista.
This matters because Union Square Residences may initially appear to be a development aimed primarily at professionals, investors, and couples because of its central location and substantial proportion of smaller apartments.
However, the unit mix extends to three-bedroom, four-bedroom Premium, Sky Suite and Penthouse configurations. Providing children’s facilities therefore makes the development more functional for families occupying the larger homes.
Yoga Studio
Residents looking for quieter forms of exercise have access to a Yoga Studio.
Combined with the Aqua Gym, Wellness Pool, and conventional Sky Gym upstairs, this spreads fitness across several formats rather than concentrating it entirely in one gymnasium. That gives residents more flexibility in how they exercise.
Co-working Studio
One of the most practical facilities for modern city living may actually be the Co-working Studio. Hybrid working has changed the usefulness of residential common facilities.
A dedicated work environment allows residents to leave their apartments without necessarily leaving the development. This can be particularly valuable for one-bedroom and one-bedroom-plus-study residents, where living and working spaces inevitably overlap.
The Co-working Studio therefore fits very naturally into Union Square’s wider live-work-play positioning.
Steam rooms and changing facilities
Social Vista also includes dedicated male and female changing rooms and steam rooms, together with outdoor showers and an accessible toilet. These may not be headline facilities, but they significantly improve how the recreational deck functions.
Residents using the pool, Aqua Gym, Yoga Studio or other wellness facilities can transition between activities without needing to return immediately to their apartments.
Collectively, Social Vista feels designed as the development’s everyday lifestyle floor. It is where residents can swim, exercise, work, entertain guests, bring their children or simply spend time outside their apartments.
Levels 3 to 29 Recreational Pods: smaller spaces closer to home
Another feature that deserves attention is the Recreational Pods distributed from Levels 3 to 29. Unlike Social Vista and Union Vista, which operate as major destination facilities, these pods introduce smaller communal spaces directly within the residential tower.
Their distribution across multiple floors means residents do not necessarily have to travel to the main recreational decks whenever they want to step outside their apartment.
The residential layout is organised around these Recreational Pods, with the unit stacks arranged clockwise from Stack 01 beside the pod area. This creates another layer in Union Square Residences’ facilities hierarchy: Social Vista caters to larger everyday recreational activities, Union Vista provides the elevated destination facilities, while the Recreational Pods bring communal space closer to the homes themselves.
For a high-rise urban development, this distributed approach is particularly useful because it breaks away from the conventional model where virtually every shared facility is concentrated on one or two floors.
Level 34 — Union Vista
If Social Vista is the everyday recreational heart of Union Square Residences, Union Vista is the showpiece. Located on Level 34, this second facilities deck takes full advantage of the tower’s height.
It includes the Aqua Lounge, Sky Pool, Pool Deck, Club Gourmet, Alfresco Dining, Spa Alcove, Outdoor Showers, Eco Wall, Club Union, Sky Gym and accessible toilet. The selection is noticeably more adult-oriented and hospitality-driven than Social Vista.
And the centrepiece is clearly the Sky Pool.
Sky Pool: potentially the signature facility
The Sky Pool is probably the most visually memorable amenity at Union Square Residences. It is positioned to take advantage of the surrounding skyline, including views towards the Singapore River and the wider city.
The pool incorporates an elevated infinity-edge effect, while lounge areas around the water create a more resort-like atmosphere high above the city. This is where Union Square’s location becomes part of the facility itself.
The development’s documented view corridors include the Singapore River, Clarke Quay, Fort Canning Park, Marina Bay, Chinatown and Pearl’s Hill City Park. Rather than reserving those views exclusively for high-floor apartments, Union Vista allows residents from across the development to experience them. That significantly increases the value of the common facilities.
Even someone living on a substantially lower floor can head up to Union Vista and enjoy a high-rise perspective across central Singapore.
Aqua Lounge and Pool Deck
The Sky Pool is complemented by another Aqua Lounge and a dedicated Pool Deck. That indicates Union Vista is not intended merely as a place for swimming.
It is also a place where residents can spend time.
The combination of water, elevated views and lounging areas should make this particularly attractive in the evenings when the surrounding Singapore River and CBD areas become illuminated.
Club Gourmet: entertaining with a skyline backdrop
Club Gourmet easily takes the crown as Union Vista’s finest indoor space. It is designed as an expansive entertainment environment with large glazed openings, a long dining table, lounge furniture and a bar or kitchen counter.
It feels much closer to a private hospitality suite than a conventional condominium function room. Its location on Level 34 also changes how the space can be used.
Imagine hosting a private dinner here rather than inside a 700 sq ft two-bedroom apartment. Guests can gather around a proper dining table, move into the lounge afterwards and enjoy the surrounding city views.
Again, this demonstrates why communal facilities become particularly valuable in developments dominated by smaller urban apartments.
Residents do not necessarily need to allocate large amounts of floor area inside their own homes for entertaining if the condominium provides a high-quality communal alternative.
Alfresco Dining
The Alfresco Dining area complements Club Gourmet by providing an outdoor alternative. This creates the option to move between indoor and outdoor entertaining spaces depending on the occasion. It also reinforces the hospitality character of Union Vista.
Social Vista downstairs provides the Gourmet Pavilion and Club Social, while Union Vista offers Club Gourmet and Alfresco Dining. There is therefore a clear hierarchy between casual everyday entertaining and more elevated skyline dining.
Club Union
Club Union provides another indoor social facility on Level 34. Together with Club Gourmet, it gives residents multiple indoor communal spaces rather than forcing every event into one generic function room.
This should also make the facilities more practical when different groups want to use the amenity level at the same time.
Sky Gym: exercise above the city
The Sky Gym is another major highlight. It is designed as a tall, extensively glazed gym with cardiovascular machines positioned directly beside the windows.
This is a good example of the development using its verticality properly. A gym could easily have been placed on Level 3. Putting it on Level 34 instead turns exercising into part of the high-rise experience.
Rather than facing an internal courtyard or another residential block while running on a treadmill, residents can potentially exercise while looking across central Singapore.
For residents who exercise regularly, the Sky Gym is likely to become one of the development’s most-used facilities.
Spa Alcove
The Spa Alcove introduces another wellness-oriented component. Together with the Aqua Lounge, Sky Pool and landscaped environment, it creates a quieter counterpoint to the more active Sky Gym.
This is consistent with the broader facility planning across the development, where exercise and wellness are treated as separate but complementary activities.
Eco Wall and landscaping
The Eco Wall introduces greenery to what could otherwise become a heavily hardscaped sky terrace. This is particularly relevant because Union Square Residences is positioned as a Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy development.
The environmental design includes energy-efficient air-conditioning, LED lighting, water-efficient sanitary fittings, auto-irrigation for major landscaped areas and landscaping intended to reduce urban heat.
The greenery therefore forms part of the wider environmental strategy rather than serving purely as decoration.
The real strength: facilities distributed across the development
What stands out most at Union Square Residences is not any individual swimming pool, clubhouse or gym. It is how the facilities are distributed vertically throughout the development, with Social Vista on Level 3, Recreational Pods from Levels 3 to 29, and Union Vista on Level 34.
Social Vista serves as the main everyday recreational hub. This is where residents will find the Lap Pool, Aqua Gym, Wellness Pool, Kids Club, Yoga Studio, Co-working Studio, Gourmet Pavilion and Club Social.
The Recreational Pods, meanwhile, introduce smaller communal spaces across the residential levels. Rather than requiring residents to head to one of the main facility decks whenever they want to spend time outside their apartments, these pods bring shared spaces closer to home.
At the top of this hierarchy is Union Vista. Located on Level 34, it offers a more elevated lifestyle experience through facilities such as the Sky Pool, Sky Gym, Club Gourmet, Alfresco Dining, Club Union and Spa Alcove.
This creates a more layered approach to communal living. Residents can use Social Vista for swimming, wellness, working and family activities; the Recreational Pods provide convenient communal spaces closer to their apartments; while Union Vista becomes the destination for skyline swimming, entertaining, dining and exercising with a view.
Rather than duplicating similar facilities on different levels, Union Square Residences creates different types of shared spaces at different heights within the tower. This vertical distribution is particularly appropriate for a high-rise city development, allowing communal life to extend beyond the conventional podium and become part of the residential experience throughout the building.
A facilities programme particularly well suited to smaller apartments
Another reason this approach makes sense is that Union Square Residences is heavily weighted towards one- and two-bedroom apartments.
One-bedroom, one-bedroom-plus-study, two-bedroom and two-bedroom-plus-study configurations collectively account for 271 of the development’s 366 units, or about 74% of the project. That makes communal space particularly valuable.
A resident living in a 463 sq ft one-bedroom apartment does not have to accommodate a large dining table, home office, entertainment lounge or substantial gathering area inside the apartment.
The development effectively provides some of those spaces communally.
- The Co-working Studio becomes an extension of the home office.
- Club Social becomes an extension of the living room.
- The Gourmet Pavilion becomes an extension of the dining area.
- And Club Gourmet on Level 34 becomes a place where residents can host an occasion that would be impractical inside a compact apartment.
Seen from this perspective, the facilities are not merely recreational extras.
They compensate for some of the spatial limitations inherent in high-density city living.
The mixed-use component is effectively another layer of amenity
It is also impossible to review Union Square Residences purely by looking inside the residential boundary. The development forms part of a much larger mixed-use environment incorporating offices, co-living accommodation, retail and F&B, together with conserved buildings.
That creates a different lifestyle proposition from a standalone condominium.
Residents can leave their private residential environment and enter a wider commercial precinct without necessarily needing to travel elsewhere for every meal, coffee or meeting.
Beyond Union Square itself, the surrounding area provides access to supermarkets, hawker centres, shophouses, cafes, restaurants, offices and the Singapore River within a compact walking environment. This means the condominium does not have to provide every possible lifestyle facility internally.
Its private amenities can instead concentrate on what the surrounding city cannot easily provide: private pools, landscaped retreats, residents’ clubs, wellness spaces and elevated views.
Sustainability has been incorporated into the amenity experience
Another aspect worth highlighting is the development’s environmental positioning.
Union Square Residences is presented as the first Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy mixed development to launch, while the wider design includes energy-efficient building systems, water-efficient fittings and landscaped areas intended to mitigate urban heat.
This matters to the facilities because greenery is integrated across both recreational levels rather than treated purely as decoration around the entrance.
At Social Vista, landscaping separates pools, pavilions and social areas. At Union Vista, greenery softens the high-rise recreational deck and accompanies features such as the Eco Wall.
For a development surrounded by dense urban fabric, that landscape strategy could become an important part of the residential experience.
What could be better?
No facilities review should simply count amenities without considering the trade-offs.
The most obvious limitation is that buyers looking for the sprawling ground-level resort experience offered by some large suburban developments will not find the same concept here.
Union Square Residences has a relatively compact urban footprint. Its recreational environment is therefore vertically organised rather than spread across acres of landscaping.
There also appears to be a stronger emphasis on adult socialising, wellness, dining and urban lifestyles than on extensive children’s recreation.
There is a Kids Club, but buyers specifically looking for large playgrounds, multiple children’s pools or extensive family-oriented outdoor recreation may find larger suburban developments better suited to those priorities.
Conversely, that is arguably not what Union Square Residences is trying to be.
Its facilities make considerably more sense when judged as those of a District 1 mixed-use city residence rather than a suburban resort condominium.
Final Verdict: A Vertical Facilities Concept Designed Around Urban Living
What makes the facilities at Union Square Residences compelling is not simply the number of amenities provided, but how they are distributed throughout the development and how each layer serves a different purpose.
Rather than concentrating recreational spaces on a single podium, Union Square Residences creates three distinct layers of communal living.
Social Vista on Level 3 serves as the main everyday recreational hub. The Lap Pool, Aqua Gym, Wellness Pool, Kids Club, Yoga Studio, Co-working Studio, Gourmet Pavilion and Club Social cater to everything from exercise and wellness to remote working, family activities and entertaining guests.
The Recreational Pods from Levels 3 to 29 add another dimension to this concept by bringing communal spaces closer to the residential units. Instead of requiring residents to travel to one of the main facility decks whenever they want to step outside their apartments, these smaller shared spaces are distributed vertically through the residential tower. Their integration into the residential planning also reinforces the idea that communal space is intended to be part of everyday living rather than something confined to a dedicated recreational floor.
At Level 34, Union Vista completes the experience with a very different proposition. The Sky Pool, Sky Gym, Club Gourmet, Alfresco Dining, Club Union and Spa Alcove take advantage of the tower’s height, allowing residents to swim, exercise, dine and entertain while enjoying the surrounding cityscape.
This hierarchy is particularly appropriate for a 40-storey urban residence. Residents can use the Recreational Pods for communal spaces closer to home, head to Social Vista for a broader range of everyday activities, or go up to Union Vista for a more elevated recreational and social experience.
The concept also makes sense when considered alongside the development’s unit mix. With approximately three-quarters of its 366 residences comprising one- and two-bedroom configurations, shared spaces can effectively extend the private home. The Co-working Studio provides an alternative workspace, Club Social and the Recreational Pods offer additional communal areas, while the Gourmet Pavilion and Club Gourmet provide considerably larger settings for entertaining than many residents would have within their apartments.
The Sky Pool remains the visual highlight, particularly with its outlook towards the Singapore River and surrounding skyline. However, facilities such as the Sky Gym, Club Gourmet, Co-working Studio, and Recreational Pods could ultimately be just as important because they can be easily incorporated into residents’ everyday routines.
This is ultimately what differentiates the facilities at Union Square Residences. It does not attempt to recreate the sprawling resort environment typically associated with larger suburban condominiums. Instead, it responds to its high-rise, mixed-use city setting by distributing recreational, social and wellness spaces vertically throughout the tower.
From Social Vista on Level 3 and the Recreational Pods extending through the residential floors to Union Vista on Level 34, the facilities become part of the vertical journey of living in the development. Rather than separating residents from the city, Union Square Residences embraces its urban surroundings, elevates the recreational experience above them and turns the Singapore skyline into one of its most distinctive amenities.
Article contributed by Jerry Wong.
Jerry Wong is a realtor at Propnex Realty, bringing a rich background in interior and lighting design to his work. He loves exploring diverse spaces and observing the transformative power of real estate. Beyond his professional role, Jerry finds his greatest fulfillment in connecting people with the right properties, gaining immense satisfaction from helping clients achieve their dreams.
