We’re moving into our next phase of growth as an arts centre, while building on the work we’ve done since we opened in 2002.

To do even more for our next generation of artists and audiences, we've built the Singtel Waterfront Theatre—a new multi-format theatre along our busy waterfront. The new waterfront theatre fills the gap between our large venues and smaller studio spaces, and enables us to commission, produce and present a greater diversity of productions, especially those that tell Singapore and Asian stories. It will allow homegrown artists and arts groups to scale up their productions for bigger audiences, both in Singapore and overseas, playing a key role in nurturing our talents and bringing people from all walks of life together through the arts.

With the support of the government, through corporate sponsorship and public fundraising, Esplanade raised approximately S$30 million for the development of the new theatre. Of this, S$10 million was from the government and Singtel donated S$10 million, the largest single donation that Esplanade has received since we opened in 2002. In appreciation of the generous gift, the theatre has been named the Singtel Waterfront Theatre for a period of 15 years from the time it opened in 2022.

We broke ground for the theatre’s construction on 18 Jun 2019. In Sep 2022, Esplanade invited various communities of supporters, audiences and artists in Singapore to help the centre finetune this new space through a series of free performances during the trial & orientation programme.

To commemorate Esplanade’s 20th anniversary as well as mark the opening of the Singtel Waterfront Theatre, we commissioned five new works presented as part of In New Light – A Season of Commissions from Oct to Dec 2022. The works showcased the possibilities for collaborative exchanges between artists in the region.

The Singtel Waterfront Theatre, designed by architects61, has received an Honourable Mention at the 2020 edition of the S.Arch Design Awards that was held in Tokyo, as well as a Merit award (Educational and Community Buildings) at the SIA Architectural Design Awards 2023. It is also a recipient of Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) Public Sector Construction Productivity Fund for adopting Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) technologies.