For those who have been to the 50th floor of Pinnacle @ Duxton, you might have spotted a special penthouse-like unit perched above the sky garden.

While some have mistakenly thought it was a penthouse unit owned by a lucky buyer, it actually isn’t.

Instead, the sleek-looking space is a VIP lobby, a dedicated viewing platform used to show foreign leaders and dignitaries Singapore’s landscape during their state visits.

These lobbies are typically accessed by special lifts shared with HDB residents and usually show their ‘VIP’ designation.

When not in use, these lobbies are kept locked and are off-limits even to residents.

While the VIP lobby at Pinnacle @ Duxton looks the fanciest with its tinted windows and blinds, the earlier versions of HDB VIP lobbies didn’t used to be that way.

The first VIP lobby built is at block 81 in the Queenstown estate and was more of an open-air rooftop.

Residents used to affectionately call it ‘Chap Lak Lao’ aka 16 floors in Hokkien with the first dignitary being Prince Phillip in 1965, followed by Japanese then Crown Prince Akihito, and Spiro Agnew, then Vice President of the United States, both in 1970.

However, this rare feature has since been discontinued with the last one built atop Pinnacle @ Duxton in 2009.

Though experts believe that at least 15 of these VIP lobbies were built, only 12 of them are confirmed to exist today.

Ang Mo Kio, Block 710 (26th floor)

Bedok, Block 417 (26th floor)

Bishan, Block 192 (26th floor)

Bukit Batok, Block 639 (17th floor)

Bukit Panjang, Block 175 (26th floor)

Choa Chu Kang, Block 767 (17th floor)

Pasir Ris, Block 578 (13th floor)

Queenstown (Mei Ling Vista) Block 160 (Center lobby, 21st floor)

Tampines, Block 856E (16th floor)

Tanjong Pagar (Pinnacle @ Duxton), Block 1C (51st/52nd floor)

Toa Payoh, Block 53 (20th floor)

Toa Payoh, Block 81 (25th floor)

Photos: uchify.sg, srx.com, architecturelab.com, HDB, blog to express