SINGAPORE - Singapore has plenty of gleaming skyscrapers with swanky offices but a colonial-era power station is electrical appliance giant Dyson's top pick for its new global head office because founder James Dyson wanted "an inspiring place".

St James Power Station, which has a history harking back to 1927 as Singapore's first coal-fired power plant, fits in with the building philosophy of Dyson, said its global estates director Jasper Hasell.