This is an historical study of building technology R&D in Singapore’s Housing and Development Board (HDB), 1960-1995. It seeks to uncover how the HDB produces and sustains innovation within its building and production processes and systems. While much has been written about the HDB’s achievement in “housing a nation”, little is known of the everyday work cultures of experimentation, problem solving and innovation. This hidden history is important because it provides the foundational expertise for Singapore’s contemporary reputation as an innovator of globally marketable “urban solutions”. Our approach uses five key lenses to trace innovation. The first four of these are technological components central to the high-rise typology: prefabricated walls, lifts, waste management systems, and clothes drying poles. The last lens focuses on what might best be considered a software technique – learning loops linked to the cultures of learning and knowledge transfer associated with the housing project. These selected technologies deliberately range from the large-scale and complex (the obvious example being prefabrication) through to the small-scale and domestic (such as clothes drying poles).