Kampung Admiralty

Kampung Admiralty is Singapore’s first integrated public development that brings together a mix of public facilities and services under one roof. The traditional approach is for each government agency to carve out its own plot of land, resulting in several standalone buildings. This one-stop integrated complex maximises land use, and is a prototype for meeting the needs of Singapore’s ageing population.

Located on a 0.9 hectare site with a height limit of 45m, the scheme builds upon a layered ‘club sandwich’ approach. A “Vertical Kampung (village)” has been devised, with a People’s Plaza in the lower stratum, a Medical Centre in the mid stratum, and a Community Park with 104 studio apartments for seniors in the upper stratum. These three distinct strata integrate the various building uses and free up the ground level. Easy access to healthcare, social, and commercial amenities support inter-generational bonding and promote active ageing.

The informal approach of the landscape design is reminiscent of the simple kampung life, complete with community farming plots that encourage interaction. Local fruit trees that were once common in the kampungs are planted to give the seniors familiarity of the past, and to generate the interest of the young. A wide range of thoughtful planting schemes create a diverse landscape for users that mimic the wild and attract biodiversity, such as butterflies and small birds.

Efficient storm water harvesting and irrigation systems were developed for the extensively landscaped areas. The water is treated with natural filters before being discharged into the rainwater harvesting tank and vegetated swales on the first level, and into the public drains and canals. This water-sensitive urban design shows how the challenges of resource management can be reconciled with environmental protection.

Oasia Hotel Downtown

Envisaged as a ‘tropical tower’ in the concrete jungle, the Oasia Hotel Downtown incorporates lush greenery on its façade and terraces. The tower is like a giant tree - soft, layered, alive, breathing, shading – providing respite and relief to its occupants, neighbours and city.

Landscaping is part of the design palette. With more than 50 species of trees, shrubs and creepers, the tower creates a vertical ecosystem and reintroduces biodiversity into the city.  In achieving an overall Green Plot Ratio of over 1,000% (i.e. the combined blue and green area is more than 10-times the site area), the tower compensates for the lack of greenery in the densely built-up CBD.

The façade, comprising of expanded aluminium mesh in tones of red, is designed as a backdrop to more than 20 species of creepers. The façade forms a living skin, passively shading, lowering surface temperature and ameliorating the urban heat island effect. Behind the façade, the creepers are planted in prefabricated fibre-glass planters on every storey for even coverage. Beyond the planters are aprons of steel catwalks with safety ladders and railings providing safe and practical access, without the need for external gondolas or “spiderman” maintenance. Incorporation of auto-irrigation systems minimises day-to-day maintenance.

The ground is duplicated 4 times up as Sky Terraces set between alternating L-stacks of offices and rooms. At each terrace, the planting bed is set down and the greenery stretches to the perimeter, with the façade terminating as safety barrier. To secure the trees against winds, they are tied to one another and individually to ground anchors with steel cables. The landscaping envelopes occupants with an intimacy more closely associated to the ground, creating unique skyrise green environments.

Overall, the tower is a giant mosaic of nature colours and textures, contributing to our City in a Garden.

NUS Ventus

Ventus welcomes pedestrians and building users into its territory and weaves itself around the natural site elements, using trees as markers for the architectural form. A similarly gentle approach to site intervention was made with regard to the existing trees. As evidenced in the construction, efforts remained steadfast for conserving the several mature Tembusu and Rain Trees at the site as well as preserving the integrity of the existing sloped landform and stormwater drainage. The three Rain Trees are embraced by architecture, one of them making a powerful entry statement as a veritable site marker.

Naturally ventilated vestibules are used as break-out areas between the banks of air-conditioned offices. Vistas of greens are integrated with the vestibules. The Wind Scoop establishes a strong connection to the surrounding landscape, serving as a frame for a vivid green view of tree canopies and lawn as one moves northward along it. Generous and well-ventilated public seating areas are constantly enveloped in the lush greenery of the site as boundaries between built and natural are blurred.

The plants offer insulation, reducing the heat drawn into the rooms below and decreasing the amount of energy needed to cool the buildings. The roofs are also used to cleanse stormwater as it filters through the plants and soil. The green wall boasts an internal maintenance service access way and intelligent automated irrigation system. This ensures a sustainable and energy-saving environment.

The community garden at the rooftop provides opportunities for social interaction among staff and students. Plant signage were also installed to provide building users information for learning purposes.

OUE Twin Peaks

In most condominiums in Singapore, developer will construct penthouse on the highest floor. In OUE Twin Peaks, the garden with the lush greenery is not just designed on the ground but also on the highest floor at 36th storey of both residential towers.

Maximize the spaces for greenery is one way to presenting the nature in urban development in a prime site near Orchard Road like OUE Twin Peak. It is to lend character to the landscaping, create an aura, ambience, and reflect the sensibilities of the inhabitants.

At the roof gardens on both towers, lush vertical greenery is integrated into the walls to soften the roof gardens, framing views of the skyline within a lush, green environment. This help to promote social interaction among residents by developing a sense of ownership and improve quality of life.

Beside aesthetic reason, to withstand the heat of the sun, the installation of the vertical garden on the 36th storey is also to break the monotony of the area that feels too hard.

The landscape designer has selected a mixture of both green and coloured foliage to create a bold and defined pattern design, reflecting the theme of the development. Plants have been carefully selected to suit the respective areas – semi shade/some sunny areas.

The Farm at One Farrer

In the conceptualisation of One Farrer Hotel & Spa we wished to create a 'Total Lifestyle Environment' within the urban centre of modern Singapore, a cultural and eco-friendly destination into itself for hotel residents, visitors and those working within. This lifestyle vision was driven by the commissioning of an over 700 piece collection of contemporary abstract asian art, as well as developing 14 landscaped tropical and water gardens over the 20 levels of the project.

The installation of skyline greenery enabled us to soften the vertical architecture of the building while providing naturally cooled and restful respites on the different levels of our 3 ‘Hotels within a Hotel’. On Level 6 we created a Lifestyle Podium, a city block long park of tropical gardens which while providing a spacious setting for our conference centre and water park further enhancing the lushness and variety of the overall tropical plantings and water features.

On a platform terrace overlooking the Lifestyle Podium is the 11,000 sq ft The One Farrer Farm and Orchard, a central focus of the Lifestyle Environment. This fully operational Farm & Orchard provides us with a depth of edible herbs, spices, vegetables and fruits as both an attraction and destination for our endusers and to serve as part of the daily offerings in our restaurants and on site cooking school.  Free tours of both the art collection and The Farm & Orchard are given by appointment to further the enjoyment and knowledge of these facilities to interested parties.

Taman Jurong Zone D RC

The rooftop deck of this MSCP was converted to a site for vegetable farming using an Aqua-Organic System (AOS). This intelligent urban growing technology has multiple benefits: it is hygienic, water-saving, space-saving, easy to operate, anti-mosquito breeding. Such features makes the AOS well-suited for growing edibles sustainably and innovatively on rooftops. The produce harvested is distributed to needy residents living in the neighbourhood.

Eco-Community Garden at Our Tampines Hub

Our Tampines Hub (OTH) is Singapore’s first integrated community and lifestyle hub comprising a total of 13 government agencies as stakeholders. In line with OTH’s programs and facilities serving the community, the landscape design is geared to create multiple layers of pleasant public spaces throughout the building. Furthemore, the architectural design with open atriums and connecting bridges means that visually the sky terraces and rooftop gardens will be enjoyed by building users from various vantage points.

The highlight of the 5th storey is the Eco-Community garden, with high visibility from the indoor jogging track and surrounding residential area. The 25 000 sq.ft rooftop Eco-Community Garden has become a focal meeting point for gardeners from all walks of life to gather here frequently to enjoy gardening. Universal design principles are taken into account with wheelchair accessible roof gardens and higher community garden planters to facilitate easier reach by elderly users as well as specially designed planted for wheelchair users.

The community garden features a wide array of over 30 edible species including leafy and fruited vegetables, fruits and herbs which is shared amongst the residents and their 20 strong community garden volunteers. It is also equipped with an ecoHybrid Digester where up to 1.4 tonnes of garden and food waste from the building tenants are converted daily into high quality organic fertilizer, which then goes back into the garden. Free bags of the organic fertilizer are distributed amongst residents and volunteers at the garden on every 3^rd Sunday of the month.

Ren Ci @ Bukit Batok St 52

This previously underutilized site was retrofitted to include greenery and amenities to help create a positive healing environment for the home. Green walls conceal unsightly concrete walls and service units while planter beds installed with benches provide seating. In addition, a water feature present gives an added dimension of sound stimulation. Ren Ci is one of the first nursing homes in Singapore to implement a therapeutic garden-inspired garden for its residents.

Ren Ci @ Bukit Batok St 52 is a retrofit project funded under the Skyrise Greenery Incentive Scheme.

NTUC Health Nursing Home (Jurong West)

Fitted with colourful green walls and densely planted planter beds, this therapeutic garden serves the clients at the home by creating a green space for them to enjoy and recuperate in. As a retrofit project, NTUC Health has successfully executed a rooftop garden with therapeutic elements that caters to specific needs of its users.

NTUC Health Nursing Home (Jurong West) is a retrofit project funded under the Skyrise Greenery Incentive Scheme.

Banyan Home @ Pelangi Village

The rooftop greenery at Banyan Home @ Pelangi Village benefits both its clients, staff, and the community. Staff volunteers regularly maintain the garden which provides a platform for stress relief, whilst clients have an additional green space for their enjoyment. Produce that is harvested from the garden is sold to the local community with the proceeds from sales going back to the garden for its upkeep.

SP Agri Farm

The SP Agri Farm is a thriving oasis of greenery in the midst of Kallang industrial estate – with lush bushes of herbs, verdant vegetables, and flourishing fruit trees. Located at an outdoor area on level 7 of SP Group’s HQ in Kallang Sector, the farm is home to more than 50 varieties of edible plants, totalling up to more than 300 “residents”.

The Agri Farm was set up in May 2017, and is part of SP’s philosophy of creating a space for staff to not only work, but to live and play together. The building has been awarded Green Mark Platinum certification, the highest tier possible under the Building & Construction Authority’s (BCA) Green Awards.

The farming space is made up of 10 individual plots, and polyculture is practiced. The plants are selected based on their hardiness, suitability to climate, intensity of the sun, root depth, amount of water needed, and ease of propagation. NO pesticides are used.

A mixture of commonly-used and lesser-known herbs and vegetables are grown. The latter was chosen with an educational intention of acquainting more varieties of vegetables and herbs to garden members and the rest of SP staff.

Manned entirely by a group of 44 staff volunteers, they take turns to maintain the crops in the plot assigned to them and harvest the produce, make new friends, meet colleagues from other departments, and bond over a common interest of gardening.

Sentosa Express

In line with Sentosa Development Corporation’s (SDC) commitment to developing a fun, smart, and sustainable Sentosa, SDC constantly seeks innovative solutions to enhance the environmental sustainability of the island.

To reduce the urban island heat effect, an innovative green wall system has been introduced for the pillars of the Sentosa Express train track along the Sentosa Gateway, designed to be visually pleasing while minimising maintenance efforts and ensuring safety.

As background, a green wall of its height of 4-5 metres would usually require maintenance workers to climb upwards to reach the top layers of the wall. Given the limited space, workers may also need to place ladders along the adjacent road to maintain to replace the plants.

The new green wall system has therefore been designed with an internal ladder and maintenance walkway within, allowing workers to work from the inside, thereby improving safety and productivity at the same time. In addition, the top portion of the green wall system has been covered to protect workers from being electrocuted by the high tension cables and moving Sentosa Express trains.

Other innovative features including the channelling of excess water from the green wall irrigation system to the adjoining landscape bed, reducing the need for additional water usage at bed. A wide variety of plants are also used, carefully chosen for their ability to thrive under the sun. The plants have been laid in a pattern that mimics waves, and at same time, are easy to replace when necessary. The variety of plants on the green wall also creates pockets of spaces that strengthen the biodiversity on the island.

With the variety of plants as well as their different textures and depth, the green wall enhances the sense of arrival into Sentosa – The State of Fun, by enhancing the ‘tropical feel’ of the island and visually softening the concrete pillars.

Bukit Batok West Shopping Centre

Bukit Batok West Shopping Centre is built over 30 years ago in 1985, the NC was given a comprehensive makeover for the first time, with the completion of the upgrading works in October 2016.

Comprising Blocks 150 - 159 Bukit Batok Street 11, the NC is home to 65 shops, eateries, a market, and a supermarket. It offers residents a wide range of goods and services, and serves the needs of about 27,000 residents living in the vicinity. The improvements for this rejuvenated NC comprise several firsts, including the first community pavilion with a rooftop greenery, and the first herb garden in an NC.

Spanning about 280 sqm, the community pavilion is the first in an NC to be fitted with a green roof. The green roof sports a variety of hardy plants in different hues, and comes fitted with its own inbuilt self-irrigation system to enable it to harvest rainwater for irrigation. Aside from providing visual relief to residents in the surrounding blocks, the green roof helps to lower the ambient temperature within the pavilion, resulting in a more comfortable and conducive space for the community to enjoy.

Shell Tampines Ave 2

Shell Tampines Avenue 2 is the first petrol service station in Singapore to feature refreshing green walls. Accented with complementary earthy colours and wood tones, the spacious station aims to be an oasis from the bustle of the roads and also marks the beginning of a transformational journey ahead as Shell continues to progress with consumers to meet evolving needs and demands in mobility and convenience.

The green walls are automatically irrigated daily via an on-site rainwater harvesting system, which is projected to save more than a million litres of water per year.