CITY SLICKERS
Singapore’s landscape transformers
A casual scan of Singapore’s skyline reveals an intriguing mix of old and new. Old in the form of the shophouses of Chinatown and the East Coast, and the midcentury black and white bungalows that dot the outskirts of Orchard and Alexandra Roads. New in the form of an astonishing haul of modern classics by the likes of Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster, IM Pei, Richard Meier and Thomas Heatherwick. Still more interesting, however, are the projects that are not just adding to a new skyline, but which are also addressing the questions and dilemmas of millennial urban planning. How, for instance, can architecture be effectively retooled to address an ageing population or the educational needs of the very young? How can nature be integrated into the urban landscape in a realistic way that doesn’t become a sci-fi parody? How does one create a building that truly meets the needs of its occupants? Singapore doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, but as you’ll see from the disparate projects featured here, this little island state is leading the way with both ingenuity and chutzpah.
LORONG 24A SHOPHOUSE SERIES
Seven architects gutted and redefined eight terraced houses built in the 1920s in Geylang. In the hands of less optimistic architects, the buildings might have gone the way of the lurid KTV pubs and banal offices that bedevil architecture of this kind across Singapore. Instead, the architects, among them HYLA and Zarch Collaboratives, nudged conservation directives to the limit, dramatising the interiors with unexpected spatial experiences. thelor24ashophouseseries.com
SKY TERRACE@ DAWSON
In response to a government call-out for a housing prototype that also incorporated the needs of an ageing population, architects SCDA created interlocking modules that allow generations of the same family to live together while creating structural boundaries for privacy. Skyterrace is just one component of a larger community goal of promoting cross-generational interactions, such as positioning childcare facilities close to eldercare centres. scdaarchitects.com
OUR TAMPINES HUB
Our Tampines Hub is proof that community engagement can be more than mere rhetoric. Even before the first line was drawn, DP Architects held roadshows and block parties, and harnessed social media to gauge the views of Tampines’ residents. The result is an airy structure, designed by residents for residents, with sports, cultural and lifestyle facilities, rooftop garden terraces, a solar roof and food waste recycling technologies. dpa.com.sg
LIEN FOUNDATION
Founded in 1980, the Lien Foundation works with architects and designers to reimagine education facilities and eldercare homes. For example, the foundation bankrolled Lekker Architects’ Caterpillar’s Cove, a learning lab that eschews classrooms so as to literally free its students from structural constraints. Children have also been invited to contribute ideas for their dream playground, which will be built at a kindergarten later this year. lienfoundation.org
MANDAI NATURE PRECINCT
Mandai, in northern Singapore, is currently being transformed into a nature and wildlife destination, and this project looks set to be a new urban model for greening a metropolis while carefully considering environmental and conservation issues. For project architects RSP Architects Planners & Engineers, the challenge has been ‘to minimise environmental impact within the development site while creating meaningful and memorable experiences for visitors.’ mandai.com
CROWNE PLAZA CHANGI EXTENSION
The extension of the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Changi Airport, designed by architects WOHA, is, in terms of construction technology, a bona fide gamechanger. The 243 new rooms, including walls, floors, door handles, bathroom tiles, carpets, sinks and bathtubs, were assembled off-site in a Shanghai factory, shipped to Singapore, then slotted into place on-site. If the savings in time and cost aren’t sufficiently impressive (50 per cent reduction in manpower and 67 per cent in construction time), then the implications for the construction industry at large certainly are. woha.net