ABOVE IT ALL

If recent history is any indication, you can expect even more eye-catching developments boasting a level of comfort and outdoor living that high-rise f lats have rarely been able to offer in the past. “Greenery has infiltrated the whole cityscape,” says Tay.

“In projects such as Duo and the South Beach development by Foster and Partners, it’s really about lifting the ground up and creating communal spaces higher up.”

You can see this in 3 Orchard ByThe-park, designed by Italian architect Antonio Citterio and completed in 2017.

The luxurious complex consists of three 25-storey towers whose 77 units are meant to replicate the experience of living in a landed property; “villas in the sky” is how Citterio describes them. Some of the apartments have private lift lobbies and garden terraces; others have their own swimming pools.

Another example is Nouvel 18, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, which has 156 high-end units in a pair of 36-storey towers completed in 2014. The buildings are punctuated by sky gardens shrouded in greenery. The effect is similar to that of South Beach, a mixed-use development designed by UK practice Foster + Partners. Finished in 2016, it recreates a ground-level experience on multiple f loors via elevated terraces, sky gardens and green walls.