Building Design
The seven towers making up the programme visually ‘grow’ from sunken private gardens within the site landscape. The lower floors kink in to highlight the point where buildings meet the ground, enabling a greater open area and the creation of private gardens, which are unique for developments of this scale and density.
The towers themselves are subdivided into petals according to the number of residential units on each floor. The petals are expressed in three dimensions thanks to vertical cuts which give definition to the building’s façades and, at the same time, allow for cross ventilation of most of the flats. The buildings culminate at the top with a series of fingers stepped at different heights (the highest is 36 storeys), which blend the transition between the architectural fabric and the sky.
The buildings face each other and the road at different angles creating visual diversity, enhanced from within by the careful use of balconies and façade panelling. The buildings offer a total floor space of 220,000m², with a basement area of 70,000m².
Together they will hold approximately 1,500 units ranging from two to four bedrooms, as well as over 30 of both garden units and penthouses. Amenities will include two large swimming pools, children and relaxation pools, two clubhouses and a series of party houses – as well as outdoor fitness facilities.
Having been designing in Singapore for ten years, the partners-in-charge of the project – the 2004 Pritzker Prize-winning Zaha Hadid and architectural theorist Patrik Schumacher – say the Farrer Road design is the result of the firm’s decade-long research into the urban fabric of the city.
“The seven-tower development on one of Singapore’s most prominent sites represents further exploration into the tower typology and our studies into organisational systems and growth in the natural world,” says Hadid.
Singapore architecture and engineering firm RSP was also involved in the design.
Structural Elements
The main structural system will be concrete based. The tower elevations will be glazed to allow for maximum panoramic views from the site out towards the surrounding areas.
Project architect Viviana Muscettola commented on the engineering challenges of designing a building of this ‘wine glass’ shape: “Lateral stability of the core is the biggest challenge for slender towers,” she says.
“This was addressed in early stages of the design process with the use of structural walls perpendicular to the core. Those elements have been integrated in the plan in a way that does not interfere with the flexibility of the internal planning, where rooms can be easily joined or enlarged to fit custom needs of the individual user.
“Also, edge columns wrap the individual petals and are tied back to the core, whereas we managed to avoid any structural column within the floor plan in an additional effort to maximise flexibility.”
Innovative Landscape
The ground landscape level will be dominated by greenery to emphasise the presence of florid vegetation under Singapore’s tropical climate. The site levels are reorganised into a series of terraced plateaus to maximise the area dedicated to communal site amenities. The orientation and placement of the buildings is optimised in relation to the local environment as well as to maximise views out towards the surrounding city and landscape. Sports courts, a running track and fitness stations are also integrated into the landscaping.
Consultation on the landscaping concept was provided by GROSS.MAX. from Edinburgh, with local architects ICN contracted to carry out the design.
Source : designbuild-network.com