Singapore : OMA and CapitaLand Residential reveals design

... for large-scale Residential Complex in Singapore

CapitaLand Residential, a leading developer in Asia, and its partners have commissioned the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) to design a large-scale residential development in Singapore.

The project will be located on an expansive 8 hectare site bounded by the Ayer Rajah Expressway and Alexandra Road, in a central position between the National University and downtown Singapore. With 170,000 m2 of built floor area, the development will provide over 1,000 apartment units of varying sizes with extensive outdoor spaces and landscaping.

Instead of creating a cluster of isolated, vertical towers – the default typology of residential developments in Singapore – the design explores a dramatically different approach to the issues and challenges of living and social space.

32 apartment blocks, each six-stories tall, are stacked in a hexagonal arrangement to form six large-scale permeable courtyards. The interlocking volumes form the topography of a “vertical village” with cascading sky gardens and private roof terraces vertically extending the landscape of the courtyards.

Extensive communal facilities which are embedded in the lush vegetation offer multiple opportunities for social interaction in a natural environment. While maintaining the privacy of the individual apartment units through generous spacing of the building blocks and unobstructed views, the horizontal and interconnected volumes create an explicitly social network of outdoor spaces within the green terrain.

The site completes a green belt that stretches between Kent Ridge, Telok Blangah and Mount Faber Parks. The stacked volumetric relationship of the apartment blocks extends the landscape and forms a mount/hill that relates to the surrounding topography.

Beyond the extensive presence of nature and collective space, the project will be designed to respond carefully to the tropical climate and address issues of sustainability through incorporating multiple features of energy-saving technologies.

“We are thrilled with the opportunity to create such an innovative project in partnership with OMA. The design expands our progressive ambition and enables us to add a radically new concept to environmentally-conscious living in Singapore” says CapitaLand Residential Singapore Chief Executive Officer, Patricia Chia.

“This project directly addresses concerns of shared space and community in a contemporary society” says Ole Scheeren, Partner of OMA and designer of the project. "It simultaneously responds to issues of privacy and individuality as well as to social and communal needs by offering multiple types of indoor and outdoor spaces specific to the tropical context”.

The project is lead by Ole Scheeren, Director of OMA Beijing, together with Eric Chang, Associate. Ole Scheeren is responsible for the office’s work across Asia, including the 575,000 m2 CCTV headquarters and TVCC cultural center currently under construction in Beijing, and The Scotts Tower in Singapore. Previous work includes the Prada epicenter stores in New York and Los Angeles.


On OMA:
The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is a leading international partnership practicing contemporary architecture, urbanism and cultural analysis. It is engaged in a large number of projects in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America. OMA Rotterdam: From its headquarters in The Netherlands the office is working on a master plan for the White City area of London; a harbour redevelopment and contemporary art Museum in Riga, the Cordoba Congress Centre in Spain; the redevelopment of the Mercati Generali in Rome, a Science Centre and Aquarium in Hamburg, an architectural centre, offices and housing in Copenhagen, the new head office of Rothschild Bank in London and multi-use towers in Rotterdam and The Hague.

It is also working on various masterplans in The Netherlands and Belgium. In addition the Rotterdam office has a number of activities in the Middle East including office and residential towers and master plans in Dubai, a master plan in Kuwait, three master plans in Ras -Al-Khaimah and several public buildings in Qatar.

OMA New York: Having overseen the completion of several new buildings since opening in 2001 - including the Seattle Public Library and the Prada Epicenter in Los Angeles (both completed 2004), the IIT Campus Centre in Chicago (2003), and Prada Epicenter in New York (2001) - OMA is now designing an extension of Cornell University (NY), 111 First Street, a high rise residential building and hotel in Jersey City (NJ) and a residential tower at One Madison Square in New York.

OMA Beijing: In Asia, OMA is working on the office’s largest project to date, the 575,000 m2 China Central Television Headquarters CCTV and Television Cultural Center TVCC, currently under construction in Beijing and due for completion in 2008. Other projects in development include the new Shenzhen Stock Exchange, a media center in Shanghai, the high-end residential Scotts Tower and the Capitaland residential development in Singapore.

The office is led by six partners: Rem Koolhaas, Ole Scheeren, Ellen van Loon, Reinier de Graaf, Floris Alkemade and Managing Partner Victor van der Chijs.

www.oma.nl

- Kevin Ou - photos OMA copyright Ole Scheeren