Does Singapore need more 'funky' buildings?

[Monkey]

Those are very bright lights. Does anybody worry about the cost of electricity in Singapore? I assume it's an office building--otherwise, how could people sleep? Yea, I know ... bedroom towards the inside ... but still.

Now this pedestrian bridge. Is the superstructure new? Looks to me like it doesn't fill any sort of engineering purpose, plus stylistically the bridge itself seems to have little to do with the superstructure, which is sort of bulky and awkward. It's strange, looks sort of like air-filled rubber, which adds to the idea of a playground structure. But the patterns and colors are delightful!

Yea for more playful, colorful fun in our cities!

[redstone]

Your eyes would pop out when you see the Parkview Square at night!

Too bad I do not have a night shot.

[Monkey]

I readily believe it, redstone!

Is The Concourse, the brightly lit building Raffi shows, part of Parkview Square?

Going back to my last post, I note the pedestrian bridge minus the colorful playgroundish superstructure--that settles some of my questions.

Don't worry that you can't show a picture of Parkview Square at night, redstone--I'm sure somebody will come up with one when the occasion arises.

[Cliff]

Oh, the colourful stuff actually supports the bridge. I works the same wasy as a suspention bridge, the top horizontal curvy tubes are suspended from either side, then the vertical ones hold the deck itself.

[Monkey]

Ah. Thanks, Cliff! I suspected I hadn't understood that one properly.

But it's a fun bridge now!

[heirloom]

somehow i think it looks better grey.. even better if by takashi murakami + louis vuitton

[RafflesCity]

grey? I think that would take the punch and kinkiness out of it.

Many of Singapore's buildings lack colour. Lets injects bits of colour here and there without making everything look too tacky!

@WH, nope, The Concourse is not part of Parkview Square. I will try my best to get parkview pics at night, failing which I can always snap pics in sg

[Cliff]

Originally posted by heirloom

somehow i think it looks better grey.. even better if by takashi murakami + louis vuitton

Yes, I think it looks better in grey, although that particular picture makes it look better.

[huaiwei]

Originally posted by RafflesCity

LOL..kinda I guess.

Heres a pic showing the powerful night lighting effects of The Concourse. Not many buildings are lighted up at night like this one is.

I really love this photo, but then again, do take note that night shots dont always reflect the true brightness of lights! Still, I am also often wondering why they bother to light up a non-prime building so much......

[RafflesCity]

yup..but its just amazing when seen from the expressway..it stands alone in splendid isolation, looking like shafts of ice, or the pillar of salt

FUNKY!

[huaiwei]

Originally posted by Whose Homepage

Now this pedestrian bridge. Is the superstructure new?

Actually the entire bridge was very new...built only a few years ago, along with several other foot bridges across the river. They are meant to encourate pedestrain traffic along the upper reaches of the Singapore River.

[huaiwei]

Now that the Duxton Plains thing has been out for so long, do we feel the public has any say in it?

[RafflesCity]

Originally posted by huaiwei

Now that the Duxton Plains thing has been out for so long, do we feel the public has any say in it?

I'm not sure..I guess those really interested do get to air their opinions. But even if the public can have a say, I dont think the average ah-ter and ah-kao will bother

[huaiwei]

It seems like public opinion didnt have that much of a role in this project? However, I do remember they had public consultations and so on...

[RafflesCity]

Building a S'pore style

While some may complain about a lack of originality in S'pore architecture, most in the industry take heart in constant efforts to develop a uniquely local style. UMA SHANKARI gathers some views


the Esplanade (above) is cited as an interesting outcome of architects' experiments with S'pore architecture


IT'S seen as vital to develop a 'Singapore' style of modern architecture that suits our climate. And the quest to discover this style is something that's a priority for most architects here.

While many of them feel there's still no original local style when it comes to recent architecture, there's a general feeling of optimism about the direction the search is moving in.

Architects are beginning to realise that Singapore's hot, humid weather merits a style all of its own, thus moving forward from just copying styles from Europe and the US. As a result, architects here are innovating a lot more - and have been winning accolades from abroad.

'We mustn't forget that we're one degree north of the equator,' says William Lau, an architect with A.Alliance. He believes that what will work best in Singapore is a style he refers to as 'modern tropical'. But there's no definitive style yet. 'I'm still searching, together with all my colleagues,' Mr Lau says.

He feels, however, that the standard of architecture here has improved over the past few years. He cites such reasons as higher expectations from customers, and better-equipped developers.

But not everyone is totally convinced.

According to John Ting, president of the Singapore Institute of Architects: 'There's some evidence that the standard of architectural work has been progressively improving over the years. But not enough of it.'

In Mr Ting's opinion, Singapore architects still have a long way to go before they make a mark on the international scene. Still, he reckons this is understandable as the scene in the country is young. 'You don't expect a country that's 39 years old to be culturally developed,' he says.

What he dislikes, however, is that instead of trying to search for a solution that suits Singapore, most architects simply seem to lift trends and ideas from the West.

For example, the current trend of modernity is one that can be credited to the West. Here, living and working in glass boxes is still the flavour of the moment, according to most architects. The extensive use of glass in building design is part of the trend towards modernity, with its emphasis on clean lines and liberal use of glass and steel.

The glass effect

'Glass has been big for the past 10 years and it will continue to be big,' says Chia Huiteen, an architect with SAA Architects.

This is despite a general feeling that the trend of constructing buildings with large amounts of glass is impractical, especially in tropical weather.

'The idea doesn't make sense. It's environmentally irresponsible,' says Mr Ting. He explains that buildings made mainly of glass tend to trap heat quickly, and thus raise the internal temperatures considerably. Energy is therefore wasted when homes and offices turn up the air-conditioning to compensate for the heat gain caused by liberal use of glass.

While Mr Ting believes that this may be acceptable in places such as restaurants and offices, which aren't used around the clock, maintaining homes with large amounts of glass is impractical, he says. 'It's more worthwhile to use the energy for consumption or for manufacturing purposes.'

In some cases, home-owners try to beat the problem of excessive heat gain by putting up blinds and curtains, thus defeating the purpose of having glass panels in the first place - which is to let in light.

But unlike Mr Ting, others believe that if techniques such as sun-shading are used correctly, the glass won't trap as much heat. Mr Lau, for one, believes that the trend towards glass and steel is inevitable given that apartments here are getting smaller and smaller. Glass makes spaces look bigger, and thus will continue to be big in Singapore.

Chan Soo Khian, managing director of SCDA Architects, calls the trend towards modernisation part of the process of the 'internationalisation' of architecture. He feels it's too simplistic to say Singapore architects are copying from the West. 'Asia is influencing Europe and America as well,' he says.

He also believes the modern look can be achieved here without competing with the environment. As an example, he offers the recently completed Lincoln Modern, a 30-storey condominium in the Newton area. According to him, this building shows how, if the right type of glass and shading is used and the design is handled correctly, glass can be practical in sunny Singapore. Architects from other firms also cite this work as an exemplar of architecture suitable for Singapore.

What's important, according to most, is that architects here keep experimenting until a uniquely Singapore solution is found. Interesting outcomes such as the Esplanade, while they may not be to everyone's taste, are nonetheless iconoclastic and provide learning opportunities.

'There are some inklings, some beginnings, but we are not there yet. But at least we are moving,' says Mr Ting.

[redstone]

KK Women's and Children's Hospital:

Architect:Tay Kheng Soon ,Akitek Tenggara
Client: Public Works Department
Hospital Planning Consultant: McConnell Smith & Johnson, Australia
Main Contractor: Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Co Ltd
Structural Engineer: Public Works Department
M & E Engineer: Public Works Department
Quantity Surveyor: Public Works DepartmentSite Area: 4.8 ha
Site Coverage: 56.3 %
Plot Ratio: 1 : 2.23
Gross Floor Area: 107,033.54 sq m


The KKH's design philosophy:



The podium edge is tapered. The intention is to sweep the eye upwards and to achieve a gentle merging of the building with the landscape



Facade detail showing stunning sunshades.The recessing of the lower floors at the ends of the blocks allows their articulation by soaring columns, which act as vertical linking elements between the podium and the towers.

Covered walkways


The centralised core which is placed on the axis of the building efficiently connects the two halves of the hospital.

Cross-section




In 1988, the practice won a competition for the redevelopment of the old Kandang Kerbau Hospital in Singapore. The project has a chequered history. The original plan was to demolish the old hospital and to build a replacement Maternity Hospital on the same site. Subsequently, a decision was made to add a Children's Hospital. Then, in a surprising turn of events, the competition jury's verdict was overturned and the commission was given to the Public Works Department (PWD). At Tay Kheng Soon's request, Mr S Dhanabalan, the Minister for National Development, intervened and a compromise was worked out whereby the design work would be done by Akitek Tenggara and the hospital design consultants McConnell Smith and Johnson, with the Public Works Department (PWD) as Principal Co-ordinator carrying out the post-contract administration.


In the design of the hospital, the practice was in its element. The project was fraught with morphological problems derived from site limitations, density of floor space to be accommodated and height constraints.


There was an extensive site selection process once it was decided that the hospital could not be located in the grounds of the existing hospital where it was originally planned to be. With the addition of a children's hospital to the overall brief, a new site had to be found. Numerous preliminary spatial studies had to be undertaken to exhaust the possible sites. Eventually the client settled for a 4.8 ha. site, close to its original location, at the junction of Kampong Java Road and Bukit Timah Road.


Settling the brief onto the site presented another challenge. A height limitation of 8 storeys for the ward blocks imposed a restriction on floor heights to 4.2m which made the detailed design and co-ordination of interior planning onerous. These challenges obviously called for a novel approach. Akitek Tenggara, the architectural design consultants for the project, took the lead in the generation of the Master Plan, in consultation with McConnell Smith and Johnson (MSJ), the hospital consultants. The PWD as project co-ordinator played a significant part in liaising with the end-users and the client.


Though they had not designed a hospital previously, Akitek Tenggara's grounding in morphological studies enabled them to zoom in and out between micro and macro design issues to find the optimum geometry for the layout, taking a fresh view but with the constant support of expert consultants. The architect's morphological expertise was further demonstrated in the decision to implement the race-track plan form for the wards. Its inherently large perimeter length allows for better lighting and ventilation compared to, say, a triangular ward-plan configuration favoured by some hospital planners. Morphological understanding is believed by Akitek Tenggara to be the central requirement in archi-tecture for through its mastery, all the other variables and contingencies can be arrayed.


The decision to cluster the support services with the diagnostic and operating thea-tres in the centre of the overall plan-form was an important strategic decision around which all the other planning issues subsequently revolved. The elevator cores emanating from this central mass is able to efficiently connect the two halves of the hospital.


The simplicity and legibility of the plan form stems from this decision. The centrality of the plan arrangements led to the arrangement of the ward blocks in relationship to the core, allowing each a separate identity. The proximity of the children's and women's ward blocks permitted a series of sky bridges to span between the blocks, adding functional connectivity for hospital personnel.


Urban design considerations are not normally present at this stage of a hospital design process, which essentially involves hospital specialists and departmental heads, unless the site in question is vested with guidelines already established by the city planners. In this case, no such guidelines existed prior to the initiation of the design process on the site. Akitek Tenggara exercised its own urban design considerations in relation to the context. These suggested a pulling back of the building masses away from the traffic junctions around the site to create legible nodal spaces at the road traffic junctions and to reduce the impact of building mass when viewed from perimeter approaches.


Accommodating the specialist consultation rooms and dispensary and other admi-nistrative rooms suggested a series of large depth floor plates. These were composed logically into a compact 4-storey podium. The multitude of rooms was organised around a primary circulatory, top-lit corridor system. An important architectural decision was made to taper the tiered podium edges. This was also suggested by urban design considerations. It is also intended to sweep the viewer's eye upwards from the surrounding green space, to achieve a gentle merging of the building with the landscape. The incorporation of taut-edged pre-cast concrete shading blades supported by an elegant concrete bracketing system articulated the tiered design in a visual dialogue with the metal shading devices and window system of the ward blocks above.


The circular ends of the ward blocks were both an urban design consideration and an expressive architectural device to create an aesthetic of line and edge with continuity around the block. It was also inherited from the original competition-winning design. The recessing of the lower floors at the end of the blocks allowed their articulation by soaring columns which act as a vertically linking element between the podium and the towers.


In terms of the visitor and patient sequence of entry, the centralised individual elevator cores which are spaced apart on the axis of the building mass, naturally result in the location of the main lobby and its logical bifurcation into the two separate lobbies for the women's and children's hospitals. Legibility was the prime concern. MSJ's idea of separating ambulant and non-ambulant patients was put to good effect in the upper and lower level lobbies. Ambulant patients use the upper and non-ambulant the lower lobby.


An entrance water feature, visible from both lobbies, provided general visual transparency of one level to the other and avoided any confusion. The hospital was eventually completed in 1997 and despite the separation of project responsiblities, the clarity of the design by Akitek Tenggara has been realised. The project takes the notion of Line, Edge and Shade to a new level of sophistication. The façade is designed as a sun-breaker system using lightweight metal louvres and maintenance gangways. The effect is of a skeletal line and edge aesthetic in contrast to the main building structure. In addition to serving a functional purpose, the horizontal louvres and baffles are visually exhilarating.

Now how's that for a hospital!

[RafflesCity]

Fun-looking shophouse!

[heirloom]

i think locally influenced architecture is the best - eg esplanade or anything by WOHA architects

[huaiwei]

Ever wondered what is "local architecture" thou?

[heirloom]

anything with sunshades esp cute ones