50/50 City

This 4D masterplan explores how tropical cities can become places that answer the resident’s need to live, work, play and learn while promoting community and cultural engagement. The design aims to create a sense of identity while embracing an ecosystem of integration and systems thinking focused on qualities, beneficial relationships and productive networks to create self-sufficient, sustainable and sociable cities of the future.

The 2020 design commission was to create a new vision for defunct industrial estates in Singapore that develops a unique identity offering dynamic uses and activities. The emergence of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic during the commission pushed us to consider what the future of cities and the future of live, work, play and learn will look like.

The 50/50 city is a district designed to transition from today to 2050 and beyond, leveraging the evolution of technology to create a vibrant, liveable and fun city for people. The design shows how highly developed and dense cities can transition to the future, envisioning how society will move into a new and diverse mobility system with an outlook on how people will move through the city in the future.

The masterplan pushes boundaries, merging futuristic and innovative design solutions catering to industry 5.0 and beyond, within a lush regenerative environment. A key component of the design was designing the transition over time, where roads are dieted, and then eliminated, and nature is brought back in a choreographed sequence yet each stage is viable and liveable.

At its core, the 50/50 city is a response to the urgent need to rethink city planning and urban design, setting aside half the land to restore our ecology and biodiversity to help slow down, and heal the man-made global crisis that threatens our existence.

Client
-
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
September 2020
Type
Masterplan / Conceptual
System
Ecological, Economic, Energy, Food, Social, Waste, Water
Gross Floor Area
5,990,413m²

Self-Sufficient City

Self-Sufficient City is a design concept for a new town in Indonesia that is regenerative, high density, high amenity, self-sufficient in food, energy and water, car-free and has high biodiversity and ecosystem services.

The brief was to house 210,000 people on a 730 Ha site that is overgrown with secondary rainforest and constrained by a 60m building height control limit. A 3-Dimensional master planning approach was adopted to create a tropical ‘eco-town-in-a-forest’, retaining over half of the existing green landscape.

Four distinct layers run through the town, integrating regenerative systems into the urban form:

A Transportation and Services Layer that segregates pedestrians from vehicles. Town-wide infrastructure includes pneumatic waste and recycling collection system, district cooling for the industrial estate and combined underground services tunnels under roads;
A Parkland Layer beneath blocks that comprises Tropical Community Spaces for public functions and social interaction. The Parkland Layer prioritizes people with well-connected mobility paths and trams, and a safe car-free environment within public gardens. A diverse topographic landscape, with terraced knolls and elevated decks, overlooks forest glades and the waterways of the town’s reservoir. Pavilions and venues for meetings, parties, and community events are located on the reservoir waterfront, along with boutique-style shops and cafés;
A Residential and Workplace Layer organized into a series of Breezeway Courtyards that form an Inverted Skyline;
A Rooftop Canopy Layer that is both protective and productive, providing shade and shelter as well as solar energy and food harvested from Sky Field crops. More than 3km2 of photovoltaic panels installed on the Rooftop Canopy Layer generate a 40MW system that can support the fully net zero energy town. With the Inverted Skyline typology, all building rooftops are capped at the same height, which ensures that no energy losses occur from over-shadowing.

Client
-
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
July 2014
Type
Commercial, Educational, Infrastructure, Masterplan / Conceptual, Mixed-Use, Offices, Residential High-Rise
System
Ecological, Economic, Energy, Food, Social, Waste, Water

NUS Sustainable and Resilient Building

More information coming soon.

Client
-
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
November 2023
Type
Civic / Institutional, Competition, Educational
System
Ecological, Energy, Water
Gross Floor Area
16000m²

Resort in Rawai

The 270-room resort is located on a seafront site, and encompasses a small hill with 270-degree views to the sea, nearby islands, coconut groves, the Phuket Town bay, and the mountains.

It is comprised of simple, elegant buildings that evoke Thai architecture in a very contemporary way. The design uses clusters of simple rectangular forms, lightened by elegant screens in timber, and embellished with intricate pavilions with screens that emulate Thai silk out of layers of metallic coloured anodised aluminium.

The resort is organized around a series of public spaces that are placed along an axis that connects the sea to the hilltop. Each public space has their own character, which defines a neighbourhood of rooms and facilties. The floral axis turns the hillside into a living textile, changing with the seasons, and providing a stunning foreground to the azure sea and islands behind.

Client
-
Location
Rawai, Phuket
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
March 2016
Type
Hospitality, Interiors, Landscape, Masterplan / Conceptual, Resort
System
Ecological, Water

Agri-food production in Singapore

More information coming soon.

Client
Singapore Food Agency
Location
Lim Chu Kang
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
December 2021
Type
Civic / Institutional, Commercial, Competition, Conservation, Cultural, Educational, Hospitality, Infrastructure, Landscape, Masterplan / Conceptual, Mixed-Use, Offices
System
Ecological, Economic, Energy, Food, Social, Waste, Water
Gross Floor Area
363,895 m²

Carnival of Life

The project showcases the Singapore story, reinforcing core values and cementing

Singapore as a beacon of transformative thinking. We imagine an ultra-Singapore that we know but can’t yet find – an experience that is super lush, tropical and shady, a blend of eating, shopping, and people-watching.

The Carnival of Life takes everything we love about Singapore and catapults it into the most desirable future to become a showcase to the world. It addresses how might we live better, longer and with lives filled with joy and wonder. The vision for the Carnival of Life creates a stage to answer these questions, while creating the most immersive and innovative attractions in Asia.

The Carnival of Life is tied together via a whimsical ribbon. This iconic promenade is a stage for community life and connects visitors to a sequence of attractions celebrating the best of Singapore, centred on food, water, and health. It is a new free lifestyle destination for Singaporeans, promoting community and wellbeing

Diverse yet thematically linked attractions are spread along The Ribbon, a linear park comprised of delightful public spaces.

We envision the Carnival of Life to be Singapore’s 4^th Major Public Garden, creating a Regional Public Space for the North. Using Wonder, Multi-Sensory Exploration and Education, the Carnival of Life will be the most immersive and innovative masterplan of attractions in Asia, piloting and engaging global audiences in new regenerative ways of living.

Client
-
Location
Singapore Racecourse
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
February 2020
Type
Adaptive Re-Use, Civic / Institutional, Commercial, Competition, Conservation, Cultural, Educational, Hospitality, Infrastructure, Landscape, Masterplan / Conceptual, Mixed-Use, Resort
System
Ecological, Economic, Energy, Food, Social, Waste, Water

Melides Masterplan

More information coming soon.

Client
-
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
April 2021
Type
Cultural, Educational, Hospitality, Landscape, Masterplan / Conceptual, Resort
System
Ecological, Energy, Food, Water

Green Habitat Karachi

More information coming soon.

Client
-
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
March 2021
Type
Civic / Institutional, Cultural, Infrastructure, Landscape, Masterplan / Conceptual, Mixed-Use, Residential High-Rise
System
Ecological, Economic, Energy, Food, Social, Waste, Water
Gross Floor Area
1,711,000m²

HQ Ministry for Sustainability and Environment

The HQ Ministry for Sustainability and Environment is conceived as a flagship prototype for Jurong Lake District (JLD) and Singapore, pioneering new frontiers in tropical urbanism, sustainability, and resilience. In addition to realising the masterplan’s aspirations and complying with URA’s urban design guidelines for JLD, the design actively does its part to combat climate change by achieving the sustainability benchmarks of Zero Energy/Carbon/Water/Waste. The development is also nature-positive, regenerative, and biocentric, with biophilic office spaces. It showcases Singapore’s thought leadership in skyrise greenery by giving back more than the site area in landscape replacement, with its lush vegetation performing ecosystem services and supporting biodiversity in the city.

Client
Ministry for Sustainability and Environment
Location
Jurong
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
May 2022
Type
Commercial, Competition, Offices
System
Ecological, Energy, Water
Gross Floor Area
98000m²

Future City Xicen

Xicen Country City masterplan presents a holistic solution for the upcoming development of a 7.1 km2 site on the southern bank of the Dianshan Lake, which is located in the Yangtze Delta area in close proximity to Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou. The site has rich water network that takes up about one thirds of the total site area. This masterplan is a prototype for more livable and sustainable developments of the future that brings all the amenities and convenience typically found in existing metropoles in a location embraced by nature.

The proposed masterplan adopts a 50/50 City approach, allocating most of the urban development to the northern half of the site while preserving nature and indigenous culture in the southern half. In the urban half, surface vehicular roads are reduced to a minimum and the land is divided into a series of thematic islands in order to tap into the rich green and blue resources of the site, while celebrating the unique waterfront lifestyle of the Xicen region.

The Urban Core Islands have the highest density and programmatic mix with a district transport hub, civic/commercial plaza and arts/cultural center seamlessly connected to the metro and high-speed railway stations. The R&D Islands integrate garden offices, R&D facilities, and business incubators with residences to suit the future need of high-tech industries. The Residential Islands face the water and benefit from a natural biophilic environment. A series of Rewilding Islands are embedded into the urban spaces, allowing regenerative nature to render bioremediation and ecological services to the built environment.

The nature half is grouped into four zones: Eco-Tourism Zone, High-Tech High Intensity Farming Zone, Campus Village Zone and SME Creative Clusters Zone. By enhancing agricultural and energy production as well as inserting anchor industries and schools, Xicen Country City will become a selfsufficient and resilient urban typology wellequipped for all the future challenges and opportunities.

Client
Shanghai Vanke Investment Management Limited
Location
Xicen
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
May 2021
Type
Civic / Institutional, Commercial, Conservation, Cultural, Educational, Exhibition, Hospitality, Infrastructure, Landscape, Masterplan / Conceptual, Mixed-Use, Offices, Residential High-Rise, Residential Low-Rise, Residential Mid-Rise, Resort
System
Ecological, Economic, Energy, Food, Social, Waste, Water
Gross Floor Area
394600m²

System: Water

NUS Sustainable and Resilient Building

Resort in Rawai

Melides Masterplan

HQ Ministry for Sustainability and Environment

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