Redevelopment of Faber House

The redevelopment of Faber House is a striking new project on Orchard Road’s most prominent junction. The mixed-use development comprises an 18-storey hotel with commercial and retail spaces.

Acting as a gateway to the Somerset precinct, it presents a memorable image to the bustling Cairnhill intersection with a 15-storey cascading waterfall and cliff-like, verdant vertical landscape set into the façade, visually extending the green terraces of WOHA’s neighbouring development Design Orchard. The innovative and unique vertical landscape, with pavilions, staircases and activities connects all the hotel levels.

The lower levels of the development make a major contribution to the public realm via new public spaces, gardens and facilities. The Urban Verandah, a fully public space at the third level, will host art and design programming and facilitates future connections to surrounding developments. Lifestyle banking, food and beverage, and retail stores complete the public space facilities.

The hotel experience starts at the 5th level with a lobby adjoining a sky terrace and infinity pool looking over Orchard Road. Above, naturally-ventilated guestroom circulation flows around the vertical landscape, leading to compact but elegant rooms. The hotel is crowned by a rooftop bar and restaurant.

Client
UOL Property Investments Pte Ltd
Location
230 Orchard Road, Singapore 238854
See on Google Maps
Status
Under construction
Design Inception
January 2018
Completion
April 2026
Type
Commercial, Hospitality, Interiors
E-brochure Download

21 Carpenter

21 Carpenter is a 48-room heritage boutique hotel at the gateway to the historic Chinatown district, near the Singapore River. The hotel is built around a group of four conserved shophouses from 1936, with a contemporary rear extension.

The design of 21 Carpenter pays homage to the building’s history as a remittance house, the birthplace of Singapore as an international financial hub. An important part of the history of the building, beautifully poetic phrases from remittance letters, sent home by Chinese labourers, were incorporated into the art façade of the new extension, and inside the hotel.

The perforated aluminium art façade panels act as a skin for the building which fully shades the inner envelope, preventing it from heating up in the sun. Photovoltaic panels on the roof help the hotel produce its own energy, and a hybrid cooling system, combining fans and air-conditioning, further reduces power consumption.

The hotel has two landscaped terraces, greenery on its balconies and planting along the covered walkway. The plants create delight, improve the conditions of the neighbourhood and increase the environmental performance of the building.

Client
8M Real Estate Pte Ltd
Location
21 Carpenter Street
See on Google Maps
Status
Built
Design Inception
November 2018
Completion
December 2023
Type
Commercial, Conservation, Hospitality, Interiors, Landscape
Gross Floor Area
2748.06m²

Awards

2024

SIA Architectural Design Awards - Design of the Year

awarded by Singapore Institute of Architects

Jinshan Resort

Misty bamboo and rock forests, forest hill terraces with tall trees, hanging sky-gardens, and mysterious hot springs – with this diversity of experiences, the Jinshan Resort will be a strong attractive destination for Taipei urbanites at a mere 45-minute drive away from cosmopolitan Taipei. The resort offers guests spa and hot spring retreats as well as public areas for wedding banquets and conferences. The hotel suites are designed to have beautiful, nature-inspired calming interiors and breathtaking views of the beautiful surrounding landscape.

Client
-
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
July 2016
Type
Hospitality, Resort
Gross Floor Area
22616m²

Beachfront Destination

The development is a tropical high-rise 3-in-1 beachfront destination comprising of a diverse mix of retail, residences and hotels topped with sky gardens, recreational amenities, demonstrating that high density can be high amenity.

Flanked by a popular beach to the west and the bustling city to the east, the contoured podium is sculpted to form a porous, fully public and pedestrianised retail plaza to seamlessly connect the beach to the city. The tropical beach experience is brought into and up the building – from the breezy event plaza to the stunning infinity pools set in tropical sky gardens.

The project adopts robust passive design strategies such as naturally lit and ventilated lobbies, pre-function areas and access corridors such that these public areas become functional, comfortable, tropical spaces with greenery, natural light and fresh air instead of enclosed, internalised air-conditioned spaces.

The configuration and orientation of the hotel and residential towers are designed to maximize the panoramic sea views for all units with balconies inspired by the organic shapes and colours of corals, alluding to a thriving ecosystem of variegated corals.

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

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

Future City Maqiao

Maqiao Future City is located in the southwest of Shanghai, 35 km away from the city center. It is the 20-hectare core development area of the future Shanghai AI Innovation Zone. The vision of this masterplan is to create an integrated new town as the driving engine for the larger region and a human-centric destination place that celebrates future live, learn, work and play. It will also be a demonstration project that aims to achieve carbon neutrality in phases.

The masterplan adopts the 50/50 City strategy, preserving half of the land for restorative and regenerative green and blue spaces and the other half for high-density high-amenity urban development, allowing a balanced synergy to grow between nature and the built environment. Programmatically it follows the same concept, proposing half of the development as residential spaces and the other half as a mix of R&D offices, commercial and community spaces.

Maqiao Future City consists of eight interconnected clusters, the Urban Core being the most dense and mixed-use. It integrates metro station, district transport hub, retail shops, urban plaza, and landmark buildings to create a welcoming gateway to the city and a vibrant civic center that forges a strong community spirit and sense of place.

Radiating out from the Urban Core are three Garden Office clusters with SOHO apartment blocks and various embedded business incubators that act as a physical and functional bridge between the urban spaces and the spaces left to nature. The waterfront residential clusters offer community spaces such as sports halls, schools, or healthcare centres.

A 3-dimensional planning strategy is introduced to bring things together. Vehicular roads, district infrastructures and services are buried underground, leaving the ground level fully pedestrianized and maximized for nature. Multiple landscaped ground levels are created above to facilitate stronger connection between clusters and further enhance the ecological system.

Client
Shanghai Vanke Investment Management Limited
Location
Maqiao
Status
Unbuilt
Design Inception
August 2020
Type
Civic / Institutional, Commercial, Cultural, Educational, Hospitality, Infrastructure, Landscape, Masterplan / Conceptual, Mixed-Use, Offices, Residential High-Rise, Residential Mid-Rise
System
Ecological, Economic, Energy, Food, Social, Waste, Water
Gross Floor Area
791000m²

Typology: Hospitality