This cluster housing project was designed in 2001, placing 28 houses on a site that previously had 2 bungalows on it. The houses are compact terrace and semi-detached houses arranged around a central landscaped pool. The site was conceived as strips that slip and slide alongside each other, allowing the terrace houses to conform to the irregular site profile. This detailing developed the concept at various scales, such as the sun shading and fenestration.
WOHA explored strategies of high-density living in a high-rise tropical environment, and urban strategies unique to the site. A central issue to the design was what Singaporean public housing should be. WOHA proposed that for subsidised housing, a higher degree of community interaction would be encouraged, building of community spirit. The design facilitated several scales of interaction.
At city level, a strong image on the skyline of the cluster of towers with hanging gardens was proposed. At the neighbourhood level, a strong street edge was made based on the shophouse structural bay and form, with commercial activities, a five-foot way, and the public park extended under the towers the popular Duxton Plain Park. This form enhanced the Chinatown busy street edge, while providing recreational areas within the site for public use. Views down the historic streets were improved by the rhythm and scale of the street-edge.
At village level, the “sky villages” were created – homes are placed in a high-rise community, linked by “sky streets” and “sky parks”. The covered sky streets led from the local village to the high-speed lifts, which brought the inhabitants down to street level. Sky parks were provided as places for recreation and socialising. In these common areas, people would be brought into contact in a natural way, and social bonds formed.
The Enabling Village is a demonstration of heartland rejuvenation through adaptive reuse of the old Bukit Merah Vocational Institute / Employment & Employability Institute (e2i) in Redhill. The site was previously fenced-in, inward-looking and did not contribute to the neighbourhood. The Masterplan conceives the Village as a new community heart and opens up the space as a park to connect people with disabilities, residents and public.
The design removes all physical barriers, extends linkages and creates a variety of shared spaces, gardens and amenities, breathing life between and within buildings. A simple robust palette of finishes and motifs was adopted as a kit-of-parts system to stitch together surfaces and spaces of the new and existing.
The porous and accessible nature of the Enabling Village creates an inclusive environment, integrating people with disabilities as equal in the community.
Category D (Conservation Projects) category, awarded by Architects Regional Council Asia (ARCASIA)
Awarded by Hong Kong Design Centre
Awarded by DesignSingapore Council and Urban Redevelopment Authority
Special Categories, awarded by the Singapore Institute of Architects
Awarded by Building and Construction Authority, Singapore
Drawing references from Chengdu’s natural heritage, Capitamall Tianfu adopts a geological metaphor that is inspired by the rock formations, peaks and ridges of the city’s famous Qingcheng Mountains. The integrated mixed use development is conceived as a gargantuan mass of stone, chiselled and sculpted to reveal crystalline volumes and facets with distinctive colours and textures. “Crevices” between the sculpted volumes at podium level read as narrow “ravines” filled with luxuriant vegetation from terraced gardens and cascading waters. Landscaped sky gardens are further extended up into the towers, multiplying greenery vertically throughout its height and making nature accessible to residents and office workers. An extensive Commercial Plaza on the podium roof gifts the city with an urban communal space, which is designed as part of a retail loop connected to the atrium urban spaces below, creating a continuous and fully integrated retail experience.
The Church of St Mary of the Angels was designed for the Franciscan Friars and their parish church. The project includes the Church, the St Anthony Friary, the Poor Clare Monastery and an extensive columbarium. The focus of the design is community and expressing the church as an open and transparent institution.
The design is centred on an outdoor space that forms a forecourt to the various institutions, enabling community bonds to develop in this civic space. WOHA designed every element of the architecture, interiors, landscape and lighting for the complex, and incorporated several existing modernist buildings from the 1950s. The design took its direction from the particular focus of the Franciscan Friars on outreach and nature, to create a space for worship that is open and outward-looking – first to the garden and surroundings, and then to the wider community.
Mixed-Use (Completed) category, awarded by World Architecture Festival
Awarded by School of Architecture
Awarded by DesignSingapore Council and Urban Redevelopment Authority
Organised by ALA – Assoarchitetti, Vicenza Italy
Institutional Projects/Religious Buildings Category, awarded by the Singapore Institute of Architects
Interior Design/Commercial Category, awarded by the Singapore Institute of Architects
Architecture Category, awarded by the Singapore Institute of Architects
Interior Category, awarded by the Singapore Institute of Architects