Shenzhen Qian Hai

This schematic design for a large mixed-use development in a prominent new site at the centre of Shenzhen’s Qian Hai Bay CBD envisions what future city centres could be.

Housing cultural spaces, expo and conference centres as well as hotels, retail and offices, the design takes a holistic approach by integrating the different programmes 3-dimensionally.

A lush, subtropical urban oasis rises up on the seafront, bringing nature back into the city that is dominated by concrete, glass and steel. The green oculus of the scheme represents a new typology that was designed for the projects geographical, climatic and cultural context.

To capitalise on the subtropical climate, the oculus is green and porous, offering users a biophilic, naturally ventilated, yet sheltered environment.

It brings nature back into the lives of city-dwellers and by offering landscaped, comfortable, breezy, naturally lit common spaces. The phytoremediation that is performed by the integrated vertical greenery, absorbs pollutants in the water and air, contributing to a healthier environment for all.

These spaces significantly reduce the need for artificial lighting and air-conditioning, which reduces the scheme’s energy consumption considerably.

Shenzhen ZTE

Scheme for a mixed-use development in Shenzhen with office, commercial and hospitality components. 

Shanghai Qingpu

Scheme for a mixed-use development in Shanghai that includes commercial, residential and office components.

Telok Ayer Street

WOHA’s former office is located in a 100 year old shophouse in the historic conservation district in the heart of the CBDin Singapore. The project was completed in only eight months, and was designed in 2001 and completed in 2002.

The old shophouse space was cut up spatially by a winding timber staircase. A new spiral staircase within a steel-clad drum allowed the floors to be developed as open plan spaces on each level. Planted roof terraces, glazed floors, timber decks, and a hanging mezzanine transformed the old utilitarian spaces at the rear into a contemporary studio space.

 

 

Vertical Talent City

This scheme for a “Vertical Talent City” in Shenzhen was designed to be a one-stop solution for creative and artistic talent across the entire Zhujiang delta region. The whole development is conceived as a vertical city that integrates the different uses in two buildings on two plots, connected by sky bridges and platforms. Housing talent services, education and training, incubation spaces, communal sports facilities, retail and residential units, this micro city vertically stacks 4 stratums: Talent Park, Training Campus, Enterprise Hub and Smart Community. The design is built around the idea of sky streets and community spaces that encourage interaction and connection. Spacious open-air sky platforms offer rich amenities and landscaping and act as a bridge to the same thematic zones on different plots.

The Talent Park at the “Vertical Talent City” is located in the first of 4 stratums, spanning the ground floor to level 5. It includes an open-air urban plaza, commercial spaces, a bus terminal, the talent services centre and other office spaces.

The Training Campus is located in the stratum from the 6th to 9th level and is houses educational facilities, talent think tanks and talent training spaces. Large flexible spaces such as lecture halls can be set up between the floors according to needs. The public area of the “training camp” uses landscape and space to design create a vibrant campus atmosphere.

The Enterprise Centre stratum on the 10th to 21st level is a development platform for the talent industry. The flexible floor plan can meet the various space and functional needs of companies of all sizes. The air bridge platform is a communal space that can be used for socialising, exhibitions and leisure activities.

The Smart Community stratum tops off the Vertical Talent City and encompasses residential units, which enjoy great views as well as natural lighting and ventilation. The modular apartment unit design are efficient and economical. The bridges, platforms and roof provide amenities such as sports and social spaces as well as other services for the residents.

This pandemic has shown that new approaches are urgently needed to ensure the health and safety of building users. In response to this need the design places a strong emphasis on naturally ventilated public spaces and circulation routes to reduce the time spent in enclosed spaces with potential exposure to pathogens. A series of escalators in the atrium space connect the four different sky streets, forming a 3-dimensional loop which is open to the public and connects the different programmes to each other. With these vertical and horizontal links, lifts are only used in emergency situations and people can move without being confined to small spaces in large groups.

48 North Canal Road

The project brief called for a new boutique office and the reconstruction of a pair of heritage-listed shophouses.

As the original floor levels with their low ceiling heights were retained, the frontend of the shophouses was deemed more suitable for meeting rooms, while the service end accommodated a mechanised carpark. The open plan offices within the upper 4 floors was strategically lifted up so that floor plate size is maximised, higher headroom is gained, better views are enjoyed and more natural daylight is accessed from the sides. Every flat roof area is also transformed into roof gardens with the attic featuring the office’s recreational lounge.

The main design strategy was to invert the shophouse typology by carving out valuable floor area to create an externalised, urban, public pocket park at the very heart of the office instead. A café, break-out areas and meeting rooms are organised around this park, enjoying the greenery and light that it brings to the deep plan.

The formal architectural language of fractal, triangulated geometry originated from the need to comply with authority requirements of having splayed corners as the building is bounded by three roads. This inspired a chiselled expression that was carried through in both plan and elevation, taking the form of internal angled walls and external slanted planes, revealing a concave curtain wall like that of crystal embedded in the hollow lower strata of its atrium park space. Shading was also built into the formal language by means of an integrated sun screen within the curtain wall system and a series of perforated aluminium panels

2014

  • Green Good Design Award - Winner

    Awarded by The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies

  • Building of the Year Award - Winner

    Offices category, awarded by ArchDaily

2013

  • URA Architectural Heritage Award - Winner

    Category B – Integrated ‘Old and New’ Developments, awarded by URA

  • World Architecture Festival - Finalist

    Office category, awarded by World Architecture Festival

29 HongKong Street

WOHA’s own office in Singapore is housed in a converted shophouse near to the river.

Two adjacent units of the traditional building typology were merged into one to house the office’s growing needs for space. Apart from the more traditional office elements like studios and meeting rooms, 29 HongKong Street also accommodates a gallery (WOHAGA), extensive roof terraces and a fully equipped kitchen and lounge.

While the front facade is protected by conservation guidelines, the more recent extension in the rear allowed more substantial changes. The top floor, previously cramped under a pitch roof, was converted into double-storey loft like space.

The traditional element of the shophouse courtyard was maintained for visual connection between the studios as well as cross ventilation. It also acts as an experimental ground for ongoing research and development of green wall systems.

In the extensive fit-out works on the building’s interior, furniture designs from the old office were developed further, transporting aspects of the familiar environment and its atmosphere to the new location.

Tropical Urban Business Park

A seminal project in the heart of Cybercity-1, the Tropical Urban Business Park is set to redefine the quintessence of sustainable, integrated and innovative tropical urbanism. Located in the island township of Bayan Baru, strategically along the main arterial road from the airport, this iconic gateway development with its thriving tapestry of vegetation and light is envisioned as a flourishing green urban landmark gateway to the “Garden of the East”, invigorating the city with its rejuvenating vertical parkscape. Located within a district characterised by visually solid, hard-edged and plain architecture, the project differentiates itself by prioritising the quality of its human landscape and community spaces, integrating the hardware of urbanity with the heartware of community.

To craft a highly liveable and desirable live-work-play-learn environment, a new typology of mixed use buildings is proposed, one in which precious land within the prime urban site is multiplied by introducing new and green intermediate ground levels of social and civic function, synergising the economy of technology/business parks with the ecology of community/public parks. This translates into a unique blend of offerings featuring a fully pedestrianised concourse, creation of multiple new ground levels with tropical urban community spaces in the sky, integration of greenery into well-articulated facades, and the implementation of sustainable passive design.

Through these strategies, the project demonstrates that innovation can be simple yet radical, with tropical architecture creating a strong product and branding for the developer, an attractive home/workplace for the urbanite, and a truly organic jewel piece taking pride of place within the Pearl of the Orient.

Singapore Institute of Technology

The SIT-Plot 1 campus is uniquely endowed with an existing secondary forest. The design capitalises on this green site asset by integrating its learning environments with biophilic indoor-outdoor tropical spaces. To forge an imageable “Campus-in-a-Park” identity, the academic blocks are organised as a chain of buildings encompassing the central forest courtyard that is transformed into an accessible Community Park. This serves as the heart of SIT, contributing to a strong sense of place that is characterised by memorable nodes for interaction, recreation and rejuvenation.

The design leverages on the site’s undulating terrain by creating two public ground levels that segregate vehicles from pedestrians, creating a people-friendly, car-lite campus. These fenceless, 24/7 publicly accessible ground levels are interconnected across the Punggol Digital District, linking shared carparks and a series of key public spaces.

SIT’s primary signature library building is strategically located at the prime intersection between New Punggol Road and the pedestrianised Campus Boulevard as a prominent urban landmark.

On the rooftops, photovoltaic panels are arrayed as a banner of sustainability over the entire campus. These serve as a key renewable energy source that powers SIT’s Multi-Energy Micro Grid located within Plot 1. Productivity features include precast facades and structural systems for the academic blocks and structural steel for the long span bridges.

Image Credit: Shiya Creative Studio

Punggol Digital District

Punggol Digital District (PDD) is planned as part of Singapore’s strategy to sustain long-term economic growth by creating new development areas island-wide, bringing jobs and social amenities closer to residents.

Situated in Punggol North, PDD is envisioned to be a vibrant and inclusive district underpinned by cutting-edge technology, as well as urban and social innovation which make everyday living more convenient and sustainable. As Singapore’s first Enterprise District, PDD will provide flexibility for the land use mix and scale to be curated at district-level, enabling deeper integration and synergy of different uses and spaces to realise the vision of the District. The District is also planned to be connected to the greater Punggol area, with a car-lite, green, and vibrant environment.

Punggol Digital District will be the first district to adopt an integrated masterplan approach that brings together a business park, a university and community facilities and transport infrastructure. The district-level planning approach creates synergies, optimises land use and catalyses community building. It also allows us to design and integrate innovative technological platforms and from the ground up, transforming the way people work, live, learn and play in an inclusive and sustainable environment.

Image Credit: Finbarr Fallon, Darren Soh