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.

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.

NOMU

NOMU – North of the Museum and University – is an adaptive re-use of an existing 1970s apartment block into a mixed-use development with shops, offices and residential apartments. By exposing the original concrete frame, the interplay of solid and selectively demolished voids serves to carve new, interesting volumes out of the existing structure.

The façade is wrapped in a gauze-like layer of silver screens which alternately conceal and reveal the underlying structure. Elements such as stairs and service enclosures are picked out in striking rust-red metal as functional “sculptures” that punctuate the old grid.

The project is notable for proposing that the commercial quantum be sleeved along Handy Road to enliven the street level. NOMU is an example of how obsolete inner-city structures can be utilised to make the city an exciting place to live and work.

Goodwood Residence

The 210-unit Goodwood Residence adjoins Goodwood Hill, a 20-hectare tree conservation area dotted with colonial “Black and White” bungalows. Organised as two 12-storey L-shaped blocks, the 2.5-hectare development frames the view to the forested hill through an operable facade.

All blocks are one apartment thick, configured as “garden walls” that define and enclose a series of courtyards culminating in a 100m wide lawn and pool court, the heart of the development.

The ground floor units have private gardens and pools with sliding panels that allow either a walled courtyard or framed views over the borrowed landscape. Overlooking the central courtyard on the 2nd and 3rd storeys, are 15 units designed with “treehouse cabanas” perched amidst the treetop canopies. Rising above this tree line are the mid-levels (4th-11th storeys), which have overlapping double volume balconies.

The units are screened with an operable screen made from aluminium tubes which resemble a woven textile. The screen has operable sections that pivot up for open views or can be left down for privacy. The screen allows free flow of air into the naturally ventilated apartments.

The project has been awarded the prestigious GreenMark Platinum Award by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore.

MeyerHouse

Along Meyer Road, in Singapore’s eastern residential enclaves, sits a condominium development housing 56 dwelling units adjacent to a 1 hectare forested park. The 5-storey with attic development is arrayed in a contiguous ‘C’ configuration with residences looking out onto a 50m by 75m internal forested garden that spills out onto the adjacent park.

Living spaces extend onto large outdoor rooms nestled amongst tall forest trees set amidst a formal English garden. Terracing gardens and water bodies cascade down onto a lower ground arrival level, opening up the subterranean arrival lobbies and facilities to natural daylight, ventilation and greenery.

From street level, the building is scaled to the proportions of a traditional French Chateau with a stately façade of customized louvers and panelling that envelops the entire form. The louvered façade is inclined to secure privacy for units from street level. The façade finishes extend onto the roof, creating an envelope that is sculptural and abstract.

Internally, the forested garden is cocooned by timber blinds that screen the residences imbuing the tranquil garden spaces with warmth and character. Within the garden, a long pool set centrally along the main axial views of the forested park reflect the tall trees and warm facades of the development. The pool is overlooked by guest and entertainment facilities that house a generous dining room, a cosy lounge and outdoor activity decks.

2023

  • Green Good Design Sustainability Awards - Winner

    Awarded by Chicago Atheneum in the Green Architecture category.

The Grove

The project is a mixed-use development with residential and commercial components in Baiyun District of Guangzhou, China. Located adjacent to the lushly vegetated Baiyun Mountain, the site is privileged with accessible natural scenery, which became the principle driving force of design, shaping the building form and unit arrangement.
To capitalise on the view, the building is planned as an “U” shape to maximise direct vistas towards the landscape. Accessible sky gardens every 4 floors created platforms for social interaction and bring nature closer to residents. Full height green walls sandwich the sky garden, defining the green core of the towers. The landscaped roofs of the low-rise block and commercial buildings maximise green coverage on site and create elevated grounds for activities. Greenery is further introduced to the residents through planter boxes on the building facade that are maintained from the units. A lattice framework weaves together the facade elements of bay window, planter box and balcony, providing the structure on which greenery can proliferate, eventually knitting a variegated natural facade for the buildings.
The commercial component of the development on the ground level is broken up for a more human scale, compatible with typical retail establishments prevalent in Guangzhou. A sunken plaza is introduced to create a quieter gathering space screened off from the noise of the main roads. Driving along the Baiyun Highway, the Baiyun Mixed Development unfolds in front of the spectator’s eyes, with multi level greenery that echoes the lush greenery of the Baiyun Mountain ranges opposite. The organic elements in the project are bold statements against the cookie-cutter style of residential developments in China, and hopefully can help to propel a new wave of sustainable architecture in the country.

Kampung Admiralty

Kampung Admiralty is Singapore’s first building to bring together a mix of public facilities and services under one roof. The traditional approach is for each government agency to have their own plot of land, resulting in standalone buildings. This one-stop integrated complex maximises land use and the benefits of co-location, and is a prototype for meeting the needs of Singapore’s ageing population.

The compact site, adjacent to a train station in medium-rise public housing area, prompted a layered ‘club sandwich’ approach. The result is a “Vertical Kampung (village)”, with a Community Plaza sheltered by a Medical Centre supporting a rooftop Community Park overlooked by apartments for seniors. These three distinct layers juxtapose the various building uses to foster diversity of cross-programming and frees up the ground level for activity generators. The proximity to healthcare, social, commercial and other amenities support inter-generational bonding and promote active ageing in place. The development has proven extremely popular, and was used as the backdrop for the Prime Minister’s 2018 National Day address, as a visual embodiment of Singapore’s aspirations for a more caring community environment.

2020

  • Asia Pacific Leadership in Green Building Awards - Shortlisted

    Leadership in Sustainable Design and Performance (Institutional) category, awarded by World Green Building Council

  • International Urban Project Award - Shortlisted

    Organised by Bauwelt Berlin and WA World Architecture Magazine, Beijing

2019

  • ArcAsia Awards for Architecture - Special Recognition

    Category B-4 (Specialized Buildings) category, awarded by Architects Regional Council Asia (ARCASIA)

  • SGBC-BCA Sustainability Leadership Awards 2019 - Design Award

    Leadership in Sustainable Design and Performance (Institutional), awarded by Singapore Green Building Council and Building and Construction Authority, Singapore

  • 18th SIA Architectural Design Awards 2019 - Design Award

    Commercial (Mixed Development) category, awarded by SIA

  • CTBUH Urban Habitat Award (Single-Site Scale) - Winner

    Awarded by Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, Chicago, Illinois

  • CTBUH Best Tall Mixed-Use Building - Winner

    Awarded by Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, Chicago, Illinois

  • 2019 Green Good Design Award - Winner

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

2018

  • World Architecture Festival - World Building of the Year

    Awarded by World Architecture Festival

  • World Architecture Festival - Shortlisted

    Mixed Use – Completed category, awarded by World Architecture Festival

  • HDB Design Award - Winner

    Completed Project – Mixed Development category, awarded by Housing & Development Board

  • International Chapter Architecture Awards - Commendation

    Commercial Architecture, awarded by The Australian Institute of Architects

2017

  • NParks Skyrise Greenery Award - Winner

    Outstanding and Excellence Award, awarded by National Parks Board, Singapore

2016

  • World Architecture Festival - Winner

    Commercial Mixed-Use (Future Projects) category, awarded by World Architecture Festival

2015

  • Landscape Excellence Assessment Framework (LEAF) - Outstanding Project

    Awarded by National Parks Board, Singapore

  • HDB Innovative Design Award - Winner

    Winner, under “To-Be-Built” Mixed Development category, awarded by Housing & Development Board, Singapore

2006

  • ArcAsia Awards for Architecture - Special Recognition

    Category A-2: Multiple-Family Residential, awarded by ArcAsia