A DIGITAL WORKFLOW

By disrupting traditional design and construction of space frames with a fully digital workflow, the pavilion could easily take on complex forms. A parametric script calculated the angles of the bars and nodes needed to achieve its geometry and generated digital files for 3D printing.

EASY TO INSTALL

Each node in the pavilion was printed with rivet threads to allow for quick and simple assembly. It is one example of how the technology can integrate multiple components to enable new and more free-form designs.

TAILORED DESIGN

The pavilion consists of 54 bespoke nodes and 216 bars of different lengths and sections. The customised parts give the design the most optimal configuration and distribution of material.

Carlos Bañón

REINVENTING A TYPOLOGY

The architects researched into a variety of courtyard houses to arrive at their design. They divided the house into a matrix of 12 rectangles made up of a series of courtyards and cloisters. They are covered with a series of inverted pitched roofs that allows an accessible roof terrace, daylight and ventilation.

REINVENTING A TYPE

The architects researched into a variety of courtyard houses to arrive at their design. They divided the house into a matrix of 12 rectangles made up of a series of courtyards and cloisters. They are covered with a series of inverted-pitched roofs (overleaf) to allow daylight and ventilation.

ROOF, HOUSE AND LAND

To allow its inhabitants to fully experience the vast 4,500 sq m land, the house is kept to a single storey. The communal living block leads to a back garden with a pool and a smaller annexe for private rooms.

CONNECTED TO NATURE

The house’s multiple courtyards have helped the inhabitants gain a deeper appreciation of nature and learn to live comfortably with the climate.

THROUGH THE ROOF

A single craftsman constructed the ceiling of the house with Merbau timber. The sloping design brings light, ventilation and rainwater into the courtyards while it shapes and differentiates the different cloisters within the house.

THROUGH THE ROOF

A single craftsman constructed the ceiling of the house with Merbau timber. The sloping design brings light, ventilation and rainwater into the courtyards while it shapes and differentiates the different cloisters within the house.

SIMPLE LUXURY

The single-storey house and its understated design offer a new interpretation of what it means to live luxuriously in the tropics.

(L-R) Sarah Ng, Alan Tay and Seetoh Kum Loon

EDUCATING THE STATELESS

The school in Sabah, Malaysia, serves children of migrant labourers who have no access to formal education because of their legal status. There are an estimated 50,000 such children in the state.

ECONOMICAL AND FLEXIBLE

To keep operating cost low for the client, all classrooms face the river to let in light and a natural draft. The open, flexible spaces can be easily configured for students of multiple age groups to be taught in the same classroom.

ECONOMICAL AND FLEXIBLE

To keep operating cost low for the client, all classrooms face the river to let in light and a natural draft. The open, flexible spaces can be easily configured for students of multiple age groups to be taught in the same classroom.

ECONOMICAL AND FLEXIBLE

To keep operating cost low for the client, all classrooms face the river to let in light and a natural draft. The open, flexible spaces can be easily configured for students of multiple age groups to be taught in the same classroom.

SUSTAINABLY DESIGNED

The school harnesses its environment to be self-sustaining. A water source was created by digging up a rainwater harvest pond and installing a larger gutter on site to collect rainwater from the roofs. There are also solar panels to power lighting during cloudy days as well as computers and night camps.

KIT-OF-PARTS

For ease of future expansion, the school was designed as a set of modular components that were made from locally available materials. They include five decommissioned shipping containers that act as an extended foundation, classroom units constructed out of recycled timber and a galvanised iron roof.

KIT-OF-PARTS

For ease of future expansion, the school was designed as a set of modular components that were made from locally available materials. They include five decommissioned shipping containers that act as an extended foundation, classroom units constructed out of recycled timber and a galvanised iron roof.

LEARNING FROM TRADITION

The school is located next to a river in the Borneo rainforests where erosion and flooding risks are increasing because of deforestation. Thus, it is raised from the ground like traditional longhouses on stilts in Sabah.

(L-R) Prasoon Kumar and Robert Verrijt

VISUAL TRICKS

Based on the learning pedagogy of “See, Think, Wonder”, EYEYAH! employs a variety of methods to educate its readers. For instance, this illustration by Matt C Stokes on a future powered by devices is hidden with surprises and meanings to train observation skills.

EYE ON SOCIETY

The educational platform uses a visual approach to deconstruct social issues and develop creative thinking. For the issue on Trash , Singapore illustrator Ann Gee Neo was commissioned to highlight its impact on the Arctic.

KIDS LOVE IT

Since its launch in 2019, many children have encountered the educational platform through its print editions as well as exhibitions. Its worksheets have also been featured in the South China Morning Post’s educational newspaper, Posties, in Hong Kong.

MULTIMEDIA EXPERIENCE

EYEYAH! is published in a variety of formats depending on the topic. For its Internet issue, it created an interactive iPad app that was listed by Apple as the top free app of the week when it was launched.

EATING TOGETHER

This Senior Activity Centre uses a community kitchen and living room concept to bring together stay-alone senior residents in Marine Terrace estate.

EVERYDAY INTERACTIONS

The centre is organised around the different cooking rituals, from preparing ingredients to cooking, dining and washing up. This creates opportunities for its users to interact with one another.

OPEN DOOR POLICY

Full-height doors, which are kept fully open during the facility’s operation, are a key design feature. It creates an inviting environment, unlike similar centres elsewhere which are typically enclosed.

ACTIVE AGEING

Unlike traditional aged living facilities which usually have muted colour schemes, the centre adopts a palette of vibrant colours. Various icons were also designed to help seniors of different language groups communicate easily with one another.

VOID NO MORE

The centre’s open design retains the original character of the void deck, a common feature in public housing estates in Singapore. It offers a prototype for transforming similar spaces across the island into ageing-in-place facilities.

NATURE MEETS SHOPPING

With its spectacular five-storey garden, 40-metre-high indoor waterfall and over 280 shops and restaurants, Jewel takes the Changi Airport experience to new heights.

GATEWAY OF CONNECTIONS

Its torus geometry helps Jewel to connect to the airport’s different terminals. At each of the cardinal axes, a gateway garden with a public artwork orientates visitors and offers visual connections to the surroundings.

GATEWAY OF CONNECTIONS

Its torus geometry helps Jewel to connect to the airport’s different terminals. At each of the cardinal axes, a gateway garden with a public artwork orientates visitors and offers visual connections to the surroundings.

A NEW GEM

Jewel replaces a former carpark in front of the airport’s Terminal 1 and is connected to Terminals 2 and 3 by a series of pedestrian bridges. Its distinctive façade is made from over 9,300 custom cut double-glazed panels – none of which is the same.

CANOPY PARK

At the top of the 10-storey Jewel, of which five levels are underground, and five aboveground, is an over 14,000 sq m garden. It contains various attractions including net structures suspended within the trees, a planted hedge maze and a hanging glass-bottom bridge walk.

NATURE PARADISE

The five-storey terrace garden has approximately 2,000 trees and 100,000 shrubs specially selected to thrive in Jewel’s controlled subtropical environment. Visitors can walk on two trails that cut through the “valley” and also catch glimpses of the landscape from the shopping area through the “canyons”.

(L-R) Jaron Lubin, Charu Kokate and Moshe Safdie

FUNCTIONALLY GREEN

The lush landscaping not only gives back greenery that was lost as a result of the development. It also insulates the rooftop to cool the building, serves as an urban farm for residents and creates a welcoming environment overall.

CONVENIENT AND COMFORTING

Residents of the complex may visit the medical centre located on the third and fourth levels to consult a specialist or get a simple day surgery done. It also looks out to a garden to help calm anxious patients.

CONVENIENT AND COMFORTING

Residents of the complex may visit the medical centre located on the third and fourth levels to consult a specialist or get a simple day surgery done. It also looks out to a garden to help calm anxious patients.

CLUB SANDWICH APPROACH

The complex’s different programmes are organised as horizontal layers within a singular structure. It is a highly efficient design for land-scarce Singapore.

INTERGENERATIONAL BONDING

The complex has a childcare centre and playground, which are co-located on the same level as the senior care centre to allow the different generations to interact and bond.

A NEW MODEL

The three-storey preschool in Punggol Shore is designed for up to 1,000 children aged two months to four years. Its large capacity compared to what had previously existed, called on the architects to come up with an entirely new design.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

The preschool’s built-up area of 8,400 sq m houses varying spaces for children of different age groups to learn through experience. This includes a water play area and an artificial turf playground for infants.

CIRCLE OF CARE

A circular geometry resolved a variety of safety issues: high vehicular traffic in the mornings could flow smoothly; the preschool could be segmented for parts to be closedoff in case of a disease outbreak; and it also allowed for airflow and environmental comfort.

BRIDGE TO NATURE

At the centre of the preschool is a three-point triangular bridge covered by a large Teflon canopy for children to learn and play in a semi-outdoor environment. Underneath it are various shared facilities including a multipurpose hall.

ROOF OF PLAY

A variety of play areas on the rooftop offer children a safe space for exploratory experiences. It also offers residents of the surroundings blocks pleasant views of the activities.

DESIGNING FOR CHILDREN

Various playful details make the preschool fun for learning. Each of the classrooms have a coloured mosaic floor tile that form a rainbow ring together. They also have animal signages made out of geometric shapes. Besides taking the stairs, the children can also slide their way down.

(L-R) Eugene Aw Ee Loo, Rathika Florence Davamoni, Melvin H J Tan, Ho Tzu Yin, Joseph Lau Tse Kit, Jason Bok Sang Bock, Yeo Lye Niah and Matthew Yeo Jing Guang

A DOUBLE TAKE

This is no convenience store but an exhibition on how the culture of convenience gives rise to our wasteful and unsustainable habits.

ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS

The exhibition showcases various everyday products with tags outlining the environmental problem as well as two prices. The “Price of Convenience” shows what Earth is paying for our wasteful habits, while the other shows the price of the sustainable alternative on display.

CHEEKY APPROPRIATION

The design of the exhibition adheres closely to that of convenience stores, from the branding graphics to the way products are displayed. It creates an immersive environment for the message to shine through.

CHEEKY APPROPRIATION

The design of the exhibition adheres closely to that of convenience stores, from the branding graphics to the way products are displayed. It creates an immersive environment for the message to shine through.

SPREADING THE WORD

The exhibition was originally commissioned in 2019 for the inaugural exhibition of the Temasek Shophouse, a social impact hub in Singapore. Two years later, it popped up at the National Design Centre.

SPREADING THE WORD

The exhibition was originally commissioned in 2019 for the inaugural exhibition of the Temasek Shophouse, a social impact hub in Singapore. Two years later, it popped up at the National Design Centre.

A LIGHT TOUCH

Mindful of how the public might have already been overwhelmed by the same messages about sustainability, the designers sought out a more subtle and unexpected way to communicate the issue instead.

A LIGHT TOUCH

Mindful of how the public might have already been overwhelmed by the same messages about sustainability, the designers sought out a more subtle and unexpected way to communicate the issue instead.

(L-R): Creshelle Padilla, Jennifer Wiriawan, Steven Koswara, Catherine Phua, Astri Nursalim, Fely Anne Ang, Pann Lim and Gian Jonathan