A luxury residential tower named Park Nova in Singapore, will feature
a lush vertical garden inspired by the city’s greenery. Singapore is fast
carving a name for herself as the vertical garden city of the world with
countless high rise buildings with such design. PLP’s biophilic design will
blur the line between indoor living areas and outdoor spaces. The architect
determines to redefine metropolitan living by promoting health and wellbeing, a
thing that was not associated with living in the concrete jungle in most people’s
minds.
Set in Singapore’s coveted Orchard neighbourhood, formerly home to
orchards, Park Nova tower was inspired by the area’s history and lush green
character, striving to maintain and further enhance this feature. The building
is elevated above the tree canopy on slender columns. Optimal shading and
ventilation are achieved by the rotated undulating floor plates which are
arranged to form three wings.
The 21-storey building contains 54 apartments and hosts a
variety of resident amenity spaces. Each apartment benefits from a 270degree
panoramic view, and the green terraces offer a natural noise barrier. The
project features a sky-terrace on the 14th floor, which hosts a gym and a
lounge, together with a vast outdoor space, that marks the building’s
silhouette.
Park Nova is PLP’s first residential high rise building, marrying the
practice’s extensive knowledge in residential design and the vast experience
with tall buildings. The London-based studio with a Tokyo office is currently
designing several mixed-use projects in Singapore and, as a result, is
considering establishing a South East Asia office.
The Light City is a highly-acclaimed integrated waterfront development
in Penang, Malaysia. It has gone through many design revision over the years
and was put on hold last year due to Covid-19.
Construction works have finally commenced on Phase 1 of this mega
undertaking by IJM Perennial Development Sdn. Bhd. ("IJM Perennial")
- a joint venture between IJM Corporation Berhad ("IJM") and
Perennial Holdings Private Limited ("Perennial").
Situated adjacent to an Expressway that connect the city to the
industrial parks at the Southern part of the island, it is easily accessible by
both residents and travellers. The Penang Bridge, International Airport and
Ferry Terminal are within a 10km radius, and even the proposed The Light LRT
Station will be located next to the site.
The Light City spans a total gross floor area (GFA) of over 4.1mil sq ft
and will be developed in two phases into a unique waterfront precinct.
Key components of the project includes the Penang Waterfront
Convention Centre (PWCC) which will be the largest in the state with 270,000sq.ft.
of Gross Floor Area, a 1.5mil sq.ft. retail mall, 34-storey hotel and office
towers, as well as two residential apartments - Mezzo and Essence.
Phase I comprises the PWCC, 1mil sq.ft. of the retail mall, the hotel
and office tower, and Mezzo. Construction commenced on Oct 1, 2020 and is
expected to complete progressively from December 2024 onwards.
Officially named The Waterfront Shoppes, the retail mall will offer
new-to-market shopping, dining, entertainment and lifestyle experiences set
against the architectural heritage of Penang.
Features include an exclusive Beverly Hills-inspired rodeo drive with
external flagship stores lining the street. The F&B zones will feature an
open concept gourmet food hall, food street and large-format dining concepts.
Meanwhile, al-fresco waterfront dining outlets provide diners with the
perfect setting to unwind with an extensive selection of cafes, eateries and
restaurants framed by clear views of the sea and the majestic Penang Bridge.
Located adjacent to the retail mall and seamlessly connected to it and
the PWCC will be a luxurious four-star hotel catering to Meetings, Incentives,
Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) delegates and leisure guests alike.
The 500-room hotel will also have smart security and access features
such as mobile app check-in, keyless entry and room automation control to
create a seamless guest experience.
The Light City aspires to be the first smart city in Penang. A leading
converged solutions provider in Malaysia has been appointed to integrate the
latest information and communications (ICT) infrastructure and turn it into a
5G city.
This affords MICE delegates, shoppers, hotel guests, office tenants
and residents optimal online connectivity and high-quality voice, data and
digital solutions.
The first time I looked at this photo, I thought to myself: “What a
great rendering job!” Upon closer look at more photos, I then realized that
this is an actual building that is built! The uniqueness of this building no doubt
is its twisting form. It is a rather unusual form to be adopted for an
apartment building. The form is not designed purely for aesthetic reasons but
there are logical driving force behind it.
The architect designed this form to achieve 4 main objectives:
• To integrate the North / South pyramidal profile of the Building
Volume defined with the urban setbacks stipulated by the Municipality of
Taipei.
• As the suspended open-air gardens is not included in the floor area
ratio, a dramatic cascades of these gardens is achieved since the planted
balconies surface area can exceed the limit of the required 10%.
• Provide panoramic views of Taipei skyline to each inhabitants. Taipei
101 tower cab be seen from this building.
• Provide privacy to each apartment by avoiding direct vision axes. As
the tower moves up every floor is rotated by 4.5 degrees clockwise to a total
of 90 degrees. The tower looks different when viewed from different angles.
« Tao Zhu Yin Yuan » tower is self-sufficient energy wise. The “Tao
Zhu Yin Yuan” tower is also inspired by the structure of double helix DNA
(Deoxyribonucleic acid) which symbolises source of life, dynamism and twinning.
Every double helix is represented in the project by two housing units forming a
full level.
To achieve its Anti-Global Warming and Carbon-Absorbing Ecosystem
objectives, Tao Zhu Yin Yuan covers its open spaces with trees, planting
approximately 23,000 trees, shrubs and plants on the ground floor garden, the
balconies and terraces of each household. It is estimated that the annual
carbon absorption of this project could reach up to 130 tons with a green
coverage of 246%, which is nearly 5 times higher than required by local regulation.
Professional botanists carefully selected and planted multiple species of trees
with better carbon absorption capabilities to improve the air quality. The
growing plants on balconies provide oxygen, moisture environment, also mitigate
the noise from surroundings. In addition, the tower integrates natural
ventilation chimneys filtering the air inside the central core, rainwater
recycle, wireless monitor control of LED lighting, fiber optic connection,
light guide system and solar/wind power to achieve energy saving and carbon
reduction. The double skin façade at the central core of the building extracts
air at ground level by heating it in a specially adapted glass greenhouse at
the base before letting the air pass through a series of filters and releasing
clean air at the top. The heating at the base of the tower is done using solar
energy. Think of the tower as a giant air purifier smacked right in the centre
of a big city!
Solar panels is designed to integrate into the aesthetic of the roof.
Besides protecting the environment, the design team of this project
also has to consider earthquake resistant. The structural design is inspired by
the body of a skier in the design. The central core of the tower is the human
body. The 5‐meter truss structure above 21F are the two arms. The megacolumns
on the two sides are the ski poles. A suspended structural system and a
Vierendeel truss system (a set of beams for every two floors) transfer all the
weight via the arms (beams) to the body (central core) and then down to the
foundation. The result is a one‐of‐a‐kind structural design that combines the
science of mechanics and the art of aesthetics.
Tao Zhu Yin Yuan is a building that co-exists with the environment. The
tower is a huge carbon absorbing Vertical Forest which sets the benchmark for
designing eco-friendly buildings in urban environment. This tower no doubt has
successfully put Taiwan on the map in terms of fighting global warming. It is a
perfect example of action speaks louder than words. Let’s hope that more
architects worldwide can learn a valuable lesson from this project.
GEORGE TOWN: IJM Land Bhd will restart work on the stalled RM4.5bil The Light City project, which is located next to the Penang Bridge, in August.
IJM Perennial Development Sdn Bhd general manager Tan Hun Beng said the construction work was supposed to start in April.
IJM Perennial is a joint-venture company betweenIJM Corp Bhd and Singapore-based Perennial Real Estate Holdings Ltd to oversee the project.
“But because of the movement control order (MCO), we have to postpone it to August, ” Tan added.
According to Tan, the details of the contract for the project are now being finalised.
“The contract should be awarded in July to the group’s construction subsidiary, Jurutama Sdn Bhd.
“The time is right to start the project because the drop in fuel price will lower the construction cost, ” he said.
Tan added that the project, scheduled for completion within a four-year period, might take longer because of the new SOPs that needed to be adhered to in light of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Last December, IJM Perennial signed with OCBC Bank Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd, CIMB Bank Bhd and Malayan Banking Bhd for a loan facility of over RM1bil to finance the project.
Initially, IJM Land had planned to start work on The Light City in 2018, but given the property market slowdown, the group held back the implementation of the project to revise the plan.
“We made revisions so that the project could be launched in two phases, according to the pace of market demand.
“The new plan can now accommodate more food and beverage outlets and possibly, an experiential themed park in phase two, ” Tan said.
In the revised plan, the first phase will have a mall with a 680,000-sq-ft net lettable area, the Penang Waterfront Convention Centre, a four-star hotel with 500 rooms, offices and the Mezzo residential condominiums.
The second phase will have a 300,000-sq-ft mall, a five-star hotel with 250 rooms, offices and the Essence residential condominiums.
“The work on the first phase should create some 1,000 jobs for the local construction industry.
“The first phase is scheduled for completion in 2024, ” Tan said.
Tan said the sales of the Mezzo condominiums and the occupancy of the mall would determine the commencement of the second phase.
“If the response to the condominium and the mall is good, we will start the second phase as soon as possible, ” said Tan.
“The retail mall and the hotel business would be well supported by the convention centre, which is expected to bring in the crowds.
“The meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition market will drive the demand for the convention centre space.
“Our location is well-centralised around the airport, free industrial zone, George Town city and the mainland. This is also an added advantage, ” he added.
IJM is one of Malaysia’s leading conglomerates with businesses in construction, property, plantations, industry and infrastructure. It has operations in 10 countries, with the primary focus on Malaysia, India, the United Arab Emirates, China and Indonesia.
Perennial is an integrated real estate and healthcare company headquartered and listed in Singapore.
As a real estate owner, developer and manager, Perennial focuses strategically on large-scale, mixed-use developments.
It has operations in China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Ghana with a combined portfolio spanning over 65 million sq ft.
Reflections at Keppel Bay’s mesmerising forms epitomises
Daniel Libeskind’s signatorial designs with his first-ever residential
development in Asia. The form is so unreal that you won't know whether you are looking at real buildings or computer graphics. This project is an icon for its kind in this part of the world.
Ascending like a symphony of chords with its soaring towers and
low-rise apartment blocks, this veritable masterpiece commands
breathtaking views of the sea and city skyline.
At its centre stage is a 100,000 square-feet reflecting pool skirting
the multiple towers. A host of lifestyle amenities, such as an
Olympic-length swimming pool and a state-of-the-art gymnasium, provide
stylish environment for leisure. The 5 star facilities also provide great excuse to invite friends for social gatherings.
Within 6 sky towers and 11 fan-shaped villa apartment blocks, 1,129 well-appointed luxury homes ranging from 2- to 4-bedroom
apartments and penthouses; including an exquisite grand penthouse with 6
bedrooms and an entertainment lounge spanning 13,300 square-feet.
City of Dreams is an upcoming development of freehold
luxury lifestyle suite at Seri Tanjung Pinang, the new waterfront of Penang. The residential units
come with size ranging from 1,000 sq.ft. onwards, with a well equipped
kitchen feature. Wide range of luxury
facilities such as private lift, private lobby, yacht services, Rolls
Royce limousine, private bowling alley, private cinema, sky lounge, sky
pool and many more are available for residents to enjoy.
This is a 40-storey high-rise development comprising:
7 level of car parks and facilities floor with wellness concept
Ole Scheeren designed a skyscraper Angkasa Raya for Kuala Lumpur. The
special feature: A four-story high tropical garden in the middle of the
tower.
The Dutch Architect Ole Scheeren, formerly
a partner at OMA, designed as a 268 m high skyscraper called Angkasa
Raya for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that will be situated next to the
Petronas Twin Towers – the tallest buildings in the world between 1998
and 2004.
The Angkasa Raya is made up of three cubic volumes that are meant to
appear floating above open, horizontal layers. The office of Ole
Scheeren planned the ground levels to form an “interconnected spiral of
both pedestrian and vehicular circulation and draw the diversity of the
streetscape into the building.”
The program of the tower includes shops, cafes, car parks and prayer
rooms all to be placed in the lower levels of the building will house. A
restaurant, bar and an infinity swimming pool will be located amongst
the garden floors. 280 apartments will occupied the stories above the
garden floors, while a luxury hotel will be located inside a smaller
adjoining block.
As the Buro Ole Scheeren explains, the quality of the Angkasa Raya
lies in the garden floors and the environmentally responsible design:
“Lush green gardens and terraces offer intimacies within the extreme
urban density of the surrounding metropolis, while carefully shaded
facades and a naturally ventilated atrium underline the environmental
responsibility of the design.”
The Imperial Tower designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture will be Mumbai’s tallest building, a slender 116-story, 400-meter residential skyscraper. Sky gardens of the tower are designed
to "dampen" wind force around the tower helping the structure to stand
strong against any lateral movements.
The skyscraper is designed to incorporate environmentally friendly features such as rainwater harvesting,
gray water recycling and exterior cladding that can limit solar heat gain. The design also includes the possibility of the apartments’
kitchens and bathrooms to be prefabricated by a local factory.
This is a development that purely focus on maximizing the total selling units in order to achieve greatest profit from the land. The design is bland and offers no innovative solution to the current rising population of our modern cities. Communal gardens are located at the top of the towers where it is not easily accessible for those people living at the lower levels.
Situated close to the popular Straits Quay in Tanjung Tokong, Penang, the only benefit of this project is that it will increase the critical mass of the area and enhance commercial activities of the vicinity.
Another prestigious project by the green architect Dr. Ken Yeang. Although his UMNO Tower's giant mast was blown away by strong wind and fell to the ground causing 2 deaths recently, this does not stop Dr. Ken Yeang from continuing to produce quality design that is suitable for the tropical climate. The beauty of this design comes from its sleek form with dynamic horizontal lines interspersed by vertical landscape; an architectural feature that is consistent in most of his work.
Courtyard houses can be found in most traditional Chinese cities. The courtyard ensures adequate lighting and ventilation as it brings in nature into the inner core of a house. It is also an element that ensures good Feng Shui is captured within the house.
By stacking the courtyard houses concept vertically, the Chinese are exploring new type of architecture that may change the way of life of its people. However, this concept only works best at one level, when you have multiple layers on top of another, natural lighting will always be compromised to the lower level. It will take a few more experiments to make this concept work to suit the high rise living of modern China.
A taste of Singapore's HDB flats in Penang. The strongest idea of this proposal is the linear parks that connect the towers at various levels. The parks help to break down the communities with each tower and make the communal space more accessible to the residents at a shorter travelling distance.
The only concern to this scheme is the substantial amount of curtain class as depicted in the facade of the buildings. This may increase the energy load of the buildings and make them less environmentally sustainable.
