The overcrowding and unhealthiness of cities is one of the most troubling issues of our time. Green areas are sacrificed to make space for profitable properties such as offices, housing and retail space. One small country, however, despite its rapid urban development, has invested a large fortune in creating one of the world’s most spectacular gardens.
Located in Marina Bay, Gardens by the Bay is a key project in bringing to life the Singaporean government’s vision of transforming the island into a ‘city in a garden’. Spanning a total of 101 hectares, the Gardens by the Bay project comprises three distinct waterfront gardens – Bay South, Bay East and Bay Central. Sitting in the heart of the Bay South Garden is the Cooled Conservatory Complex providing a spectacular, all-weather attraction, comprising a 1.28 hectare cool dry conservatory (the ‘Flower Dome’) and an 0.73 hectare cool moist conservatory (the ‘Cloud Forest’). Each has its own distinct characteristics, but both explore the horticulture of those environments most likely to be affected by climate change.
The Cooled Conservatory Complex won the World Building of the Year Award at the prestigious World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards 2012. The project was designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects and Grant Associates. This year, from 2 to 4 October, Singapore will host the World Architecture Festival 2013 at the Marina Bay Sands.
Flower Dome
The Flower Dome showcases those glorious aspects of nature that never fail to inspire viewers’ awe.
The building itself is spectacular and innovative in design, being one of the main attractions of the Bay South Garden. The Flower Dome replicates the cool-dry climate of the Mediterranean regions such as South Africa, California and parts of Spain and Italy. Home to a collection of plants from deserts all over the world, it showcases the adaptations of plants to arid environments.
Cloud Forest
The Cool-Moist Conservatory is a mysterious world veiled in mist. A 35-metre tall mountain covered in lush vegetation shrouding the world’s tallest indoor waterfall showcases plant life from tropical highlands up to 2,000-metres above sea level. A lift is provided to take visitors to the mountaintop before descending via two walkways in the clouds for an aerial view of the canopy and mountainside below.
Supertree Grove
The unique, man-made trees stand majestically to up to 16 stories in height. They can be found all around the Gardens: twelve at the Supertree Grove, while the remaining six are placed within clusters of various trees at the Golden and Silver Gardens.
Adding scale and dimension to the Gardens while marrying the form and function of mature trees, the Supertrees create height to balance the tall building developments in the Marina Bay area. There’s the 128 metre-long walkway 22 metres above the ground that connects two Supertrees at the Supertree Grove. People like to take a stroll here to enjoy a more “bird’s-eye” view of the Gardens.
Sustainability in the Gardens
Underlying the concept of Gardens by the Bay are the principles of environmental sustainability. Much effort was made to plan and design the sustainable cycles of energy and water throughout the Bay South Gardens.
Eleven of the Supertrees are embedded with environmentally sustainable functions. Some have photovoltaic cells on their canopies to harvest solar energy for lighting up the Supertrees at night, while others are the environmental engines for the Cooled Conservatories incorporating devices for water harvesting and storage, air intake, cooling and exhaust.
Such cutting-edge technologies have been proven as energy-efficient solutions in cooling. The suites of technologies can help to achieve at least 30 percent savings in energy consumption, compared to conventional cooling technologies. l
