Singapore is filled with concrete jungles and unique architecture, and I am sure most of you have heard that our buildings are award-winning. But what award did they win exactly? Here’s some International Awards won by our buildings so you can show off your knowledge to your friends.
1. The Interlace
World Building Of The Year – 2015 World Architecture Festival
Envisaged as the “vertical village”, The Interlace is a condominium located at Depot Road. The entire condo estate is built from 31 “stacked” residential blocks, which each block being 6 stories tall. The condominium won World Building Of The Year at the 2015 World Architecture Festival and was designed in collaboration with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture and Buro Ole Scheeren. The festival director commented that the design was an “alternative way of thinking about developments” and loved that it contrasted from the usual “generic tower clusters”.
2. Kampung Admiralty
World Building Of The Year – 2018 World Architecture Festival
Designed as a housing complex for senior citizens in the northern part of Singapore, the building won the World Building Of The Year at the 2018 World Architecture Festival. The building took on a “Club Sandwich” approach, according to the building’s architecture firm, WOHA. The approach makes the building seem like a whole from the outside, but actually comprises of several services across various floors.
The floors are divided into 3 strata – upper, middle, bottom – and contains 104 units specially designed for elderly residents. these units are set across two 11-storey high blocks. The judges of the festival loved that the building dealt with the “universal condition of longevity and health treatments, social housing provision and commercial space”. They even felt that this project has “potential lessons for cities and countries across the world”. Now I would not be surprised seeing a “Kampung Admiralty” popping up in Europe. 😊
3. School Of The Arts (SOTA)
Jørn Utzon International Award – 2011 Australia National Architecture Award
RIBA International Award For Excellence – 2011 RIBA International Awards
An arts school deserves an equally artistic environment to nurture creative minds. So it is no wonder that the building housing the School Of The Arts has also won awards. The school building was designed by architecture firm WOHA and has been recognised at 2 international events. It was the Jørn Utzon Award at the 2011 National Architecture Awards in Australia, and the 2011 RIBA International Award for Excellence at an awards programme managed by the Royal Institute of British Architecture.
The jury from National Architecture Awards in Australia felt that the SOTA building has “fulfilled a complex brief, brought light into a deep plan, created neutral territories in which to demystify the arts…”. The building was designed as a “machine for winds”, where the podium channels would intensify the wind breezes to create comfortable gathering spaces for the students and the public. I am sure we can attest to that as we sit on the infamous SOTA steps to chill with our friends. XD
4. PARKROYAL on Pickering
Gold Winner – 2014 FIABCI World Prix d’excellence
This hotel has won a whole lot of international awards since it was first built. With its lush greenery and hanging gardens, people sometimes forget that it is a hotel. Out of all the awards it has won, the one that’s known is the gold award they won at the 2014 FIABCI World Prix d’Excellence Awards (Hotel Category). The FIABCI World Prix d’Excellence is an international benchmark of excellence It is bestowed on the world’s most distinctive projects that have demonstrated success in their separate areas.
The hotel was designed to be an extension of Hong Lim Park. By adding plant covered balconies and terraces, the architect firm, WOHA, was able to create about 15,000 square metres of greenery around the hotel, almost double the area of the building site. The contoured surfaces on the building’s podium, modelled after natural landscapes, complements the greenery on the surface, blending the greenery and the concrete into a single art piece.
5. Pinnacle@Duxton
Best Tall Building (Asia and Australasia) – 2010 Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
Pinnacle@Duxton for the most part has been the ideal HDB dream for many. Sky-high units with sky gardens, fantastic views, and great location. It is the dream HDB unit for many Singaporeans. Completed in 2009, it was conferred the Best Tall Building (Asia and Australasia) at the 2010 Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) Annual Awards Programme.
The CTBUH Annual Awards Programme recognises projects and individuals that have made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of tall buildings and the urban environment. This also means that the buildings that have won and were highlighted, represent the best qualities and innovations in the typology. And Pinnacle@Duxton was our shining glory back in 2010.
Being 50-storeys high with seven blocks that is linked by and known as the World’s longest sky gardens on the 26th and 50th floor respectively, a continuous green space and a variety of “façade elements such as bay windows, planter boxes and balconies were arranged in a circuit board-like pattern” to create the development’s unique and distinctive look.
Singapore is filled with award-winning and unique architecture and even if you weren’t lucky enough to live or study in one of the above mentioned locations, you can always book a staycation at Parkroyal at Pickering for a short stay and meet your friends at the steps of SOTA (when the situation improves of course).
