Oasia Hotel Downtown, Singapore
[Image © Patrick Bingham-Hall]
In December 2016, a new verdant tower of green was completed in Singapore's financial centre.
Oasia Hotel Downtown was designed by WOHA Architects and has been used as a prototype of land use intensification for the urban tropics; presenting an alternative to the sleek skyscrapers of the west.
In June 2018, the Council on Tall Building and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) gave the 16th annual Best Tall Building Worldwide award to the Oasia Hotel Downtown. Beating 48 finalists from 28 countries, the tower was chosen by a panel of architects, judged against every aspect of performance.
Antony Wood, Executive Director and Awards Juror at CTBUH said; "This project won not only because it incorporates 60 stories of green walls along the exterior, but because of its significant commitment to communal space. The tower has given over 40% of its column to open air communal terraces in the sky."
[Image © K. Kopter]
WOHA created a series of different strata, each with its own sky garden, allowing for recreational and social areas throughout the high-rise. Each sky garden is sheltered at high level by the one preceding it, with open sides for formal and visual transparency, and to allow cross-ventilation.
[Image © K. Kopter]
Landscaping forms a major part of the tower's aesthetic, used extensively as an architectural surface treatment. It achieves a Green Plot Ratio of 1,100%, and aims to become a 'haven for birds and animals', encouraging the return of biodiversity into a dense urban space.
[Image © K. Kopter]
[Image © Patrick Bingham-Hall]
The building incorporates 21 different species of 'creepers', with colourful flowers and greenery forming a mosaic on the red aluminium mesh cladding. Instead of a flat roof, the skyscraper is topped by a tropical circular bower.
[Image © Patrick Bingham-Hall]
Images and content courtesy of WOHA Architects.
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
Solar generation in the historic environment
Success requires understanding each site in detail.
Level 6 Design, Construction and Management BSc
CIOB launches first-ever degree programme to develop the next generation of construction leaders.
Open for business as of April, with its 2026 prospectus and new pipeline of housing schemes.
The operational value of workforce health
Keeping projects moving. Incorporating unplanned absence and the importance of health, in operations.
A carbon case for indigenous slate
UK slate can offer clear embodied carbon advantages.
Costs and insolvencies mount for SMEs, despite growth
Construction sector under insolvency and wage bill pressure in part linked to National Insurance, says report.
The place for vitrified clay pipes in modern infrastructure
Why vitrified clay pipes are reclaiming their role in built projects.
Research by construction PR consultancy LMC published.
Roles and responsibilities of domestic clients
ACA Safety in Construction guide for domestic clients.
Fire door compliance in UK commercial buildings
Architect and manufacturer gives their low down.
Plumbing and heating for sustainability in new properties
Technical Engineer runs through changes in regulations, innovations in materials, and product systems.
Awareness of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
What CBAM is and what to do about it.
The new towns and strategic environmental assessments
12 locations of the New Towns Taskforce reduced to 7 within the new towns draft programme and open consultation.
Buildings that changed the future of architecture. Book review.
The Sustainability Pathfinder© Handbook
Built environment agency launches free Pathfinder© tool to help businesses progress sustainability strategies.
Government outcome to the late payment consultation, ECA reacts.