Grant Associates celebrates Gardens by the Bay Success
UK landscape architects to present scheme at World Architecture Festival in October
12 SEPTEMBER 2012, LONDON & SINGAPORE
Summary
Singapore's Gardens by the Bay, the dramatic leisure destination designed by UK landscape architects Grant Associates, has welcomed over one million visitors in its first two months including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Now the scheme has been shortlisted for two World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards, which is to be staged in Singapore for the first time next month (3-5 October 2012).Over one million people have already visited Singapore's Gardens by the Bay since its completion on 29 June 2012 by a design team led by UK landscape architects, Grant Associates.
This includes the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's visit to Gardens by the Bay on Wednesday 12 September as part of their Asia Pacific tour celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubliee. They toured the Cloud Forest Cooled Conservatory, Supertrees Grove, planted a tree and met the design team.
Now, thousands of architects from around the world are being given a prime opportunity to visit Gardens by the Bay, when the World Architecture Festival (WAF) is held in Asia for the first time at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore from 3-5 October 2012. Gardens by the Bay is shortlisted for 2 World Architecture Festival Awards in the Completed Urban Landscape Design and Display categories. Winners will be announced in Singapore on 5th October 2012.
At 101 hectares, Gardens by the Bay will eventually be one of the largest gardens of its kind in the world comprising Bay South, Bay East and Bay Central. Grant Associates was responsible for master planning the first and largest of the three planned gardens, Bay South, which stretches over 54 hectares and opened in June 2012. Bay East and Bay Central are yet to be completed.
A remarkable blend of nature, technology, environmental management and imagination, highlights of Bay South include 18 Supertrees (25-50 metre vertical gardens that light up at night) and two giant Cooled Conservatories, designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, housing Mediterranean and Tropical climate plants. The project also includes a rich variety of Horticultural Gardens, designed around the themes 'Plants and People' and 'Plants and Planet'.
Teamwork key to the success
Alongside lead designers Grant Associates, the British design team for Bay South included Wilkinson Eyre Architects (architects); Atelier Ten (environmental design consultants); Atelier One (structural engineers); Land Design Studio (museum and visitor centre designers); Thomas Matthews (communication designers). Squint Opera (animations) and Buro 4 (design management).
This team was supported by a number of Singapore Consultants including CPG (architecture, civils and structures, M&E), Meinhardt Infrastructure (civils and structures), Langdon Seah (cost consultants), LPA (lighting design), PMLink (project management) and WET (irrigation).
The client, National Parks Board of Singapore, and the Gardens by the Bay project team were instrumental in delivering the world class collections of plants.
A growing force in Asian landscape architecture
Gardens by the Bay is one of a series of significant landscape architecture projects that Grant Associates is currently working on in Singapore and throughout Asia. These include the landscape masterplan for TRX in Kuala Lumpur with Machado and Silvetti Associates; the landscape and public realm design for Capitol in Singapore with Richard Meier and Partners; Raffles City in Shenzhen with Benoy; and an environmental tourism study for Endau Rompin National Park in Malaysia with PEERS Consult.
Relevant links
Quotes
""It's fantastic to see the way both locals and international tourists embrace Gardens by the Bay so warmly. Visitor numbers are excellent. As a practice, were very interested in the principle of multifunctional infrastructure. The Supertrees are a great example of dramatic architectural design, coupled with sustainable technologies. Theyre also stunning backdrops for climbing plants in the daytime, and projected light displays at night. I can see many opportunities to take forward the thinking learned from Gardens by the Bay into future approaches to integrated green, blue and energy infrastructure. Why does everything just have to have one function?"" Andrew Grant, Director, Grant Associates
""At one level, Gardens by the Bay is a dramatic 3-D garden experience, at another it is a sophisticated example of integrated environmental design. It also incorporates a wealth of educational resources, ranging from the intelligent energy and water management systems through to the portrayal of the cultural significance of plants in the Heritage Gardens and the ecological significance in the World of Plants Gardens."" Keith French, Project Director for Gardens by the Bay, Grant Associates,
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About Grant Associates
Grant Associates is a pioneering international landscape architecture practice. Our work reconnects people with nature in insightful, delightful and distinctive ways whilst addressing the global challenges of urbanisation, the climate crisis and biodiversity extinction.
Our design process is underpinned by a knowledge of human behaviour, nature and ecological science combined with innovative design technology. We bring original thinking, creative collaboration and are exploring what regenerative design and the circular economy means to landscape architecture.
Our varied portfolio includes ambitious large-scale, landmark projects through to small, local ventures.