Tang: One of the design constraints of PPVC is its modularity. So, whenever we design a new project, we experiment with new ways of doing things. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
Tang Kok Thye, associate partner of ADDP Architects, has long been an advocate of sustainability. He has been active in the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC), a non-profit organisation that works to advance sustainability in Singapore’s built environment.
SGBC and the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) worked together to develop the Singapore Green Building Master Plan. Launched in March 2021, it has become part of the Singapore Green Plan 2030.
Tang was appointed president of the SGBC from April 2021 to March 2023 and is on the SGBC board. His appointment dovetailed with the launch of the Green Building Master Plan.
Read also: ADDP’s Tang Kok Thye: Rethinking condo design, post-Covid-19
This is Tang’s second year on the EdgeProp Singapore Excellence Awards judging panel. The theme for this year’s awards focused on sustainability, a topic that Tang has been deeply passionate about for many years. Throughout his career, he has actively encouraged his developer clients to strive for the highest possible sustainability standards, such as achieving the BCA Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy Building rating.
One of the projects in this year’s awards that he found innovative was Capitaland Ascott Trust’s lyf one-north at Nepal Park. The 324-unit co-living building was built from precast concrete with sun-shading ledges and fins to reduce façade solar heat gain. It also featured windows inspired by washing machines. “The design was very refreshing,” says Tang. “It attracts young people to one-north and you can feel the energy of the community there.”
Capitaland Ascott Trust’s lyf one-north at Nepal Park was one of the most innovative projects that won recognition at the EdgeProp Excellence Awards 2023. (Picture: The Ascott)
Tang adds: “Co-living was eye-opening, not just for me but for the other judges too. It made us realise that young people today think very differently from us, and when designing spaces, we need to adapt to their needs.”
Two other noteworthy projects from a design and sustainability angle were the 270-unit Terra Hill at Pasir Panjang in the south and the 816-unit The Continuum at Thiam Siew Avenue in the east. Both freehold projects were jointly developed by Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Developments and won the inaugural Top Sustainability Developer award by CPG Corp.
At Terra Hill, the developers capitalised on the hilltop location and the surrounding greenery. The nine low-rise, five-storey blocks hug the contours of the sloping site terrain, with blocks facing a north-south orientation to maximise cross ventilation and unblocked views. “From the model, you can tell they did a good job despite a challenging terrain,” says Tang.
He was also impressed with the layout of the four- and five-bedroom units at The Prestige Collection at Terra Hill. The units are spacious, fitted with top-of-the-line appliances and amenities with the convenience of private lift lobby for residents. “Such units will be attractive for people who want to purchase to stay for the long-term and want a freehold tenure,” observes Tang.
At The Continuum, the developers have decided to build a mega condo project of 816 units on two parallel plots separated by Thiam Siew Avenue. An overhead bridge will link the two sites. “However, each site is designed as a self-contained condo with many shared facilities,” says Tang.
Projects like The Continuum struck a cord with Tan this year. This condominium vercome the challenge of a split site with a overhead pedestrian bridge for residents. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
Both projects also attained the highest sustainability rating — BCA Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy –based on the stricter conditions of the Singapore Green Building Master Plan 2021.
However, as these are private sites sold en bloc, the developers do not need to use the prefabricated prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC) method, with 3D moduless built offsite and assembled onsite.
ADDP was a first mover in PPVC, having designed the 638-unit executive condo, The Brownstone by City Developments (CDL), the first large-scale residential development using PPVC, and completed in 2017.
At the 716-unit Whistler Grand, also developed by CDL, the project was also designed by ADDP and built using PPVC. The twin 36-storey residential towers were raised 10m above ground, freeing up the site for landscaping and communal facilities. To maximise the view of the sea and Ulu Pandan Reservoir, two sky terraces with quadruple-volume ceilings were introduced on the 24th and 30th storeys of Whistler Grand’s twin towers.
“Whistler Grand was the first time we introduced sky terraces within a high-rise residential tower using PPVC,” says Tang. “One of the design constraints of PPVC is its modularity. So, whenever we design a new project, we experiment with new ways of doing things.”
At EL Development’s Blossoms by the Park, the design challenge for ADDP was a pedestrian thoroughfare cutting through the site leading to the one-north public park and a shortcut to the Buona Vista MRT interchange station (for the East-West and Circle Lines).
ADDP incorporated pedestrian connections throughout EL Development’s Blossoms by the Park. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
Under the one-north masterplan and design guidelines, the boundary between public and private space must be fenceless. ADDP capitalised on the sloping terrain to create a terraced facilities deck on the second level. The public plaza and pedestrian thoroughfare on the first level will be landscaped, with the retail units fronting the pedestrian pathway. Both Blossoms by the Park and Whistler Grand won multiple awards this year.
Another multiple-award winner in this year’s awards was Lentor Modern by GuocoLand. It is also designed by ADDP and uses PPVC. The mixed-use development is the only project at Lentor Hills estate that is integrated with the Lentor MRT Station on the Thomson-East Coast Line.
It has 605 residential units across three 25-storey towers and sits on a 96,000 sq ft commercial podium fronting a public plaza.
Lentor Modern was the first site to be released for sale at Lentor Hills estate, a new private residential estate in the Lentor area, off Yio Chu Kang Road. And it’s considered “the most premium site”, says Tang. He reckons it was sold first for the amenities in the mixed-use development to be completed ahead of the other residential developments.
In the future, the mall and public plaza at Lentor Modern will become “a lively community space for the neighbourhood”, notes Tang. To make Lentor Modern more sensitive to its surroundings, ADDP has reduced the use of reflective glass surfaces at Lentor Modern “so the birds don’t fly into them,” he adds.