Celia Choong
Senior Marketing Consultant,Singapore
Designed like a plant growing towards the sky, CapitaGreen, the latest landmark in Singapore’s Central Business District (CBD) is officially opened.
A stunningly sculptural building with organic influences, CapitaGreen is a joint development by CapitaLand, CapitaLand Commercial Trust and Mitsubishi Estate Asia, and was designed by Pritzker laureate, Toyo Ito. Long characterised by concrete buildings, CapitaGreen is an unconventional addition to Singapore’s CBD.
Working together with CapitaLand and Toyo Ito, Arup provided façade and environmentally sustainable design, and vertical transportation consultancy to create design solutions that help achieve the sustainability aspirations. This is articulated through the use of sky gardens on three levels and the Sky Forest, which creates a cooler microclimate at the roof deck and is part of a unique air circulatory system. These green features helped achieved a 55% green ratio for its overall façade.
“"CapitaLand strongly believes that our buildings must have lasting impact – because when we build buildings, we are also creating communities where people can live, grow and fulfill their dreams. CapitaGreen is a stellar example of how CapitaLand has always placed strong emphasis on incorporating concepts of accessibility, connectivity, safety, lush greenery, healthy indoor air quality, operational efficiency and community bonding into our buildings."
- Lim Ming Yan, President and Group Chief Executive Officer of CapitaLand Limited
Arup’s solutions flourishes at the building’s crown, where within the Sky Forest, a distinctive petal-like wind funnel draws in cooler air from above and channels it through the building’s central core, circulating it among the floors. The innovative air circulatory system, much like a living plant’s, works using the induction ration principle, where the cool air drawn at the top of the funnel translates the dynamic pressure of wind and converts it into positive static pressure to reduce the AHU fan energy. Cooler air is supplied to the AHU fan at every level and the overall energy consumption is significantly lowered as a result.
In designing an environmentally responsive building, a double-skin façade, consisting of an exterior layer of frameless glass and an interior layer of high performance, floor-to-ceiling double-glazed unitised curtain wall system was conceptualised. The façade delivers on value, performance and architectural expression by reducing wind velocities at occupant level, letting in diffused natural light and lowering solar heat gain by 26%, in addition to presenting panoramic views of the nearby Marina Bay. In selected sections, greenery is placed in between the skins to make for a more pleasant working environment.
“"CapitaGreen showcases the collaboration among our multidisciplinary teams and how the integration of adaptive strategies into our engineering design has resulted in an environment that optimises aesthetics and thermal performance while raising occupants’ health and comfort levels."
- Michael Chin, Arup Project Director
To add onto Arup’s design solution for a comfortable, well-lit and cool indoor environment for occupants, we also introduced adaptive controls that adjust indoor temperatures to suit the diurnal fluctuations in external temperatures. Comfort is further elevated for occupants with a premium grade energy-saving lift service that incorporates a strategic selection of destination control service and regenerative drive technologies, resulting in shorter waiting times for lifts.
A breath of fresh air amidst Singapore’s congested CBD, CapitaGreen has root and branch, redefined the urban work environment, integrating work, leisure and well-being. For its outstanding design, CapitaGreen has been conferred the “Best Tall Building Award for Asia & Australasia” by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) in 2015. CTBUH recognises projects that have made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of tall buildings and the urban environment, as well as achieve sustainability at the highest and broadest level. For its environmentally sustainable and inclusive design, CapitaGreen was also awarded the Green Mark Platinum Award in 2012 and Universal Design GoldPLUS in 2013 by Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority.