SINGAPORE — The creation of a green garden paradise has been underway since 2010. Gardens by the Bay, a waterfront themed park located at the Marina Bay area of Singapore’s new downtown, will overflow with hundreds of thousands of tropical plants from around the world. (Photo by Craig Sheppard, courtesy of Wilkinson Eyre)
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By Debra Atlas
SINGAPORE — The island nation of Singapore is passionate about green, and National Parks Singapore (nParks) has spearheaded the nation’s recent green transformation. As the government agency that conserves, creates, sustains, and enhances the Singapore’s green infrastructure, nParks has helped Singapore reach its status as the “Garden City of South East Asia.”
The creation of a green garden paradise has been underway since 2005. Gardens by the Bay, a waterfront, horticulturally-themed park located at the Marina Bay area of Singapore’s new downtown, will overflow with hundreds of thousands of tropical plant species from around the world.
To determine the design for these exceptional gardens, an international competition was launched in 2006. After more than 70 entries were submitted by 170 firms from 24 countries, the master plan was awarded to several prestigious architectural firms. The landscape design went to landscape architectural firm Grant Associates for the Bay South Gardens, and to Gustafson Porter for the Bay East Gardens. Wilkinson Eyre. was awarded the designs for the innovative conservatories in Bay South.
Spanning almost 250 acres (101 hectares), this horticultural homage features three unique waterfront garden areas: Bay South, Bay East and Bay Central.
Bay South
The largest of the three, encompassing over 130 acres, is Bay South. Scheduled to be officially opened in June 2012, it sits across from the new $5.7 billion Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort, whose boat-like public observation deck overlooks the gardens.
Bay South is home to two very special conservatories: Flower Dome and Cloud Forest. This combination research and “edutainment” complex will house over 226,000 plant species from every continent in the world (except Antarctica).
These energy efficient steel and glass buildings utilize the latest in sustainable building technologies. The nearby lake contains a system for capturing and filtering run-off from within the gardens, which acts as an “eco-filter,” cleaning the water before dispersing it back into the surrounding lake-reservoir.
The Flower Dome features a cool-dry Mediterranean climate, and a stunning view of the marina reservoir skyline. Filled with baobabs (bottle trees), olive trees, and date palms, it will showcase flowers from temperate climates including the Mediterranean, Southwest Australia, South Africa, and central Chile. It also includes an indoor event space and two restaurants. A special preview ceremony was held there in November 2011.
Among the building’s green features is the layer of chilled water pipes embedded in the ground. Cooling the ground helps keep the occupied horticultural zones within the conservatories cool, allowing warm air to rise and be vented out.
The Cloud Forest, the smaller of the two glass-domed buildings, will be home to the higher elevation tropical plants that are native to South America. With a mile-long waterfront promenade overlooking the new Marina Bay financial district, Bay South will showcase food plants used by the various cultures in Singapore and Southeast Asia. It also features an event space and two restaurants.
Dragonfly Lake, which includes a boardwalk and is rich in aquatic life, is one of two lakes located within Bay South.
The Heritage Gardens are one of Bay South’s most outstanding areas. They feature varied aspects of Singapore’s history and encompass Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Colonial-themed gardens.
Bay South’s solar SuperTrees stand between nine to sixteen stories tall, and are located mainly within the Supertree Grove, although there is a cluster in both the Silver and Golden Gardens. The grove of “trees,” some of which are embedded with photovoltaic cells to collect solar energy, will come alive at night with the harvested lighting and projected media. An elevated walkway will run between some of the larger Supertrees for visitors to enjoy.
Bay East
Open to the public, Bay East is currently an interim garden area with basic amenities. The date for its development is not yet scheduled.
