SkyVille @ Dawson

Singapore, Singapore

Photo © Patrick Bingham-Hall

Picture © Patrick Bingham-Hall

Photo © Patrick Bingham-Hall

Architects: WOHA

Location: 85-88 Dawson Road, 141085 Singapore, Singapore
Year: 2015

The project, located in a high-rise area of mixed private and public housing, demonstrates that high density can be high amenity. Community living, variety and sustainability are central themes. The project is ungated; all common areas are fully open to the public.

The central innovation is the public, external, shared spaces interwoven through the cluster of towers from the ground to the roof. Each home is part of a Sky Village comprising 80 homes sharing a sheltered community garden terrace. They are designed to foster interaction and be part of daily life. Every resident passes through, or looks over, this space on the way from the lift to apartment and can greet their fellow villagers, see children playing, and residents chatting.

Other community areas include a plaza located along a public linear park flanked by supermarket, coffee shop and retail spaces, and a childcare facility. Community living rooms - large double-volume verandah spaces - at ground level provided with seating areas overlooking a park. Pavilions for weddings and funerals, play and fitness areas, courts and lawns are bordered by a 150m long bioswale. The rooftop public skypark, open 24 hours, incorporates a 400m jogging track under pavilions capped by a photovoltaic array.

The design offers residents 3 plan variations for each size of unit. Flexible Layouts are based on column-free, beam-free apartment spaces, thereby eliminating waste and making allowance for diverse family sizes, various lifestyles (e.g. home office/loft-living) and future flexibility.

The history of the site is celebrated in the artwork project. A local artist has documented the changing character of the neighbourhood, and the art has been cast into the precast walls. The building design also includes blue glass elements that recall the old Hokkien dialect “Lam Po Lay”, which means blue glass district - the older generation public housing in the area had blue windows. Magnificent old rain trees were retained and incorporated into the landscaping.

Awarded a Platinum Greenmark rating - Singapore's highest and the first for public housing - the project adopts robust passive design strategies including naturally lit and ventilated lobbies, staircases, access corridors. All apartments are naturally ventilated and due to the open, airy design, a substantial proportion of units have not installed air-conditioning. Photovoltaics on the roof power the common facilities. The design is fully precast and prefabricated, reducing waste and errors on site. The design creates variety through the re-arrangement of the modules, through colour, light and shade.