The 280m tall high-rise on 88 Market Street, jointly designed by Carlo Ratti Associati and Bjarke Ingels Group, is an oasis in the bustling Central Business District (CBD) of Singapore. The tower, one of tallest in the city, blends urban life with tropical nature, redefining workplace and living standards for its users while adding a new landmark to the Singapore skyline.
The new 93,000 square-meter green skyscraper is tech-integrated and includes the 'office of the future' as well as serviced residences and retail units. Both firms were selected to design the 51-story high-rise, which transforms the site of a former car park complex built in the 1980s, following an international architectural competition hosted by Asia's leading real estate company CapitaLand.
Rising to 280m, the tower is set to make a distinctive mark on the Singapore skyline. Its exterior façade consists of vertical elements that are pulled apart to allow glimpses into the green oases blooming from the base, core and rooftop. The building shows an interplay of orthogonal lines interweaved with tropical vegetation.
The indoor space is characterized by an array of hi-tech solutions, shaping a series of fully responsive spaces for work or leisure. Sensors, Internet-of-Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence capabilities are scattered throughout the tower, which will enable the tenants to customize their experience of the building. The focus on achieving a truly responsive architecture advances CRA's decade-long research in this field, following up to projects such as the award-winning renovation of the Agnelli Foundation headquarters in Italy.
"At CRA, we aim to design spaces that can foster novel interactions. In this project, green areas are made accessible to the public at different heights, allowing the city's exuberance to extend throughout the entire tower," commented Carlo Ratti, founding partner at CRA and Director of the MIT Senseable City Lab. "Working in nature will be as essential to the experience of the building, as are the most advanced digital technologies, offering us a glimpse of tomorrow's offices."
