A distinctive new tower has been completed in Singapore’s Central Business District which aims to create an "alternative imagery" for commercial high rises.
Designed by Singapore based architect WOHA, the Oasia Hotel Downtown is described as a "perforated, permeable, furry, verdant tower of green" against a red facade.
WOHA calls its design a "club sandwich approach" featuring layers of elevated ground levels that allow the precious but limited ground floor space to be multiplied.
The 27-storey project features an outdoor swimming pool, public areas and covered sky gardens.
The red aluminium cladding of the "living tower" is covered in 54 species of trees and plants.
In time, the 300-room hotel will be completely covered in greenery, with only flecks of red sticking out underneath.
Richard Hassell, cofounder of WOHA, said: "What’s interesting is the emotional appeal it has for people all over the world. What’s exciting for us is that for them, it feels like the city they’d prefer to live in.
"Examining the central business districts of so many cities is like looking at the moon from the Earth; one is filled with life, the other is just this collection of dead stone.
"With Oasia, we’ve seen so many birds and insects flying around the building. People respond so well to seeing a hummingbird flying right outside their office window."
Images via WOHA
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Great idea, will be fantastic looking when fully developed. However, it is not the first. There is a tower in Sydney which has more mature vegetation growth and also looks fantastic.
All the original surrounding urban high rise architects must be red faced and furious! Imagine ,with this 27 storey OASIS high rise, all of there painstaking design work is now reduced to desert Status!
In the light of the Grenfell Tower fire, what are the consequences with respect to fire safety and in particular to the vertical spread of fire in high rise buildings, of “furry” cladding and vegetation growing over the exterior of buildings?