Buildings in Singapore doll up their facades with lights

Bright ideas for the city
Buildings in Singapore doll up their facades with lights, adding sparkle to architecture along the way
tan yi hui, Straits Times 14 Feb 09;

It could soon look like it is Christmas all year round in downtown Singapore: More buildings have pretty lights integrated into their design, instead of using them only as accessories during the festive season.

A new building in Selegie Road which literally dazzles is Wilkie Edge, a 12-storey development comprising office and retail space and serviced apartment units.

Designed by award-winning local firm Woha, it has a $3.5-million facade featuring a combination of high- and low-resolution LED display screens, a silver skin of perforated aluminium and a textured curtain wall in louvres and glass.

The display screen uses one row of LED lights per square metre which are projected onto the wall rather than onto the street. All this comes together in an energy-saving solution to produce an effect that is 'soft and transparent, like watercolour', says a spokesman for CapitaCommercial Trust (CCT), which owns the complex.

LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, are semiconductor diodes that emit light when an electric current is passed through. They consume less power than conventional fluorescent lights.

The spokesman adds: 'This design is better than just having the most up-to-date, largest and brightest LED screen, which becomes outdated very quickly and consumes huge amounts of power.'

While Singapore is nowhere near the brash neons of Hong Kong and Japan or the lovers' glow of Paris, such LED installations and display screens mean it is bye-bye to boring spotlights and signage.

And it is about time, too. This architectural trend has been around for a decade overseas, industry experts tell Life!.

Another building here to have seen the light is Palais Renaissance in Orchard Road. It boasts the world's first double-skin glass facade with built-in threedimensional, colour-changing LED light pattern.

The upscale mall started its $16-million renovations in June last year and the facade was completed in December. According to City Developments Limited, which owns Palais, the facade alone costs $8 million.

Three layers of lights come on and off alternately to create rhythmic patterns of blue, purple and green behind glass panels with white, square ceramic patterns.

The 'dancing' lights are by the award-winning architectural lighting designer Hiroyasu Shoji, whose work includes the Mikimoto Ginza Headquarters, an icon in Tokyo.

Says chief architect Seiya Muraki of Kajima Design Asia who was behind the mall's overall new design: 'When architecture is required to express much more nowadays, it's not surprising that lighting is incorporated.'

The new Palais uses nearly 15,000 computer-controlled LED lights but only 20 per cent are switched on at any one time, therefore conserving electricity.

LED lights are also eco-friendly because they last 50,000 to 100,000 hours, generally 50 times longer than traditional fluorescent lights.

A light touch in Orchard and Bugis

The rise of these sparkly facades in architecture design is in line with the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) Lighting Masterplan, which was announced in 2006. It was the Government's call to light up the city.

The plan targets the Civic District - the area around Fullerton Hotel and the Padang, the Central Business District (CBD) and the Marina Bay area. According to URA, within the Civic District and CBD, lights mostly shone onto building facades to brighten the architecture.

However, in areas such as Orchard Road, Bras Basah and Bugis, lights can be incorporated into the building design.

At the other end of Orchard Road, The Cathay also displays a light touch.

After undergoing extensive renovations, the 70-year-old landmark reopened its doors in March 2006 and showed off a glittery face. The new look was the result of a $100-million collaboration between Tange Associates Japan and RDC Architects in Singapore.

According to a Tange spokesman, colour panels visible from the exterior are located inside the building, while throbbing LED lights line the external curtain wall.

The facade lighting of The Cathay is subtle, complementing the design's 'urban skin' concept - a glass layer wrapping the top half of the structure, which makes the building seem transparent.

Look out also for boutique mall Paragon, which underwent a $45-million makeover at the start of last year. Its new look can already be seen but it is not completed yet.

The facade lighting will be seen in its full glory only at the end of this month. It comprises LED lights housed within layers of aluminium panels and fritted glass, which is chemically toughened glass with a ceramic base.

In the 'arts and heritage' district at Bugis, the bright new spark is Iluma, which is billed as an 'urban entertainment centre'.

Also designed by Woha, it has a custom-made innovative media facade comprising a scale-like layer of diamond-shaped lights. It is touted as a world's first. A Woha spokesman says its dramatic effect will be showcased at the project's public opening in the second quarter of this year.

Despite these developments, do not expect Singapore to turn into a Shinjuku.

According to URA, glittering screens and flashing images of advertisements on building facades are still limited to areas with 'high levels of pedestrians and street activities, such as Orchard Road, Chinatown and Bras Basah-Bugis'.

A URA spokesman says: 'While advertisement signs can contribute to the colour and vibrancy of the streetscape, their proliferation can also have a negative impact on the character of the area.

'URA's guidelines ensure that the signs are mounted on the building facades and are at a level where they can relate to and contribute to the street activities and not negatively impact on the city skyline.'