Green buildings in Singapore: If they could, they'd throw out the air-con

Tan Hui Yee, Straits Times 24 Feb 08;

In this new series on leaders in building design, the founding directors of award-winning Woha Architects reveal their passion - designing energy-efficient buildings suited to the climate - as well as peeve, the demolition of buildings worth conserving

LAST year, Woha picked up the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture for its residential tower, 1 Moulmein Rise. A key feature of the project was its 'monsoon windows' - bay windows with a special horizontal opening that lets the breeze in but keeps the rain out.

Recently, Woha won a silver award from global skyscraper database provider Emporis for its private residential project Newton Suites. This 36-storey tower, which is playfully described as a 'furry caterpillar', features overhanging meshes that shelter every window from the tropical sun, and side walls covered with foliage.

Q What sets you apart from other firms?

A Mr Richard Hassell, 41: We study a client's requirements, the economy, the construction industry and other factors, and come up with a strategy that incorporates all these.

We manage to make everyone happy rather than be very single-minded about pushing something. We think we can do very good design without being a prima donna.

Mr Wong Mun Summ, 45: We also tend to give our clients something more than what they envisage.

Q The one innovation that you are most known for is the monsoon window. Was that something you offered to your client over and above his requirements?

A Hassell: Yes. We knew developers wanted bay windows but bay windows are terribly unsuitable for this climate. Rather than being nicely shaded and under an overhang, bay windows stick out so they gather lots of heat.

Wong: Bay windows are floor areas that developers can sell but which they are not charged for, so they welcome them. We embraced the idea of maximising the saleable area for the developer but in a way that would make the facade interesting.

Hassell: Also, we turned something that's a bit of an environmental disaster into an environmental asset.

Q If there is one thing you could take away from high-rise apartments in Singapore as they are now, what would that be?

A Hassell: The aspect that they are not being designed for the climate. There are a lot of glassy boxes with no overhangs, and apartments that rely totally on air-conditioning for comfort.

I think Housing Board flats are at least designed with the idea that they can be used without air-conditioning. But that is not the case for the private-sector ones.

Wong: Even HDB flats are not really designed to maximise natural ventilation.

Flats built by the HDB's predecessor, the Singapore Improvement Trust, had timber louvre windows that went all the way to the floor. That actually helps with natural ventilation. We don't see that anymore.

Hassell: But I think it's something that will change because there's now such interest in sustainable design. It means that an apartment in Singapore should be designed very differently from one in Australia, for instance, because the two countries have completely different climates.

This refocusing on climate and low energy usage actually means the world should become a more differentiated place, that a tropical city would look completely different from a temperate city. And that's actually a good thing.

Q What would you like to see more of?

A Hassell: I'm a bit wary of saying that things should go in a certain direction. It's healthiest that things are going in many different directions and you're always surprised and delighted to find something different.

Wong: We would like to see buildings last longer. Recently, there have been many collective sales that led to buildings being torn down. We personally think it is very wasteful. Buildings were designed to last 100 to 200 years.

Hassell: The buildings being torn down are actually some of the best buildings in their generation. There are many bad buildings in Singapore you could pull down if you needed more space.

Q How do you decide what is good or bad?

A Wong: Most good buildings have won some award along the way. The Golden Mile Complex is one building I hope I will never see torn down. It's unique in the world. The People's Park Complex was a really innovative shopping centre in its heyday. It was designed to be naturally ventilated - it's such a pity it's now air-conditioned.

Hassell: Conservation is a sensitive issue because people tend to make a lot of money from collective sales.

Wong: There's such a thing as transferring plot ratio. This is used as a device for conservation in other countries. Maybe that's something we should think about.

Hassell: In return for conserving your building and freezing your development at one level, you can sell your excess development potential to your next-door neighbour, so the average density of built-up space in the area would remain the same.

And once you take that financial sting out of conservation and you conserve, say, a place like Golden Mile, you will find that all sorts of people who love design will move into it.

But it does need public support. If you want to attract people to this city, you need excellent buildings from all eras - from the 1970s and 1980s.

Q Are there any global trends in architecture that you are exploring?

A Sustainability has been a hot topic in architecture for quite a long time. What's interesting now that a lot of countries are legislating for sustainability, is that there are a lot more products and equipment allowing you to create much more energy-efficient buildings.

A building, really, is the interface between you and the climate. The availability of cheap energy since the 1970s fuel crisis put people to sleep on the whole issue of trying to design for the climate.

In design school, we learnt about overhangs, cross-ventilation and insulation, but it was as if people suddenly got amnesia because you could just crank up your air-conditioner.

It was exciting that you could do amazing glass boxes - very exaggerated solutions to problems - but the iconic buildings that have no regard for the climate have had their day. It's no longer acceptable to just make an interesting lump and stuff real estate inside it.

Q What's next for Woha?

A Hassell: We hope we are in a virtuous circle where, as we do projects well, we get offered more interesting and exciting projects and more chances to be creative and innovative.

Wong: I'm personally very excited about the direction in which Singapore is moving, and I think Singapore has the potential to become one of the best cities in the world.

We still have a long way to go but we are quite happy to be a part of it. Maybe 100 and 200 years from now, Singapore will be talked about in the same way people talk about Paris and New York...as long as we don't tear the good buildings down.