WHEN I travel, I see it to it that I get to at least visit the latest architectural marvels and study their details—my way of mixing business with pleasure.
My husband and I have been flying in and out of Singapore at least once or twice a year, and during our trip last year, we stumbled upon the newly completed hotel called Parkroyal on Pickering. Our usual routine would be to go around the building, study the details, walk around the perimeter, and go inside and take snaps to join a collection we have compiled from our travels.
And so we did, enjoying taking in the design and processing it in our heads as we made a note to stay here on our next trip to Singapore. We were in Singapore last year to attend the World Architecture Festival, where we had the opportunity to listen in as the architects of Parkroyal presentated to the panel of judges in their bid to be named as the World Building of the Year. That convinced us even more to stay at Parroyal on our next trip.
That opportunity came when my husband and I decided to celebrate our third wedding anniversary in Singapore, where we also attended the nuptials of a very dear friend.
What exactly makes Parkroyal on Pickering special?
Located at the gateway of Singapore’s Central Business District, the hotel opened for business in January 2013 and was designed by local Singaporean firm Woha led by Architects Wong Mun Summ (“WO”) and Richard Hassel (“HA”), taking the lead from their advocacy on vertical cities given Singapore’s small land mass. The hotel is considered to be an iconic landmark in Singapore as it quickly became known as the “forest hotel” by locals, and for incorporating energy-saving features throughout the building. Consisting of a total of 367 rooms and over 15,000 square meters of lush forest-like greenery, it is one of Singapore’s most engaging buildings in the 21st century.
Even more surprising, the hotel’s lush vegetation, water features and the like constitute about more than half of the hotel’s total “land” area. The building features Singapore’s first zero-energy sky gardens powered by solar energy cells, and efficient energy systems help conserve electricity and water by using light, rain and motion sensors, and employing rain-water harvesting methods. They even supply the hotel’s own drinking water.
Woha describes the building as civic-minded as its appearance and usage is to be “shared by all”—whether by guests or the hotel’s neighbors. Approaching its driveway, one is greeted by an iconic form generated throughout the hotel’s entire podium base giving it a certain rawness and charm. Its organic nature is welcoming and its elegance, representative of the elements in nature which allow the building to respond very well to Singapore’s tropical realities.
From afar, the five-story podium sits beneath a canopy of trees as open gardens and sky terraces span almost the entire fifth floor, which has a pool deck and a mini-forest interspersed with waterfalls, streams, cabanas, and lush tropical plants, complete with a walking trail that channel rice paddies in the city. Above this spread hovers the three towers which host the hotel rooms, these giants seemingly supported by stilts. The scale is big, yet there is a distinct human proportion to it—perhaps thanks to the trees and the shelves of sky gardens that curve and protrude out from each block and act as vertical landscape. This allows each room to look out to a private tropical paradise even if one is situated high above the city. Woha was able to create a working oasis right in the center of the city. The company were able to find and translate the city’s identity and goal into becoming Asia’s first Garden City.
Next week, more tales…
Image credits: Nikki Boncan-Buensalido, Patrick Bingham Hall for Parkroyal On Pickering and Parkroyal On Pickering