Written by Wood Campus
Industry | News
Singapore CNN — Singapore has long billed itself as a “garden city,” a term coined in the 1960s by the country’s founding father and former prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew. In the decades since, the island has embarked on extensive tree-planting programs and embraced so-called “biophilic” architecture, with greenery often seen creeping up urban facades or spilling out from skyscrapers.
A new six-story college campus building stands as Singapore’s latest ode to nature. Home to Nanyang Technological University’s (NTU) business school, the gently curved design features sunlit atriums, open-air study areas set against lush backdrops and elevators that descend into beds of tropical plants. Everything from handrails to benches, door frames to room dividers (and even an adjoining bus stop), were built using wood.
So, too, were the structural beams and columns. In fact, the building is made almost entirely from mass timber — a new generation of engineered wood, arranged in layers and bonded with strong adhesives, that is pushing the boundaries of architecture. Sprawling across 43,500 square meters (468,000 square feet), it is now Asia’s largest timber building, by floor area.
Named Gaia, after the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth, the project opened in May and cost 125 million Singapore dollars ($93 million) to build. Its exposed timber frame is free from cladding or paint, a design decision that celebrates natural materials while giving visitors the feeling of walking between trees.
According to the celebrated Japanese architect behind the project, Toyo Ito, this was precisely the point. “I always try to envision a connection with — and a feeling of — nature, such as trees and water, in my designs,” he told CNN shortly after the building’s inauguration ceremony. “The fact you mentioned that if feels like entering a forest shows that my vision came through.”
To read the full article visit: CNN Style
More News
Data & the Three Pillars of Sustainable Forestry
According to Rolf Schmitz, co-founder and co-CEO of CollectiveCrunch and the creator of Linda Forest software solutions, digitising the world’s forests is essential to understanding and fighting climate change. If a tree falls in the forest, it hardly matters if it...
FSC awareness doubled since pre-lockdown
Awareness of the FSC logo in the UK has increased 45% since 2019[1], and the proportion of those claiming both good and rough knowledge of the logo has more than doubled. With data from the Office for National Statistics revealing that nature had supported people’s...
Persimmon gets green light for timber frame factory
Planning approval has been granted by Charnwood Borough Council for Persimmon to build its new Space4 timber frame factory near Loughborough. The factory is believed to be the biggest of its kind in the UK and will produce timber frame units for up to 7,000 homes a...
BWF research shows homeowners positive over timber
New research from the British Woodworking Federation (BWF) reveals signs that timber windows and doors are viewed positively by homeowners, but that misunderstandings over their performance persist. The survey of 1,500 homeowners unearthed the main factors guiding...
Call for Entries live for Wood Awards 2023
The call for entries for the Wood Awards 2023 is now live! Enter your wood-centric building, furniture or product before 23 June 2023 and have your work recognised as the best in the UK. Architects, engineers, installers, furniture makers, product designers – or...
Timber Shortages Ease
The timber shortage has brought price hikes and delays, but there is good news as supply increases. A timber shortage which has frustrated homebuilders all year is “highly likely” to be over, according to the Timber Trade Federation (TTF). This, the TTF says, is...
Grand Entrance For UC4 Glulam
A new school auditorium for Horris Hill Preparatory School on its rural campus near Newbury, Berkshire, has been transformed using structural engineered timber and a Use Class 4 (UC4) treated glulam portico. The choice of materials for the new David Brownlow theatre...
Use Wood With A Clear Conscience
Sara Kulturhus in Skellefteå has made it to the final of the International Award for Wood Architecture, the winner of which will be announced on 7 April. “It’s vital to make construction climate-neutral, and wood is a natural material. With Sara Kulturhus, we’ve shown...
Australian architects declare net zero carbon for national building code
AUSTRALIAN architect members of the global organisation Architects Declare are having their say on the National Construction Code updates to make sure every new home – without costing more – will raise the required standards of sustainability. Submissions to the...
The 2021 wood awards winners announced
Six structures and two product designs have been announced as the Wood Awards 2021 winners at a ceremony on 25 November held at the Building Centre, London. Established in 1971, the Wood Awards is the UK’s premier competition for excellence in architecture and product...