Tag: Solar

E@BS 4/5: Residential – Skyville@Dawson

This is Segment 4 of our Chain of posts focused on ‘Energy @ the Building Scale’.
[Extension of Part 4/5: The Red System (Energy), Singapore – Published: 28th May 2018]

clusters editted
Plan diagrams showing Apartments Clusters

Skyville@Dawson is a 111,106 sq.m., 48-storey1 public housing project by WOHA Architects in Queenstown, Singapore. It is one of two Build-To-Order (BTO) projects commissioned by Singapore’s Housing Development Board (HDB), as part of their “Remaking Our Heartland” initiative (the other being SkyTerrace@Dawson by SCDA Architects)4. This “housing-in-a-park” concept would show transferability in future projects and towns like – Waterway Terraces, Bidadari, Punggol Northshore, Tampines North6. It is the first housing development to be awarded the GreenMark Platinum Rating10. Skyville@Dawson’s Sustainable Design features including Passive Strategies are elaborated below-

Contents

  1. MASSING AND CONFIGURATION
    • Orientation
    • Clustering and Modules
  2. FORM, DAYLIGHT, VENTILATION
    • Unit Thickness
    • Breathability – Horizontal Air Movement
    • Breathability – Vertical Air Movement
  3. INTEGRATION WITH GREEN AND BLUE
    • Horizontal Green
    • Site Integration with Green and Blue
  4. BUILDING ENVELOPE

1) MASSING AND CONFIGURATION

Orientation

(i) The Building is placed with its longer facades facing the North-South9 directions. This reduces exposure to the East and West directions, that are normally difficult to shade.

shadow studies
Shading Studies for Skyville@Dawson

Clustering and Modules

(i) 8 apartments in plan(as seen in Plan diagrams above), surround a courtyard. This cluster is repeated 2 more times, to create 3 sets of apartments enclosing courtyards. This configuration also provides self-shading, especially from low angle rays from the East and West directions (as seen in the Shadow Studies above).

(ii) In Elevation, 12 clusters form villages, each comprising of 80 apartments.

villages with border
Perspective diagrams showing Apartment Villages

(iii) The apartment layouts are column and beam free4. This provides the possibility of 3 layouts for residents – reducing wastage, allowing flexibility for multiple functions, family size and the future.

(iv) For standardization, efficiency and to reduce wastage, only 5 window types2  have been used in the entire development.

(v) The design uses precast and prefabricated10 elements to avoid errors and reduce wastage. This feature could also contribute towards LEED BD+C v4 Credit – Construction and Demolition waste management. 

 ↑ Go to Contents ↑

2) FORM, DAYLIGHT, VENTILATION

Unit Thickness

(i) The individual apartments are approximately 11 meters across in width, thus applying the Unit Thick Principle. Apartments also have openings in all directions. They are thus naturally ventilated and day lit, reducing artificial cooling and lighting costs.

unit thick
Plan diagram showing Unit Thick apartment blocks

Breathability – Horizontal Air Movement

(i) The clustering arrangement around courtyards, and the repetition of this module linearly, enables horizontal air circulation.

hori air movt
Plan diagram showing Horizontal air movement through courtyards and building block gaps

(ii) Common areas (Lobbies, Corridors, Staircases) and Apartments are naturally ventilated. Many units have not installed Air-conditioning3.

Breathability – Vertical Air Movement

(i) With minimal obstructions and the creation of Canyon like spaces, air moves vertically through the towers – accentuating the breezy atmosphere. The interaction of this air with greenery from sky gardens at intermediate levels, cools this air through evapotranspiration.

vertical air movt
Section diagram showing Vertical air movement through the towers

 ↑ Go to Contents ↑

3) INTEGRATION WITH GREEN AND BLUE

Horizontal Green

(i) ‘Sky Terraces’7 are located every 12 floors. These are designed as community spaces, where people can collect to interact with neighbors or simply visit to relax and enjoy the lush greenery.

hori greenery
Sky Gardens and Rooftop Garden

(ii) A ‘Sky Park’7 on the roof has planters, hedges, and beautiful city views. Photovoltaics3 power the common area lighting.

Site Integration with Green and Blue

(i) A 150 m long bio-swale (gently sloping ditch with specific plants) filters and treats site stormwater before discharging it into the city drainage system5. Another example of a bio-swale – water treatment and recycling loop can be seen in Kampung Admirality.

site green blue
Site Plan diagram showing location of Parks, Plaza and Bio-swale

(ii) The site is an ungated3 community, with Public Parks and Amenities that cater to the residents as well as the general public.

 ↑ Go to Contents ↑

4) BUILDING ENVELOPE

(i) Monsoon windows8 on the facade can be kept open during rains, thus providing cool breeze without wind-blown rain entering the home. A similar more advanced Monsoon Window design is utilized in another high-rise residential building – 1 Moulmein Rise, Singapore.

(ii) The walls on the facade have horizontal and vertical sunbreakers5. Balconies or horizontal ledges9 are used to provide shading for openings.

(iii) Double-height verandas10 on the ground level provide pleasant public spaces overlooking the parks.

 ↑ Go to Contents ↑

That’s all for today! We hope you enjoyed this segment. As always, we would love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, queries, opinions.

Thank you!

See you next week.

Credits:
Graphics : Selected graphics are produced as part of a team project for M.Sc. Integrated Sustainable Design at National University of Singapore (Building Semester – Stage 1 – Complex Living Systems). Group Members – Gajender Kumar Sharma, Aditi Bisen, Huang Hongbo, Zhao Yanming
Text: Aditi Bisen

References/ Additional Reading:

  1. CTBUH. SkyVille @ Dawson – The Skyscraper Center. http://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/skyville-dawson/14117. Accessed July 18, 2018.
  2. Furuto A. SkyVille @ Dawson / WOHA. ArchDaily. https://www.archdaily.com/215386/skyville-dawson-woha. Published 2012. Accessed July 18, 2018.
  3. ArchDaily. SkyVille / WOHA. https://www.archdaily.com/800832/skyville-woha. Published 2017. Accessed July 18, 2018.
  4. HISTORYSG. SkyVille@Dawson and SkyTerrace@Dawson are launched – Singapore History. http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/734a75df-6ece-410f-a1f5-3d0453daf2fe. Published 2015. Accessed July 18, 2018.
  5. Australian Design Review. An exploration in affordable housing: Skyville @ Dawson. https://www.australiandesignreview.com/architecture/an-exploration-in-affordable-housing-skyville-dawson/. Published 2016. Accessed July 19, 2018.
  6. Zachariah NA. Dawson’s SkyVille and SkyTerrace projects are raising the bar for stylish public housing. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/home-design/dawsons-skyville-and-skyterrace-projects-are-raising-the-bar-for-stylish. Published 2015. Accessed July 19, 2018.
  7. Willis C. The Skyscraper Museum: GARDEN CITY | MEGA CITY: WOHA rethinks cities for the age of global warming. http://skyscraper.org/EXHIBITIONS/WOHA/skyville.php. Accessed July 24, 2018.
  8. Pearson CA. SkyVille@Dawson|Gardens in the Sky. Architectural Record. https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/7925-skyvilledawson. Published 2013. Accessed July 24, 2018.
  9. BCA Singapore. BCA GreenMark Buildings Directory | Skyville @ Dawson. https://www.bca.gov.sg/green_mark/KnowledgeResources/BuildingDirectoryDetail.aspx?id=255. Accessed July 26, 2018.
  10. world-architects. SkyVille @ Dawson WOHA. https://www.world-architects.com/en/woha-singapore/project/skyville-dawson. Accessed July 26, 2018.

Part 5/5: The Red System (Energy), Singapore

This is part of a series of posts based on scripts, written for class presentations during our Masters in Integrated Sustainable Design at National University of Singapore.
The class had to analyse various complex systems in Singapore, as a precursor to the Design problem in Studio. The systems included are – Red (energy), Blue (Water), Green I (Biodiversity), Green II (Food) and Grey (Public Space).
The following posts elaborate on the Red System.

Part 5/5: How can energy be restructured to improve self sufficiency and reduce emissions?

The 4 parts of the series till now outline the existing Energy system of Singapore – its timeline, characteristics, issues. We saw a Sankey diagram in Part 3/5 detailing existing flows and exchanges, while Part 4/5 elaborated on the System Structure at 3 scales.

This final part talks of an ‘After‘ Scenario where we propose a ‘Restructuring‘ to address issues and gaps – to improve self sufficiency and reduce emissions.

The issues at hand which create possible vulnerabilities are –

  • a Gap at the neighborhood scale
  • a largely Centralized system
  • large consumption for air-conditioning loads
  • high dependence on imported fossil fuels

Continue reading “Part 5/5: The Red System (Energy), Singapore”

Part 3/5: The Red System (Energy), Singapore

This is part of a series of posts based on scripts, written for class presentations during our Masters in Integrated Sustainable Design at National University of Singapore.
The class had to analyse various complex systems in Singapore, as a precursor to the Design problem in Studio. The systems included are – Red (energy), Blue (Water), Green I (Biodiversity), Green II (Food) and Grey (Public Space).
The following posts elaborate on the Red System.

Part 3/5: System Flows and Exchanges

Welcome to Part 3/5 of our series on the Energy System of Singapore. Part 1/5 established the objective and boundary condition of the system. It then identified the Elements, and Flows & Exchanges between them, to set relevant scales of study and understand critical functions. We found that the system has a gap at the neighborhood scale, it is highly centralized and the largest demand sectors are Industrial and Commercial. Part 2/5 went deeper into the analysis by looking at the timeline of the system from the 1800s to present day, and looking to the future. The timeline reflected important policies and events, and their corresponding effects using maps at Regional and Island scales.

Moving on from the above base, this post delves deeper into the System Flows and Exchanges. The Analysis is divided into 3 sections – Generation, Transmission, Distribution & Consumption.

System Flows and Exchanges
Energy System Flows & Exchanges Sankey Diagram; Generation, Transmission, Distribution & Consumption in detail below; Graphics: Credits below; Data Sources: 1, 2

Continue reading “Part 3/5: The Red System (Energy), Singapore”