88 Market Street by Carlo Ratti Associati and Bjarke Ingels Group

Carlo Ratti Associati and Bjarke Ingels Group fuse tropical nature with modern architecture in Singapore's new tower for capitaland.

Image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group+VMW

Architect: CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group
Client: CapitaLand
Location: Singapore
Size: 93,000 sqm
Year: 2018
Collaborators: RSP Architects, Dragages Singapore, BIG Ideas, BIG Landscape
Carlo Ratti Associati:
Team: RSP Architects, Dragages Singapore, BIG Ideas, BIG Landscape
3D visualization: Alberto Bottero, Gary di Silvio, Gianluca Zimbardi
Consultants: dotdotdot - Alessandro Masserdotti, Fabrizio Pignoloni, Gabriele Gambotto
Bjarke Ingels Group:
Partners-in-charge: Bjarke Ingels, Brian Yang
Project Manager: Günther Weber
Design Lead: Song He
Team: Aime Desert, Aleksander Wadas, Aleksandra Domian, Alessandro Zanini, Andrew Lo, Anke Kristina Schramm, Antonio Sollo, Augusto Lavieri Zamperlini, Bartosz Kobylakiewicz, Dalma Ujvari, David Schwarzman, David Vega y Rojo, Dimitrie Grigorescu, Dina Brændstrup, Dominika Trybe, Elise Cauchard, Eriko Maekawa, Espen Vik, Ewa Szajda, Filippo Lorenzi, Francisco Castellanos, Frederik Skou Jensen, Gabrielé Ubareviciute, Gorka Calzada Medina, Helen Chen, Hongduo Zhou, Jakub Wlodarczyk, Jonas Käckenmester, Julieta Muzzillo, Kirsty Badenoch, Luca Pileri, Luis Torsten Wagenführer, Lukas Kerner, Malgorzata Mutkowska, Maria Teresa Fernandez Rojo, Matilde Tavanti, Moa Carlsson, Niu Jing, Orges Guga, Patrycja Lyszczyk, Pedro Savio jobim Pinheiro, Philip Rufus Knauf, Praewa Samachai, Rahul Girish, Ramon Julio Muros Cortes, Rebecca Carrai, Roberto Fabbri, Ryohei Koike, Samuel Rubio Sanchez, Shuhei Kamiya, Sorcha Burke, Steen Kortbæk Svendsen, Szymon Kolecki, Talia Fatte, Teodor Fratila Cristian, Tore Banke, Ulla Hornsyld, Viktoria Millentrup, Vilius Linge, Vinish Sethi, Xin Su, Xinying Zhang, Zhen Tong

Image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

The 280m tall high-rise on 88 Market Street, jointly designed by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group is an oasis in the bustling Central Business District of Singapore. The tower, one of tallest in Singapore, blends urban life with tropical nature, redefining and elevating workplace and living standards for its users while adding an elegant new landmark to the Singapore skyline.

Located in the heart of Singapore’s financial district, the new 93,000 m2, tech-integrated and verdurous skyscraper which includes the ‘office of the future’, a serviced residence and retail components, transforms the site of a former car park complex built in the 1980s. CRA and BIG were selected to design the 51-story high-rise following an international architectural competition hosted by Asia’s leading real estate company CapitaLand. The development funded by the joint venture partnership CapitaLand Limited, CapitaLand Commercial Trust and Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd. had its groundbreaking ceremony on February 9^th and is expected to be completed in 2021.

“Buildings can no longer be designed with a singular purpose or customer profile in mind – the definition of work is rapidly evolving and will continue to take on new forms. With our deep expertise in developing and managing offices, malls, serviced residences and integrated developments, CapitaLand is in a unique position to lead the charge in creating future-ready, work-live-play developments that will galvanize the community. Anchoring the rejuvenation of Raffles Place, the upcoming integrated development will set a new benchmark for workspaces of the future as we harness the best-in-class design, engineering and smart technologies to empower occupants with new levels of flexibility and mobility. This will be complemented by active placemaking initiatives in the integrated social spaces to build a vibrant work-live-play community. We are excited to embark on this journey to create a sustainable, people-centric development as we lay the blueprint for the workplace of the future.” Mr. Lim Ming Yan, President & Group CEO, CapitaLand Limited.

Image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group+VMW

Rising to 280m, on par with the tallest buildings in the heart of Singapore’s Central Business District, the integrated development offers premium Grade A office space, a 299-unit Citadines serviced residence to be managed by The Ascott Limited and ancillary retail space. The tower is set to make a distinctive mark on the Singapore skyline: the building’s exterior façade consists of vertical elements that are pulled apart to allow glimpses into the green oases blooming from the base, core and rooftop. A dynamic interplay of orthogonal lines and lush greenery presents itself in the contrasting textures of steel and glass, interweaved with tropical vegetation.

"BIGs design seeks to continue Singapore’s pioneering vertical urbanism with the 280m tall diverse community of places to work, live and play inside as well as outside. At multiple elevations, the facade peels open to reveal urban oases for its users and the surrounding city - animating the elegant smoothness of modern architecture with the ubiquitous tropical nature." Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner, BIG.

Image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group+VMW

Image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

At the ground floor, visitors will be met by a public rainforest plaza and park. A series of spacious activity pockets invite possibilities for fitness sessions, temporary art installations or other community events. Meandering garden paths and covered passages create natural entryways into the City Room, a 19m-high generous open space at the foot of the tower. The lush exterior will be matched by an array of hi-tech solutions shaping a series of fully responsive spaces for work or leisure. Sensors, Internet-of-Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence capabilities are scattered throughout the tower which will enable the tenants to customize their experience of the building.

"At CRA, we aim to design spaces that can become settings for novel interactions. In this building, green areas are made accessible to the public at different heights, allowing the city’s exuberance to extend throughout the entire tower. Working in nature will be as essential to the experience of the building as the most advanced digital technologies, offering us a glimpse of tomorrow's offices." Carlo Ratti, Founding Partner, CRA; Director, MIT Senseable City Lab.

Image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

Image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

The City Room welcomes tenants into separate lobbies for the offices and residences, as well as shoppers and diners into the food center within the tower’s podium.

Image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

Image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

Image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

Image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

The first eight floors of the tower are dedicated to the serviced residence including a wide range of facilities such as a swimming pool, jacuzzi, jogging track, gymnasium, social kitchen, residents’ lounge and barbeque pits. The top 29 floors of the tower offer premium office spaces with panoramic views to the Singapore River and Marina Bay.

Image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

At the core of the building between the hardscapes of the offices and residences are four connected levels of organic softscape, called the Green Oasis – a mesmerizing 30m open-air garden for work, casual strolls, relaxation, exercise and events. The multi-leveled oases are connected by a spiraling botanical promenade that creates multiple viewpoints of the vertical park within and the Singapore landscape outside.

“As someone with Singaporean heritage, I’m honored and humbled by the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing evolution of architecture in Singapore – the home of tropical modernism. BIG’s design looks to further this local typology by distinctly yet seamlessly blending the contemporary high-rise with abundant greenery in-between the offices, residences, amenities and recreation spaces.” Brian Yang, Partner in Charge, Bjarke Ingels Group.

Image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

The Green Oasis is a tranquil haven of winding walkways and comfortable seating areas for working outdoors or simply lounging in the shade. At about 100m above ground, the tropical garden will feature a jungle gym, treetop cocoons, sky hammocks and a café.

Image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

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