Gardens By The Bay Singapore
The Gardens by the Bay in Singapore is touted to be one of the most advanced and modern garden projects in the world that many are talking about.
Located just by the Marina Bay Sands, this massive garden project with a total area of 101 hectares or 177 football fields is set to be operational by the end of 2011.
Gardens by the Bay in Singapore
Spread into three waterfront gardens is the Bay South, Bay East and Bay Central gardens which will compliment part of the Marina Bay City area.
This massive project that started off in 2007 cost slightly over S$1 Billion dollars (US$800 Million) and is much awaited by many people around the world.
At the final stage of the competition, eight short-listed teams submitted a Master Plan Design for the Gardens.
The designs were judged by a Jury, comprising international and local senior members of the architecture and landscape architecture community, the CEOs of NParks, Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Public Utilities Board (PUB).
Eventually, two firms won the contract with their unique designs and were awarded the master plan design.
They are Grant Associates and Gustafson Porter who are currently developing Bay South for the completion this year-end. For the public, it will be officially open in June of 2012.
showcase the best of tropical horticulture and garden artistry.
The Calm Shells you see in the pictures is actually the conservatory complex which comprises two cooled conservatories – the
Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest which is situated along the edge of the Marina
Reservoir.
The Conservatories are energy efficient – a showcase of sustainable building technologies. They also provide an all-weather
edutainment space within the Gardens. The average temperatures inside the glasshouses are set at 17 to 23 degrees Celsius.
The facade of the 1.2-hectare Flower Dome is made up of 3,300 special
glass panels, which let in the sunlight while keeping the heat out.
This
allows the conservatory to mimic the cool-dry climate of the Mediterranean. To ensure energy efficiency, only areas occupied by plants and visitors will be cooled.
One of the gardens, the Flower Field – will have changing displays
including live tulips and lavender.
Currently, 8 Ceiba chodatii from Argentina, 11 Olive trees from Spain and France, and 6 large Baobabs from Africa are housed in here.
The Cloud Forest
It will also mirror tropical high elevation regions like those in South America and Mount Kinabalu in Sabah. Among some of the plants here, the rare Wollemi Pine from Australia will be one of the highlights.
The conservatory will also have an event space that can be rented out for weddings and other functions. There will also be two restaurants
within the conservatory – one serving Mediterranean cuisine and the
other, Chinese.
They are also made of dense concrete trunks with intertwined metal rods functioning as branches and shades. There will be a vertical display of tropical flowering climbers, ferns, and epiphytes on each of the trees.
Rainwater catches and hanging gardens will be implemented and a 22-meter high walkway will join two of these supertrees for guests to admire the overall view.
Check out Inhabitat for more information and pictures about the SuperTrees.
The donation will be channeled to the enhancement of Kingfisher Lake, particularly the upper and lower levels of the lake and water features such as Forest Spring, The Streams, Victoria Lily Pool, and Boulder Cascade.
you would most probably have seen the massive construction going on towards the sea. This is exactly where the project is taking place.
With
a 24-hour working rate, they are hoping to get phase one ready by the
end of this year. While I stayed at the MBS, I had a room facing the
Gardens so I took these pictures twice, once in July 2010 and another
again in March 2011.
About the two design teams for Gardens By The Bay – Singapore.
- Gustafson Porter, Ove Arup, Davis Langdon & Deah Singapore Pte Ltd
- Grant Associates, Wilkinson Eyre Architects, Atelier One, Atelier Ten, Land Design Studios, Meinhardt Infrastructure Pte Ltd, Davis Langdon & Seah Singapore Pte Ltd
Where are Gardens by the Bay?
It is located in the Marina Bay Business District in Southmost Singapore. It is also close to Sentosa Island.
To get here, you can simply get on the MRT and stop at Marina Bay Station or Tanjong Pagar Station. From here, it is a short walk. The most prominent landmarks nearby will be the Marina Bay Sands and Singapore Merlion.
It currently has more than 275,000 plants of about 8,000 species and varieties. For more information, you can visit the Gardens By The Bay official website or the National Parks Board Singapore.
The public will also get a sneak peek of the
Flower Dome in November this year, during the World Orchid Conference from 13-20 November 2011.
Conclusion
The overall project will be fully completed by 2013 or 2014. As an avid plant and flora lover, I too am waiting to visit the Gardens By The Bay in Singapore.
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