The Oasia Hotel, located in Singapore’s business district, is in every way a unique project, redefining what a skyscraper can be in a humid tropical environment.
Unlike conventional, air-conditioned, sealed towers. This hotel by local firm WOHA merges architecture and nature through an impressive combination of indoor and outdoor spaces. According to its architects, the goal was to “give a different image to high-rise commercial projects. The project combines innovative solutions to optimize the use of land in a tropical approach. Creating a perforated, permeable, hairy and green tower. ”
One of WOHA’s best projects
At 190 meters high, the tower has four large outdoor spaces: three huge verandas on the 6th, 12th and 21st floors, as well as a roof terrace on the 27th floor. The latter is surrounded by a 10-story high screen, covered with the same red aluminum mesh cladding as the rest of the building. This façade will be progressively covered by 21 species of climbing plants, radically contrasting their lush green with the bright red of the surfaces. Like most of WOHA‘s designs, the Oasia Hotel was built in Singapore. WOHA was founded in 1994 by Singaporean Wong Mun Summ, in partnership with Richard Hassell, an Australian native who has lived in Singapore since 1989.
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Eco-sustainability
While the pursuit of environmental responsibility is often accompanied by a lack of rigor, WOHA has proven its ability to stand out. The Oasia Hotel, a member of the eponymous chain. Combines eco-responsibility and pleasure, two terms that are widely present in the firm’s design philosophy. Along its red facade, which will soon be covered in green. The hanging gardens provide greenery, fresh air and the opportunity for natural cross-ventilation. And form the most visible and enchanting aspect of the building’s eco-sustainability.
These gardens respond to the client’s desire for separate areas within the hotel. Due to the small size of the site, WOHA opted for a “club sandwich” approach, creating multiple layers, each with its own garden. These rooftop gardens, which WOHA describes as “the second floors in the sky”. Allow them to “use valuable floor space to create magnificent places to relax and socialize within the skyscraper. ”
While WOHA is responsible for the architecture of the tower itself and the layered concept. The design of the gardens is the work of Spanish architect and designer Patricia Urquiola. Who is responsible for all the hotel’s interior and exterior spaces. She has added a casual elegance to WOHA‘s delightfully eccentric architecture.
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Architectural creativity
For the pools on the 21st and 27th floors, she used AGROB BUCHTAL tiles from the Chroma series. Each of the pools has its own identity. The pool on the sixth floor is part of a fitness center, while the 21st floor is a stylish extension of the club lounge. To the left and right of this pool, tiled in alternating dark and light blue chevrons. Small pools are just the right depth for soaking your feet while sipping a cocktail.
The rooftop pool is divided in two, on either side of the restaurant. Unlike most hotel roof terraces. Which are entirely dedicated to the view of the skyline. Here almost the entire space is surrounded by a green screen. One more proof of WOHA‘s unconventional vision of architecture. Rather than a view, this rooftop terrace is a real oasis dedicated to privacy and tranquility, a surprising tropical getaway in the heart of the city.
