CREATE, Singapore, Singapore

Perkins+Will chosen to design tropical research centre
The San Francisco office of Perkins+Will, winner of an international design competition for the project, has been retained by Singapore’s National Research Foundation to design “CREATE” (Campus for Research Excellence And Technological Enterprise), a precedent-setting, 650,000 sq ft scientific research center to be located at the National University of Singapore’s new seven acre University Town campus. Perkins+Will aim for CREATE’s design to surpass current performance benchmarks for scientific research facilities in the tropics and raise the bar for environmental sustainability.

As part of Singapore’s accelerating national thrust towards an inventive, innovative and entrepreneurial economy, CREATE will be a unique, multi-national, multi-disciplinary research enterprise that stimulates innovation, discovery and entrepreneurship through interaction and collaboration with scientists and engineers from around the globe. The campus will include three mid-rise buildings and a high-rise tower. The tower’s first two floors will serve as part of the Olympic Village for the first International Youth Olympics in 2010.

CREATE’s design will pioneer the tropical use of advanced environmental and energy-saving technologies. Perkins+Will’s Russ Drinker explains that, “This will be far more than a research complex in the tropics - it will be an integral part of the tropical ecosystem.” The design will allow daylight to illuminate an unprecedented amount of the interior, while energy for electric lighting will be solar generated. Among many sustainable approaches chosen for their effectiveness in the tropics are wind turbines driven by tropical breezes and enthalpy wheels that capture wind-generated warmth. Green roofs will reduce stormwater runoff, minimize interior heat gain and conserve energy, while basic water needs will be met by capturing tropical rainfall. Landscape design is modeled after a tropical rainforest, reinforcing the natural environment and helping recreate a habitat attractive to endangered animal species - leading to a potential rebirth of the site’s natural ecosystem. The project is scheduled for completion in 2010.
source: www.worldarchitecturenews.com
architecture NOW