The London office of a global engineering firm is helping to rekindle the spirit of village life in Singapore.
The Web Structures team at Thames Wharf Studio is working with London architecture practice CarverHaggard to create the Village at Pasir Panjang.
Malaysia-listed property developer Selangor Dredging Bhd (SDB) is behind the striking residential development plan.
Web Structures is providing its structural engineering, civil engineering and geotechnical expertise to the project, working with CarverHaggard and local practice JGP Architects to turn the vision into reality.
The S$260 million village project is in Pasir Panjang Road, in the western district of Singapore.
It made up of nine stylish, five-storey buildings with 148 two, three and four-bedroom apartments and includes a basement car park.
The developers are aiming to bring back the spirit of village or “kampung” living in the project – which reflects the history of the area.
The architectural façade of the homes and the clubhouse has been inspired by “black and white” houses of the 1950s.
Other features include a 50-metre pool. Play equipment and benches have been inspired and adapted from the early days of the 1950s and the retro-feel continues with swinging chairs for families to relax together.
Dr Hossein Rezai, Web Structures’ group director, says: “This is an innovative, well-thought out development that is looking to create a sense of the village communities of the past when family values were the focus of daily lives.
“We are delighted that our London office is playing its part in creating these striking new homes.”
Construction work on the development is expected to be completed in 2016. Located on a 2.5-acre site, it is near West Coast Plaza, National University of Singapore and the 123.5-acre West Coast Park.
Dr Rezai adds: “We have been using our expertise and knowledge of working in earthquake zones to also ensure the development is earthquake-resistant.”
CarverHaggard’s show unit – called the Black and White Building – was shortlisted in the recent World Architecture Festival in Singapore.
Drawing from the precedent of the Singapore “black and white” house, a hybrid between Malayan vernacular typologies and British half-timbered decoration, the layers of construction are exposed and treated in alternating black and white finishes.