Location: Singapore, Singapore.

Architect: ONG&ONG.

Heartbeat @ Bedok is a multi-user, multi-occupancy 7-storey community building located in a matured housing estate in Singapore. It houses several government agencies and offers a host of integrated services that bring residents of different backgrounds together, improving social ties and cultivating community spirit. The building is an innovative response to the call for modern community-centric buildings and is defined by the highest standards in modern sustainability. It features an unorthodox stacking strategy of inverted podium-and-blocks, with spaces predicated on functionality. The elevated podium allows for optimised natural ventilation permeating the public thoroughfare, with microclimate clusters created around internal public spaces. The walls and planters are rendered in textured paint reminiscent of sandstone rock formations, which inspired the stacked building form. The building is cohesively planned, boasting a unique scheme that is an innovative response to the call for modern community-centric buildings. To preserve aspects of the original green space, foliage is integrated into the design, enveloping the perimeter of every floor where occupants assimilate effortlessly into the park’s grandeur, achieving a green plot ratio of 4.5 and creating a harmony of modern urban and biophilic spaces. The building’s unique scheme overlays the designers’ intent to create an environmentally progressive building with reduced energy consumption, resulting in lowered overall building operation and maintenance costs. An impressive array of passive environmental controls is thus implemented, ranging from rainwater and grey water systems, to tapered façade glazing and brise soleil elements that mitigate solar heat and radiation. The building is designed to integrate with the surrounding existing development to create seamless connectivity. Distinct categorisation of level functionalities sees the upper floors don sports facilities while the lower floors are consolidated with retail outlets and community spaces, thus presenting an organised and appealing attraction to the modern lens of society.

Photo credit: ONG&ONG.