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Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid is one of the most favoured international architects in the tiny island nation of Singapore, where the prices of real estate have shot through the roof after almost a decade of stagnant prices. After winning the competition to design the masterplan for the high-profile One North project, Hadid has been asked to design another upscale residential project called Farrer Court at Farrer Road, which is conveniently located between Holland Village, Singapore’s bohemian and most popular suburb amongst expats and the shopping belt of Orchard Road. The project, that is faintly reminiscent of Hadid’s Dancing Towers in Dubai, has been designed by Hadid along with architect Patrik Schumacher.

Recently Rem Koolhaas also announced his project in Singapore at Scotts Road, off Orchard Road with Singapore-based Far East Organisation. Other well-known architects with projects in Singapore are Toyo Ito (Vivo City Mall), Michael Graves, Daniel Libeskind and Frank Gehry to name a few.

Here’s the official press release issued by Zaha Hadid’s office:

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) have unveiled the design for seven 36-storey residential towers and twelve villas on a 838,488 square feet site at Farrer Road, Singapore. The Singapore $3 billion (approx £1.1 billion) development is by a CapitaLand-led consortium; other partners include Hotel Properties Limited, Morgan Stanley Real Estate Special Situations Fund III, L.P. and Wachovia Development Corporation. It will be the largest residential development in Singapore’s history.

“We have been working in Singapore for almost a decade and the Farrer Road development is a continuation of our detailed research into the urban fabric of the city. The seven tower development on one of Singapore’s most prominent sites represents further exploration into the tower typology and our studies into organizational systems and growth in the natural world. The towers are subdivided into petals according to the layout of each level to form a series of diverse and distinctive towers,” states Zaha Hadid.

Patricia Chia, CEO of CapitaLand Residential Singapore, said, “With a reputation for constant innovation,
CapitaLand seeks to work with architects who share our vision of building distinctive homes for global citizens. The new condominium to be built at Farrer Road is one such project. We are confident that Zaha Hadid’s signature style of flowing lines and sensuous architectural silhouettes will bring out the best in the site. The development will be a jewel in Singapore’s popular Holland-Bukit Timah residential precinct.”

The footprint of each tower is minimized offering an open and textured landscape with privacy in the gardens - unique to a development of this scale. The orientation and placement of the buildings generates a complex level of diversity across the development and optimizes the views of Bukit Timah Hill, Singapore Botanic Gardens, MacRitchie Reservoir and the Orchard Road city skyline.

Site Proposal
ZHA’s Proposal for the Farrer Court site is generated by the study of the existing alignments and the main axis surrounding the site, which are brought in and connected to generate a series of construction lines highly connected to the neighbourhood. The ground landscape level is visualised as a very green layer, which wants to emphasise the presence of florid vegetation in the Singapore’s climate. The site levels are re-organised into a series of terraced plateaus to maximise the area dedicated to communal site amenities. The orientation and placement of the buildings is optimised in relation to the local environment as well as to maximise views out towards the surrounding city and landscape.

Building Proposal
The program is organised into seven towers, which grow from sunken private gardens within the site landscape. The lower floors kink in to highlight the point where buildings meet the ground, enabling yet a greater open area and the creation of highly private gardens which are quite unique given the scale and density of the development. The towers are subdivided into petals according to the number of residential units per floor, with a common principle a series of diverse and unique towers can be generated. The petals are expressed in three dimensions thanks to vertical cuts which give definition to the building’s façades and, at the same time, allow for cross ventilation of most of the flats. The buildings culminate at the top with a series of fingers stepped at different heights, which blend the transition between the architectural fabric and the sky.  Through rotating the buildings across the site, and the careful use of balconies and façade panelling a combination of self similar towers produce an incredible amount of diversity across the development.