In one of Asia’s greenest developments sits Solaris; less of a building, more like a walk in the park.SOLARIS is located in the research and business park in central Singapore’s onenorth community, the groundbreaking green work, live community . The building is a flagship project in the second phase of this locality. Fusionopolis is an R&D hub for Infocomm Technology, Media, Physical Sciences & Engineering industries which is intended to facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship in these fields. This masterplan for the visionary mixed-use development was prepared by Zaha Hadid Architects.
With a BCA Green Mark Platinum rating already under its belt, the building’s overall energy consumption represents a reduction of over 36 persent compared to local precedents and the high performance façade has an Envelope Thermal Transfer Value (ETTV) of 39 W/m2. With over 8,000 m2 of landscaping, Solaris also introduces vegetation, which exceeds the area of the building’s original site this and the vertical green concept are examples of how. This project looks to enhance its site’s existing ecosystems, rather than replace them.
Ecological Design Features:
Continuous Perimeter Landscaped Ramp — An uninterrupted 1.5 km three metre wide ramp spiralling around the building in a trademark Ken Yeang fashion is maintained via a parallel pathway without requiring access from internal tenanted spaces. The continuity of the landscaping is a key component of the project’s ecological design concept as it allows for fluid movement of organisms and plant species between all vegetated areas within the building, enhancing biodiversity and contributing to the overall health of these ecosystems. The ramp, with its deep overhangs and large concentrations of shade plants, is also one element in a comprehensive strategy for the ambient cooling of the building facade. This ecoinfrastructure provides social, interactive and creative environments for the occupants of the building’s upper floors while balancing the inherent inorganicness of the built-form with a more organic mass. The path expands into deep terraces on each floor.
Solar Shaft — A diagonal shaft that cuts through the upper floors of Tower A allows day light to penetrate deep into the building’s interior. Internal lighting operates on a system of sensors, which reduces energy use by automatically turning-off lights when adequate day-lighting is available. Landscaped Terraces within the solar shaft bring added quality to adjacent spaces and enhance views up into the building from the street below.
Eco-cell— Located at the building’s north-east corner where the spiral ramp meets the ground, the Eco-cell allows vegetation, daylight and natural ventilation to extend into the car-park levels below. The lowest level of the Eco-cell contains the storage tank and pump room of the rainwater recycling system.
Naturally Ventilated and Day Lit Grand Atrium— A public plaza between the two tower blocks provides a space for communal activities and creative performances. This naturally-ventilated ground floor operates as a mixed-mode (non-air conditioned) zone with an operable glass-louvered roof over the atrium providing protection from the elements while enabling full ventilation when needed. CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations were used to analyse thermal conditions and wind-speed within the atrium. The results of these studies were used to optimise the atrium facade design to improve air flow and enhance comfort levels.
Pocket Park / Plaza— Ground level landscaping, linking to one-north Park across the street, allows for cross ventilation of the ground-floor plaza and provides a venue for social/interactive events.
Extensive Sun-Shading Louvres — The project’s climate-responsive façade design originated with analysis of the local sun-path. Almost right on top of the equator, Singapore’s sun-path is almost exactly east-west. Studies of this determined the shape and depth of the sunshade louvers, which also double as light-shelves. This solar shading strategy further reduces heat transfer across the building’s low-e double-glazed perimeter facade, contributing to an extremely low ETTV of 39 W/m2. In conjunction with the spiral landscaped ramp, sky gardens, and deep overhangs, the sunshade louvres also assist in establishing comfortable microclimates in habitable spaces along the building’s exterior.
Rainwater Harvesting/Recycling — The building’s extensive landscaped areas are irrigated via a large-scale rainwater recycling system. Rainwater is collected from the drainage downpipes of the perimeter landscaped ramp and from the roof of tower B via siphonic drainage. It is stored in rooftop tanks and at the lowest basement level, beneath the Eco-cell. A storage capacity of over 700 m3 allows for over five days of irrigation via recycled water between rainfalls.
