Earlier this year, Singapore made headlines with its Gardens by the Bay project, an outdoor recreation/eco-tourism initiative from Singapore’s National Parks Board to create a city within a garden. While the 250-acre project featured climate-controlled biomes, aerial walkways, and diverse vegetation, it was the extraordinary mechanical “supertrees” that garnered the most interest.
The supertrees, rising to heights of up to 170 feet, are fitted with photovoltaic cells that capture solar energy used for lighting the gardens at night. They also collect rainwater for irrigation and function as air intake and exhaust for the cooling systems in the two biomes that comprise the Conservatory complex. The air in the biomes comes from a chilled water circuit which is powered by a biomass plant. The warmer air in one of the biomes is extracted from the top of the dome, returned to the supertrees through an underground tunnel, and then used to aid the operation of desiccant regenerator equipment. The biomass plant is reportedly fueled by using natural tree clippings from the city.
The supertrees are created from four basic parts: a reinforced concrete column functioning as the core, a steel frame which surrounds the core, a canopy that spreads up and out from the column to create the appearance of branches, and special planting panels that attach to the frame or the core. There are 18 supertrees in all, the canopies of which provide shade during the day while the “trunks” or planting panels are used to grow rare and exotic vegetation.
The project was part of an international design competition held in 2006. Gardens by the Bay received over 70 entries, submitted by 170 firms, from over 24 countries. The entire Gardens by the Bay project is said to have cost roughly $1 billion. Read more about supertrees on the Gardens by the Bay site or visit the UK design firm’s project site. To learn more about cutting-edge sustainable building technologies and how they may be implemented on your next project, contact a member of the BCH team.
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