DUO

DUO: a new civic nexus for Singapore The DUO twin towers are an act of urban reconciliation. Conceived to knit together a previously disparate part of the city, DUO integrates the surrounding context around a 24-hour accessible public plaza, forming a new civic nexus for Singapore. It also marks a historic joint venture development between the governments of Malaysia and Singapore and symbolizes the symbiotic relationship between the two Southeast-Asian countries. Singapore consistently ranks as one of Asia’s most livable cities. However, it is increasingly dominated by isolated individual towers that favor exclusion over social connectivity. Rather than functioning as a piece of individual and self-referential architecture, DUO is a sensitive insertion into Singapore’s urban fabric that unites a group of existing buildings through spatial integration and establishes a coherent overall urban figure. It turns a previously neglected neighborhood into a lively center for social interaction. The Design DUO demonstrates how a landmark building can be sensitively embedded within a civic context and how form can be simultaneously performative and sculptural. The design for DUO subtracts circular carvings from the allowable building volumes in a series of concave movements that generate urban spaces – a kind of “urban poché” that co-opts adjacent buildings and symbiotically inscribes the two towers into their context. Circular spaces are carved from the building’s mass to establish and articulate precise urban relationships. Their curved facades ripple with the delicate texture of a honeycomb shading system. The buildings’ slender forms envelope the public spaces, while the resulting geometries complement the angles of the existing architecture and create a landscape of covered and open-air gardens, walkways, cafes and restaurants. A series of vertical offsets and cantilevers further articulate the towers’ silhouette and generate a series of elevated public spaces. The two towers are not merely an addition of independent objects, but perform as a space-generator. These spaces integrate the neighboring buildings, while creating a vibrant and diverse landscape of public exploration through the whole district. Instead of thinking about the complex as a standalone object, the towers are defined through examining urban space and reintegrating the area’s existing architecture into something new. By carving a series of precise urban figures, all of the disparate elements find their precise anchorage in a spatial context. A Historic Joint Venture DUO represents a historic collaboration between the governments of Malaysia and Singapore. Under guidance of both Prime Ministers and through their respective state investment arms Khazanah and Temasek, the joint-venture development embodies a new era of cooperation between the two Southeast Asian nations. The architecture articulates the dynamic relationship of two urban figures and generates symbiotic effects beyond the project itself with a positive impact on the larger context. Public Space DUO integrates living, working and retail with public gardens, cultural happenings, and a diverse urban context. While DUO’s two towers contain the main functional elements – one tower accommodates 660 residences and the other corporate offices and a five-star hotel operated by Andaz – the structures dematerialize as they reach the ground, opening out into a porous public landscape. The plaza is open to the public 24 hours a day and mixes a series of gardens and landscaped leisure zones which are linked to the rest of the city through multiple connections above and below ground and integrates direct access to the Bugis metro station. Vehicular traffic is lifted off the ground to allow uninterrupted pedestrian circulation. Meanwhile, high above the city on the towers’ geometric offsets and projecting cantilevers, large elevated terraces and a public observation deck offer additional shared spaces and spectacular views across Singapore’s skyline. Extensive landscape areas at the ground levels, elevated terraces, and roofscapes provide accessible green space equal to 100% of the site area. Environmental Strategy The development incorporates environmental strategies through passive and active energy efficient design and naturally ventilated spaces. The building’s orientation is optimized to prevailing sun and wind angles, while the concave building massing captures and channels wind flows through and across the site, fostering cool microclimates within the shaded outdoor spaces. Stretched across the skin of the DUO towers is an intricate honeycomb texture that not only hints at the hive-like activity of the surroundings, but also serves as a functional element in the building’s environmental strategy. The honeycomb comprises a series of hexagonal sunshades that help protect the towers from the heat and glare of the sun, without interrupting the views out over Singapore’s gardens, oceans and skyline. The grid also provides texture to the smooth, concave curves of the towers, as well as accentuating the dramatic cantilevers and setbacks that form the physical body of DUO. The orientation of DUO maximizes unobstructed views in multiple directions while its sweeping curves capture and channel prevailing wind directions throughout the development. The public ground floor is entirely passively cooled to create a comfortable and friendly public space that can be left open and accessible around the clock without concern for the energy consumption of air conditioning. The result is a series of microclimates throughout the development that foster a restful, oasis-like environment.