Located in Marina Bay, Gardens by the Bay is a key project in delivering the Singaporean Governments vision of transforming Singapore into a city in a garden.

At the heart of the Bay South Gardens is the Cooled Conservatory Complex. The two conservatories cover an area in excess of 2ha and are among the largest climate-controlled glasshouses in the world. The 1.28ha Flower Dome showcases the cool-dry climate of the Mediterranean and semi-arid regions, such as South Africa and Chile. The 0.73ha Cloud Forest replicates the cool moist climate found in tropical montane regions between 1,000 to 3,500m above sea level, such as Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia. Each has its own distinct character, but both explore the horticulture of those environments most likely to be affected by climate change.

The Cooled Conservatories represent an innovative amalgamation of architecture, structural ingenuity, environmental engineering and landscape design. As iconic features of the gardens, they showcase the application of sustainable energy solutions, and offer a spectacular visual and spatial experience for visitors.

Inside, cool air is delivered at low velocity, trickling in and between the planted displays, providing the right growing conditions for the plants as well as comfort for the visitors. Thermal stratification ensures cool air settles at the lower occupied zone and warm air is allowed to rise as part of the overall strategy to only use energy where necessary.

Cooled Conservatories, Gardens by the Bay, SingaporeWilkinson Eyre Architects

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Completion: 2012Location: Singapore

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Fresh air is drawn in to the plant-room and dried with dessicant prior to passing through conventional chillers, further reducing the amount of energy required for cooling. Hot air collected from the top of the glasshouses is used to regenerate the dessicant by driving off the moisture and an on-site CHP biomass boiler (fuelled with green waste from the citys parks and packing waste from the port) generates 5MW of heat and approximately 1MW of electrical power. The heat is used to assist in regenerating the dessicant and to provide cooling via absorption chillers whilst the electricity is used to power conventional chillers. This results in all of the cooling to the conservatories being delivered in a net zero-carbon manner.

Both biomes have a highly efficient, steel superstructure comprised of a self-supporting gridshell working in tandem with an array of radially arranged steel ribs designed to resolve the dynamic (wind) loads. This creates a large, clear span structure, which is as light as possible to allow the required amounts of daylight to enter the building.

The project has been accredited BCA Green Mark Platinum (the highest grade in the BCA Green Mark environmental assessment system).