Focused on community well-being and sustainability, DP Architects masterplan a whole area in Singapore emphasizing on biophillic design principles, integrating natural elements into the built environment

Singapore, Republic of Singapore

Following a holistic approach, Singapore-based DP Architects have designed the Bukit Canberra project, a masterplan that combines recreation, healthcare, heritage, and nature, has positioned it as a model for future community hubs in urban areas.

Bukit Canberra is a large-scale community, sports and lifestyle development built on a wooded site that merges and thrives with nature.

Adopting regenerative design principles, the environment is regarded as an equal stakeholder and focuses on establishing harmony between social and ecological systems for long-term resilience.

For its sustainable design and conception, the project has been awarded a 2024 Green Good Design Awards by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

Capitalising on the existing forest ecology, the master plan prioritises biodiversity and employs environmentally sensitive design strategies.

A priority of the development is to enhance biodiversity by restoring nature and creating a self-regenerative landscape.

The tree conservation and succession-planting strategies – where more than 40% native and healthy trees are retained, and over 2,050 more native species will be planted – are intended to intensify the site’s green coverage and biodiversity index.

The landscape design is zoned into forest, agrarian and hill-top zones with different landscaping strategies to attract biodiversity, create ecological connectivity, integrate stormwater management systems, and provide food and shelter for fauna.

Manmade and natural blue spaces reduce urban heat island effect, and support biodiversity of native plants and animals.

The architectural design, the use of biomimetic hexagonal geometry, is inspired by nature.

As a non-directional shape, the hexagonal form reduces the effect of orientation in relation to the direction of solar heat gain and prevailing winds, allowing clustering for better natural ventilation.

Environmentally sustainable features complement each other, and are integrated to increase energy efficiency, and reduce operational and maintenance overheads.

Natural features such as bioretention basins, earth drains and bioswales are weaved into the terrain to facilitate sustainable stormwater management.

These Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC) Waters features introduce a series of micro-climates that host a diverse range of flora and fauna, creating a self-sustaining cycle where biodiversity flourishes on the site.

Other features include extensive greenery implemented on the building roof to reduce the sun’s heat from entering through the roof and eco-digesters in the hawker centre, constructed with recyclable structural steel, converting food waste into viable fertilisers.

The construction adopted a Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) approach and low-carbon construction materials.

Mass-Engineered Timber (MET) construction, an environmentally friendly substitute for carbon-intensive materials, in the form of glulam columns, beams and cross-laminated timber roof is used for the Indoor Sports Hall.

In the design and planning, every opportunity was taken to restore nature and enhance biodiversity.

The result is a better-than-sustainable project that progresses towards a regenerative urban ecology, where the built environment seamlessly blends with the natural surroundings.

Project: Bukit Canberra
Architects: DP Architects Pte Ltd.
Design Team: Seah Chee Huang, Teoh Hai Pin, Chin Li Nah, Ryan Dayao Polintan, Jym Yau, Eric Yau, Lim Yin Chao, Aileen Koh, Jazelle Ang, and Frederick Low
Client: Sport Singapore
Photographs: Courtesy of the Architects