Categories: Residential Projects
Design Award
Jury Citation:
“This luxurious one unit per floor residential development is handled with a skilful understatement. It accomplished this feat with a simple, elegant and unpretentious structure. This enabled the spaces to be well-planned around the core and facilitated the alternating position of the double-volume space giving the rooms an all-round view of the site.
The pool in each unit was also sensitively positioned, ensuring its privacy from the surrounding blocks. However, it was generally agreed the thick ledge of the bay windows affected what could have been a much lighter facade.”
The simple and elegant design of the 114m Hana tower belies a complex project history. Originally conceived as a hotel for Amanresorts in 2000 and receiving URA Written Permission in 2002, the project was transformed through three Outline Planning Permissions from commercial use into its current form as a predominantly residential development with a small commercial element. The residential function necessitated deep setbacks within an already tight triangular side, posing a significant design challenge, whilst BCA and FSSD compliance was required by the commercial floors.
The result is a tower with a square footprint, providing one unit per storey. The floors comprise a basement carpark, first storey arrival lobby, sky terrace, 3 commercial units and 26 residential units, finished with a 6m tall roof top screen masking the mechanical equipment.
The aspiration of Client and Architect was to develop a luxury apartment typology with a sensibility to South East Asian family living. A series of living spaces wrap around an efficient, travertine-clad, central core offering 360 degree views of the Orchard area. The through-planning allows for cross ventilation, with horizontal and vertical sun louvres tailored to shade the midday sun. Double glazing surrounds each apartment to manage traffic noise; this in turn also improves the envelope insulation reducing the air conditioning load.
Each apartment includes a double-height volume above an outdoor plunge pool which is accommodated by mirroring the plans on alternate floors. This introduces unexpected spatial drama to the apartment and a playful articulation to the elevation which is further emphasised by the contrast between the light textured render of the building structure and dark tone of the aluminium screens.
