PARKROYAL On Pickering By WOHA Group Of Architects
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- December 13, 2021
Singapore-based The PARKROYAL on Pickering was designed as a hotel-as-garden that actually doubled the green-growing potential of its site, and WOHA Architects have long been advocates of the ultimate ‘green city’ – one that would be comprised of more vegetation than if it were left as wilderness – and the PARKROYAL on Pickering was designed as a hotel-as-garden that actually doubled the green-growing potential of its site.
Massive Curvaceous Sky-Gardens
Massive curvaceous sky-gardens are cantilevered at every fourth level between the blocks of guest rooms, draped with tropical plants and supporting swaths of frangipani and palm trees. Greenery flourishes throughout the complex, and the hotel’s trees and gardens appear to merge with those of the adjacent park as one continuous swath of urban parkland.
Most of Singapore’s recent architecture, particularly in and around the city centre, is generic and can be found anywhere in the world, regardless of climate or culture. A number of factors – corporate and bureaucratic risk-aversion, a desire to promote a global (homogeneous) image rather than a local one, and the ubiquity of semi-famous international architects – have resulted in an equilibrium point of architectural anonymity, but a uniquely progressive tropical city has been sold short.
Sitting On The Western Edge Of The Central Business District
WOHA paid no attention to the modern Singapore skyline’s placeless blandness, and the city now has a uniquely expressive urban landmark that reinterprets and reinvigorates its location. The PARKROYAL on Pickering was a purely commercial project with clearly defined budgetary and programmatic constraints. However, the hotel, like many of WOHA’s projects built throughout Asia over the last decade, functions unambiguously as a public building.
The PARKROYAL on Pickering sits on the western edge of the central business district, between Hong Lim Park and the HDB apartment blocks of Chinatown, overlooking the historic shophouse district between the park and the Singapore River. The development could thus respond to many separate and disparate environments, it could provide public connections between those zones, and the architects could make a grand (and green) urban gesture because the building would be extremely visible – from and across the parkland to the north.
Written By Ankit Lad | Subscribe To Our Telegram Channel To Get Latest Updates And Don’t Forget To Follow Our Social Media Handles Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter. To Get the Latest Updates From Arco Unico