\nHusband-and-wife architect team Khoo Peng Beng and Belinda Huang design high-rises that maximise human engagement and interaction with ecology
\nBy Jonathan Evans
\nSoft spoken yet effervescent, bang on schedule and beaming widely, Khoo Peng Beng strolls into the bijou HQ of his and his wife Belinda Huang\u2019s practice Arc Studio Architecture + Urbanism in Singapore\u2019s fashionable Jalan Besar. At 47, though looking a decade younger, he appears every bit the trendy professor in his thin-rimmed specs and green shirt liberally specked with pastel-coloured flowers \u2013 his outfit almost a literal representation of the aesthetic focus and environmental ideology that drive the firm\u2019s work. \u00a0
\nThough Khoo and Huang have since helmed a vast panoply of initiatives both in Singapore and overseas, one of their first blueprints remains ARC\u2019s most famous. In 2002, as relative upstarts, he and Huang took the Duxton Plain Public Housing Design Competition by storm with a monumentally ambitious entry that redefined the potential of public residential projects. Their proposal, the groundbreaking The\u00a0Pinnacle@Duxton, \u00acwas selected over 201 worldwide entries. Both the city\u2019s first 50-storey residential development and the world\u2019s tallest public-housing building, it also features the world\u2019s longest sky gardens. A landmark by any yardstick, it still dominates Chinatown\u2019s skyline eight years after completion.
\nOrdinarily, one might associate this kind of monolith with more ebullient characters, but Khoo and Huang remain remarkably reserved and modest despite their many accomplishments\u00a0
\n\u201cWe were just fortunate we asked the right questions,\u201d he says of his Duxton win.
\nWhat made you and Belinda leave your first company and set up your own practice?\u00a0
\nKhoo:\u00a0We had practised for around seven years, all through that early \u201990s boom. In 1998, we had our first child and had a few problems with childcare. Belinda started a home office, but after a while it started snowballing, so I left RSP Architects Planners & Engineers to form our own practice; it was really organic, and happened in a very fluid way.\u00a0
\nWhat qualities did you see in each other that made you believe you would make a great professional team?\u00a0
\nKhoo:\u00a0I look at our working relationship like a dance: it\u2019s two partners, but we take turns to lead and follow
\nHuang:\u00a0We worked together in RSP in the design team, and knew each other\u2019s working methods, strengths and weaknesses, so we decided to give it a shot.\u00a0
\nKhoo:\u00a0The way I look at it is like a dance: it\u2019s two partners, but we take turns to lead and follow. We bring different perspectives to the way we approach problems, and life, and that broadens the way we view architecture, the city and humanity. Belinda brings the feminine viewpoint, as well as a more practical one. She strives to provide order to the challenges in our world; I try to open doors and figure out how things work together, and I\u2019m quite comfortable with uncertainty. So the two of us balance out.\u00a0
\nYou were still relatively new as a partnership when you submitted your entry for the Duxton competition. How did you formulate such a bold proposal?
\nKhoo:\u00a0In the design brief, we were asked to look at a high-density high-rise that had never been attempted before. We were in [suburban enclave] Holland Village, in one of the U-shaped blocks, and it was only 15 storeys. We were thinking: If we multiplied this three times, what would we like to see if we lived there? \u00a0\u00a0
\nWe thought we should find a model that looks loose and open, while being efficient with materials and cost. We looked at porosity and identity, and thought that even though it was such a massive building, the impact on the city should not be massive \u2013 it\u2019s kind of a contrarian model.\u00a0
\nWe invented this repetition method that used a small number of modules to create a diverse-looking fa\u00e7ade. We thought if we gave the units different features, like bay windows or balcony planters, which could make a small difference. We also thought it would be wonderful to put up gardens in the sky \u2013 reclaiming land in the air to liberate more space for communal areas. That idea, inspired by Le Corbusier\u2019s projects where he used the rooftop as another garden, was fascinating to us. \u00a0
\nHuang:\u00a0Most of the time it is like that \u2013 it\u2019s very complex, so we try not to determine what the final product is going to be, but create a script where we \u201cgrow\u201d the solution.\u00a0
\nHow do you foresee public housing in Singapore evolving, and to what extent do you think The Pinnacle will be an influence?
\nHuang:\u00a0The Housing Development Board (HDB) provides for up to 85 percent of the population, so you have lower and higher incomes and levels of affordability. The Pinnacle is one extreme; there is a whole diversity of housing. It would be difficult to replicate something like The Pinnacle today; the cost may be three times the original. \u00a0\u00a0
\nKhoo:\u00a0At the moment in new towns, at planning level we are considering ecology and more human-centred design \u2013 public spaces, ground connectivity. That\u2019s a trend I see continuing, with people living close to parks, greenery and a walkable town, more community-based and care programs, all interwoven very closely. In the centre of town, close to nodal areas like the MRT, I would imagine as technology improves, we would grow taller. \u00a0\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Have you found Singapore a conducive place to advancing your careers as architects?\u00a0
Husband-and-wife architect team Khoo Peng Beng and Belinda Huang design high-rises that maximise human engagement...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-gKr","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8196,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/ascott-to-open-serviced-apartment-in-one-north\/","url_meta":{"origin":64383,"position":0},"title":"Ascott to open serviced apartment in one-north","date":"March 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Citadines Fusionopolis Singapore. 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\nHuang:\u00a0At the turn of the millennium Singapore wanted to create a design economy on top of production and industrialisation. I think we were right at the heart of the entire movement. All of it needed creative thinking: physical planning and human geography were creative ways of using economic tactics to stimulate behavioural changes \u2013industrial parks, residential estates. It had to come together in a very coherent manner because there was no hinterland, and very limited resources.\u00a0
\nKhoo:\u00a0Our profession grew on the back of these waves of development driven by the government, and there was a lot of support \u2013 grants, financial backing \u2013 for creative industries. So it was a very good place to be in this period of growth.\u00a0
\nYour blueprint for The Pinnacle was chosen 15 years ago. Do you believe Singapore still supports younger architects in the same way now, or is there a tendency to give contracts to overseas firms with more experience?
\nKhoo:\u00a0Comparing the environment we were in then to now, I think it would be harder for a young practice to gain commissions. The requirements have become more complex and demanding. Government structures have started to be more stringent with the firms that can participate in the tenders. But they are always open to improvement; they see the benefit in the creative side, but it\u2019s important for them [to have] both younger energy and more experienced firms in the execution.
\n\u00a0
\nThe Pinnacle@Duxton is one of Singapore\u2019s most striking architectural landmarks and represents a major innovation in public housing in the country
\nDo you feel innovation and ambition are still prized qualities in Singapore architecture?\u00a0
\nKhoo:\u00a0For city-centre development, and five- and six-star developments, we will continue to strive to break barriers and be different. If you look at Marina Bay, new residential projects have a more multi-layered approach \u2013 retail, offices. In new HDB estates, we are seeing integrated use \u2013 elder care, childcare, assisted living, all occupying the ground floor. In some urban centres, you see retail outlets occupying the base. I think we will see that more and more.\u00a0
\nHuang:\u00a0Elder care, I think, will continue to be a big feature in new development because we are ageing very quickly! Together with Tokyo and some other cities, we will have to pioneer this. I think the next generation of buildings will not necessarily [be about] formal innovations at a superficial level, like an interesting fa\u00e7ade, but more how a city will provide compassionate care to the residents.\u00a0
\nWhich current architects impress you the most?
\nHuang:\u00a0Architects like WOHA [Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell] started a generation ahead of us, and I\u2019ve always found the connection as friends and fellow practitioners really helpful. When we see good buildings we\u2019re always thinking about how we can fast-forward some of these ideas in terms of design.\u00a0
\nWhat is the project of yours that you are most excited about in the future?\u00a0
\nKhoo:\u00a0In Kolkata, this year we\u2019re going to finish The Atmosphere, a \u201csculpture in the air\u201d. That\u2019s like The Pinnacle on steroids! Each unit is a bungalow; double-volume spaces, with huge decks like plots of land in the sky.\u00a0
\nNext year will be the Sentosa Village Hotel; recently the most exciting [new project] for us was The Tembusu [a condo near Kovan new town], a series of interconnected low-rise buildings that stack up to become a high-rise. \u00a0
\nSEE ALSO:\u00a0Improvised jazz inspired this Singapore architect\u2019s freeform designs
\n\u00a0
\nThis article originally appeared on Property Report.
\n
\nSource : proppertyguru.com.sg\/Property Market
\nRead more…How this couple helped redefine Singapore\u2019s skyline<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"