The new academic campus for the SUTD is located on a site of approx. 83,000 m2 and is close to both Changi airport - Singapore’s principal airport - and the Changi Business Park. The SUTD is Singapore’s fourth public university.
The Singapore University of Technology and Design offers four key academic pillars: Architecture and Sustainable Design (ASD), Engineering Product Development (EPD), Engineering Systems and Design (ESD) and Information Systems Technology and Design (ISTD). The SUTD is a driver of technological innovation and economic growth, with the new academic campus acting as both a catalyst and a conveyor for advancement by bringing together people, ideas and innovation. Through collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a further partnership with Zhejiang University, the SUTD combines the best practices and values of the East and the West.
The new academic campus directly reflects SUTD’s curriculum, using the creative enterprise of the school to facilitate a cross-disciplinary interface: interaction is established between the professional world, the campus, and the community at large. The design for the academic campus offers an opportunity to embrace innovation and creativity through a non-linear connective relationship between students, faculty, professionals and the spaces they interact with.
Ben van Berkel: “The design for the SUTD consciously avoids over-articulation and instead focusses on infrastructural qualities, on connectivity and the creation of an open, transparent and light facility that responds to the requirements of the contemporary campus. In this way the architecture of the SUTD does not attempt to overwhelm the students with a singular vision, it instead enables them to develop their own architectural language for the future.”
The new SUTD academic campus will facilitate cross-disciplinary interaction among all four pillars of academia which is interlaced with the Humanities, Arts and Social Science curriculum and research. Following the master plan, the academic campus is designed through two main axes: the living and learning spines, which overlap to create a central point and bind together all corners of the campus.
UNStudio proposed a flexible space for exhibitions, events and interaction at the central node: this Campus Centre forms the intellectual heart of the campus and directly links the main programmatic anchors of the Auditorium, the International Design Centre and the University Library.
The spatial configuration of the academic campus generates a seamless network of education, a 24/7 campus which enhances direct interaction through both proximity and transparency.
Ben van Berkel: “From the exterior the SUTD academic buildings look like somewhat dense, separate blocks, but they are in fact experienced in a completely connected and open way. By introducing diagonal and framed view corridors, vertical and horizontal connections and covered walkways and by tapering the elevations of the buildings, openness is created that means the buildings are experienced as a connected whole. Traditional divisions between rooms and corridors are also dissolved, resulting in flexible spaces and encouraging movement throughout the buildings.”
The SUTD is a highly sustainable building, incorporating numerous passive design strategies designed to counteract the conditions caused by Singapore’s tropical climate. Based on extensive orientation and wind studies natural ventilation principles are applied throughout the design, alongside cooling techniques, covered walkways, louvred facade shading, open voids, extensive daylight to the interiors and protection from heavy rain showers.
The overall design forms a response to the natural landscape of Singapore, both through colour application and through the incorporation of facade planters, green roof terraces and sky gardens and numerous green pockets planted with native trees and flowering plants.
Phasing
The SUTD project is divided into phases: phase 1 - which is now complete - incorporates buildings 1 and 2 and parts of buildings 5 and 3.
Client: Singapore University of Technology and Design
Credits
UNStudio: Ben van Berkel, Caroline Bos, Astrid Piber with Christian Veddeler, Ren Yee, Andreas Bogenschütz, Jordan Trachtenberg, Kirsten Hollmann, Jeffrey Johnson, Adi Utama, Paula Ibarrondo, Daniel Bazo, Christina Bolis, Ka Shin Liu, Steven Reisinger, Michael Sims, Chris Masicampo, Philipp Meise, Melissa Liu, Giorgia Cannici, Jacob Sanders, Richard Teeling, Nanang Santoso, Pieter Meier, Olivier Yebra, Teoman Ayas
Singapore-based architect: DP Architects, Singapore
Consultants:
1. Project Management: PM Link Pte Ltd, Singapore
2. Structural Engineer: Parsons Brinckerhoff Pte Ltd, Singapore
3. M&E Engineer: CPG Consultants Pte Ltd, Singapore
4. Quantity Surveyor: CPG Consultants Pte Ltd, Singapore
5. Landscape Consultant: Surbana International Consultants Pte Ltd, Singapore
6. Façade Consultant: Arup Singapore Pte Ltd, Singapore
7. ESD Consultant: DP Sustainable Design Pte Ltd
8. Acoustics Consultant: Acviron Acoustics Consultants Pte Ltd
9. Lighting Consultant: Lighting Planners Associates Pte Ltd, Singapore
10. Signage Consultant: Design Datum
Contractor:
Kajima Overseas Asia Pte Ltd
Building Information
Building surface: Phase I: 101,000 m2, Phase II 109,000 m2.Total : 213,000 m2
Building site: 76,846 m2
Site Dimensions: Area 82,690.00 m2
Building Height: 36.9m (above ground floor)
Number of Floors: 7 storeys
Floor Area:
• Statistical Gross Floor Area: 130, 048.89 m2
• Gross Floor Area - Phase 1: 106, 062.99 m2
• Auditorium capacity: 1154 pax
• Lecture Theatres capacity: 532 pax, 280 pax
Sustainable features:
• Preliminary considerations in the design include building orientation and depth in relation to sun and wind exposure, along with the incorporation of maximum natural ventilation and daylight to all buildings.
• The block orientations are configured to minimise East/West solar exposure with considerations of inter-block shading, while a porous ground floor enhances updrafts. The well shaded and well lit courtyards are connected to campus wide circulation spaces through ‘wind corridors’ that direct Northeast and Southeast prevailing winds into the courtyards, whilst providing pedestrian paths which cut through the floors.
• Air conditioned spaces are reduced by means of naturally ventilated perimeter corridors that create a shading overhang and minimise heat loads. Horizontal louvers are designed to reduce solar gain, reflect and diffuse daylight entering internal spaces and shield from tropical rains on exterior corridors. The coloured precast, aluminum and glass façade increases daylight where needed and allows for a flexible integration of M&E louvers.
• The façade of the academic campus responds to its urban location through articulation and interaction at urban nodes, while tree-shaded walkways and basement planters generate cooled, outdoor modes of circulation that render the campus walkable and low-carbon.
• The overall design forms a response to the natural landscape of Singapore, both through colour application and through the incorporation of facade planters, numerous green pockets with trees and flowering plants, along with planted roof terraces and sky gardens.
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