VOID+
February 2019
[ Click to expand photos]
The brief called to fill in a culture void in Chinatown, so I've designed an arts and culture centre with a focus on music.
This was done by creating overlapping spaces and programs, blurring the definition what an “activity room” or a “performance venue” should look like.
The spaces are manually adaptable to make a range of public to private areas. A double facade consisting of vertical panels and sliding glass windows make this possible. Users can easily change their area to suit their activities, which creates an informal environment where the building users are in charge - expectations and formality are removed and thus they are more comfortable to create art.
This concept of giving users freedom to decide what to do in a space is emphasised by the organic walls and void of the interior. The irregular rooms are purposely a departure of rectangular, community club, classroom style activity rooms.
Building up on this organic interior, this central void has several functions.
It allows music from performances on the 1st floor travel up throughout the building, allowing users to experience the performance without needing a visual connection or even needing to be on the same floor.
It unifies the spaces of each floor, creating a centerpiece with planter boxes that soften the interior view of the mostly concrete building.
And it allows for natural sunlight and ventilation throughout the building. As the void is open to sky, rain naturally waters the planter boxes, reducing the water usage of the building. Allowing rain into the building creates a unique and memorable experience reminiscent of shophouse airwells, encouraging visitors to become recurring users.
This organic interior contrasts with the rectangular exterior. This was done not only to fit into the site context of the neighbouring shophouses, but also to create a stark juxtaposition from outside to inside, so people entering the building are given an incentive to explore the rest of this centre.
I’d like to highlight that the fourth floor connects to the rooftop of Kong Chow Cultural Centre, where practice sessions for martial arts are held. I created an easily accessed sheltered area for them to practice in whenever it rains suddenly or it’s too sunny.
On the fifth floor is the rooftop bar and restaurant area. This space has a glass roof that creates interesting linear solar geometry with the beams and girders, and follows the void of the building interior to allow rain through. The reason why it is glass and the columns are positioned differently (there are transfer beams) is to Ensure an undisturbed, panoramic view of Duxton Plain Park, the rooftops of shophouses, the Kreta Ayer HDB blocks and the modern skyscrapers at Tanjong Pagar. So while enjoying a performance on the rooftop and eating a meal with friends, you get this skyline that contains both old and new Singaporean architecture.
This was my way of appreciating the culture of Singapore by making a picture frame of the evolution of Singaporean Architecture.
Overall, this building focuses on easily adaptable areas, utilising the natural climate, and creating informal spaces for the arts and culture to thrive. Thank you.