Archisteem 8: Friendly Architecture Curation - A Bridge For The Disabled
Today's curated project: Enabling Village
This project is led by WOHA which took place in Lengkok Bahru, Singapore. The project covered an approximate 26,100m² and was completed in 2016. The project was an adaptive reuse project of Bukit Merah Vocational Institute built in the 1970s. It is another great example of a fusion of old and new.
I came to know about Enabling Village through my experience with autistic children where it is hard to find a place that suits their needs. The project amazed me with its comprehensiveness of design that integrates education, work, training, retail and lifestyle all under one roof. The main purpose of the building is to help the disabled to connect with the society.
The existing building was abandoned and underutilized after the re-development of the area. In Singapore, it is a well-known fact that the land price there is one of the tops in the world. With per square feet buying cost can hit around 10,000USD with a 3 bedroom apartment in the city center. Thus, it is critical for the government to think of a way to utilize and optimize every space available.
The reimagine for the site to become a park destination with integrated neighbourhood’s pedestrian network is one of my favourites. I visited Singapore several times and I really appreciate on the connectivity of the city. Meaning to say, as a pedestrian, I can literally travel to anywhere in Singapore without owning a car and can be well shaded for most of the time.
In order to provide a holistic place for the disabled to use, it is very important that the architect understands their needs. For example, the accessibility of whale chair, the use of signage (some disabled may have problem with direction), the choice of lighting and colours (for not over stimulate the autistic), landscaping (for the disabled and community to mingle and interact). In this particular project, we can see most of the spaces are connected seamlessly with ramps, landings and lifts.
I love how the architect embraces the tropical climate and open up a lovely courtyard in the middle with a pond that served as a beacon, a hot spot for the community. The timber façade also smoothen and make the building much blend in with the surrounding, creating a much welcoming sense especially for the autistic. Moreover, the court yard also utilizes the element of terrace to create levels and fun space for the people to enjoy. Again, in a tropical context, it is important to stay connected with the nature and this is one of the key concept for the building to feel so comfortable. There are different flora and trees surrounding the verandahs and cabanas along the passages which act as meeting spaces.
The concept of way finding was also implemented in the design whereby the architect set up different touch-points at the entries and junctions to assist with orientation and navigation. Each block is differentiated with unique colours and different spectrum of lighting is set to create different ambience. There are also mural arts that were curated by local artists. This is a great way to infuse local culture into the building.
This is indeed a great project and I believe it helps a lot of disabled people to gain back their confidence and independence to live along side with the society. This is the empowerment that we should be talking about, and I personally hope that I could create such facility for Malaysia as well.
Source of images used and reference article. Click here
Hope you enjoy the curation. If you have any projects that you wished to be curated, do drop a comment to me. Any critics and suggestions about my curation are welcome!
This is an #archisteem post.
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Singapore is one of the developed nations with a lot of architectural wonders. They are not only ergonomics but aesthetically pleasing.
For example, the accessibility of whale chair... I think you meant "wheel chair". Unless you really want to invite Steemit whales to like your post and earn a few thousand Steem/SBD for this post.. hahaha...
The courtyard is absolutely amazing. But my opinion of outdoor in rainforest/tropical countries are always the same: It is difficult to enjoy them because it either gets too hot/humid or too many mosquitos to enjoy.
Ya, in both aspects, they have strict guidelines to follow. That’s Singapore. The main thing is they are able to enforce accordingly. In Malaysia, we are flexible but kinda excessive in this territory.
Oh my, I guess I’m drawn to become whale rather than being on a wheel. Hahaha. Thanks for highlighting that for me.
Ya, pros and cons for outdoor in the tropics. Mosquitos wise still can be solved via tech or with certain plants, minimizing it. That is how a tropic should feel in overall 😂
Strict guidelines are strictly enforced in all developed countries like Singapore. They they are there for a good reason. One problem about developing and third world countries is that to disregard of guidelines, even worse is corruption that bypass the guidelines. That is when many problems surface. For housing development, it could lead to congestion, insufficient supply of water/electricity, unplanned development which leads to insufficient infrastructure, etc...
I never lived in Singapore, but I heard they have a lot less mosquitoes than Malaysia. Outdoor in cooler countries are a lot better because it can be enjoyed during daytime. At night, if you have a fireplace or just jacket will suffice. All you need is some light and activities and it will be wonderful place to be.
Agreed on the enforcement, and education plays an important part as well. Those enforcers do need some knowledge on what they are enforcing and the purpose of it. Without that understanding, there will be only chaos. We have these phenomena all around the globe and being in this industry, I think Malaysia already "not bad" compared to others. Corruption cannot be prevented, but the conscience about the bottom line should be moved up, in an overall sense.
The Sultans and the State Governments are the bosses for land; while for our nation structure planning, our PM is the boss.
Singapore trees coverage triumphs Malaysia's, but with a cost too (to maintain it). Nonetheless, people enjoy the environment a lot, including me. In terms of temperature, still quite same la.. haha
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