Plant life is the standout feature at an urban commercial complex
Nestled in the core of Singapore’s Central Business District, a bustling location marked with skyscrapers, transit hubs and densely populated commercial and residential areas, is CapitaSpring—a high-rise that takes the concepts of workplace greenery and house plants to a whole new level. The $1.3 billion (USD) new construction project by Singapore-based developer CapitaLand, architects from BIG and lighting designers at Nipek, emphasizes a connection to nature with the placement of “green pockets” that host living trees right within the building’s façade. Ficus Lyrata, Ficus Longifolia and Schefflera actinophylla, otherwise known as Fiddle Leaf Fig Trees, Banana Leaf Fig Trees and Umbrella Trees, respectively, extend beyond vertical façade fins—proving that the business district is invested in more than just the color of money. The unique project challenged the lighting designers to come up with a scheme to highlight the plants against the backdrop of bright interior illumination while ensuring that façade lighting was as unobtrusive as possible. The result? The designers found their green thumbs.
Nipek Associate Director Takahisa Yamaguchi said, “It was difficult for the deep green trees (typical of tropical Southeast Asia) embedded in the façade to stand out at night if simply illuminated with usual white light. Therefore, pastel-green colored lighting mixed with 4000K white light is used to emphasize the green [plants] in a subtle way. The lighting trick almost creates an illusion that the greens are livelier and fresher after dark,” explained Yamaguchi. The team implemented numerous DAIKO 24-W, 4000K fixtures with Rosco colored lenses and DAIKO 24-W, 4000K white-light fixtures to pull off the illusion. Yamaguchi added, “It was good to see that we were able to try something new and succeed, and that it will be a trend in the future.”
Though lighting the project wasn’t all a walk in the park. “There were some uncertainties in this project before it was completed, such as how effective the colored lights would be and the use of tree spotlights as the main lighting element instead of downlights,” Yamaguchi said. Some of the biggest lighting hurdles pertained to an additional component of CapitaSpring—a parking area, with a required 150-lux light level, surrounded by near-transparent perforated façade panels that had the ability to completely overtake the building’s design integrity after work hours.
At a Glance
- The project earned a 2023 Illumination Award of Merit.
- The project achieved 2018 Building and Construction Authority Green Mark Platinum Award.
- Tropical flora typical to the region were included in the project.
“Singapore’s government authority, the Urban Redevelopment Authority, was concerned that the lighting of the parking floors would affect the overall nighttime appearance as the green pockets that characterize the façade are on the same floor as the parking level,” noted Yamaguchi. “This [concern] was especially due to the perforated-façade panels that can become almost transparent in the dark, allowing passersby to see the ceilings of the car-park levels from the nearby streets. Hence, the entire façade of the podium needed to appear evenly illuminated without adversely affecting the green pockets.” Nipek and BIG had to come together to find the best solution. “The aperture ratio of a façade screen was precisely designed by BIG and [18-W, 3000K] downlights [by ERCO] with excellent glare control were chosen for the parking lot. The fixtures along the façade are shielded on one side and are not visible from the street level outside,” explained Yamaguchi.
Even more greenery can be found on CapitaSpring’s rooftop and in semi-outdoor community areas that provide moments of tranquility within the busy urban landscape. The lush multi-level roof includes low-level illumination via spotlights by ENDO and path-lighting bollards by Vibia so as to keep the 360-deg panoramic view of Singapore undisturbed for guests. Partial-outdoor and fully outdoor public spaces rely on 47-W, 3500K spotlights/gobo projectors by Meyer Lighting, while a play between light and shadow tie the flora into the architecture to create a dramatic ambiance. Shadows made by real leaves and the illusion of leafy-shadows, produced by 20-W, 3500K fixtures (also by ENDO), carry plant-like visual continuity onto man-made surfaces.
THE DESIGNERS |
Takahisa Yamaguchi is an associate director at Nipek.
Shigeki Fujii is a director at Nipek.
Natsuko Ueda is a director at Nipek.
Li Ying Chai is a project lighting designer at Nipek.