Singapore is slinging out its safe old image and creating a city full of cutting edge design and horticultural delights which culminates in the opening today of a 134 acre park at Bay South Gardens. This impressive green space has been five years in the making and offers a cloud forest, heritage gardens, cool conservatories, tropical flowers, climbing ferns, and a spectacular view. Most impressive for me is this massive waterfront garden will feature a man-made mechanical forest of solar-powered trees up to 50 meters high supplying the gardens rainwater and renewable energy
According to CNN, the garden’s 18 supertrees will do more than just give the public something to look at. Each will act as a vertical garden, generating solar power, acting as air venting ducts for nearby conservatories, and collecting rainwater. To generate electricity, 11 of the supertrees are fitted with solar photovoltaic panels that convert sunlight into energy, which provides lighting and aids water technology within the adjacent climate-controlled conservatories. The trees will also mimic their natural counterparts by absorbing and dispersing heat, and providing visitors with some much-needed shad
This unique project is the creation of British based Wilkinson Eyre Architects who worked with top landscape designers and engineers from the UK to create this impressive green landmark in such a bustling and built up city.
The opening of Bay South Gardens in Singapore heralds a new era in Asian sustainability projects. This horticultural oasis is certainly a contrast to the country’s extremely dense urban environment, forming part of the government’s overall strategy to transform Singapore into a “city in a garden.”
I have plans to visit and bring you more blogs about this horticultural heaven but for now here is a local news report that gives you a flavour of what is on offer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j30TJjDucd4&noredirect=1
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