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Urban jungle

By Josh Walker 23 : 03 : 2017 Hospitality : Singapore : Whole-system Thinking

Singapore – Oasia Hotel Downtown is a new hotel designed to act as a vertical garden.

The hotel’s façade is home to 21 species of creepers
The hotel wants to create an environment that refreshes the mind and the senses

Oasia Hotel Downtown, Singapore

Located in the central business district of Singapore, the space incorporates the power of nature to offer guests a respite from the city. In an innovative approach to intensifying land use, its inclusion of open-sided gardens mean the hotel rooms have no need for a mechanical ventilation system.

With a focus on making guests feel cocooned within the natural world, 21 species of creepers grow around the building’s façade, and natural elements such as copper and wood are used for the interiors. It has been designed by architectural firm WOHA.

‘We wanted as many species as possible to recreate an eco-system. It has flowers to attract insects and climbers for squirrels and lizards,’ explained WOHA co-founder Wong Mun Summ in an interview with Wired. ‘Singapore is a land-limited country. As it gets denser, it is necessary to create a livable environment.’

The Big Picture

The lines that separate the natural world and the modern one have blurred, with brands stepping in to transform buildings into environmental living spaces. For more, see our Whole-system Thinking macrotrend.