WOW Architects has completed the Mandai Rainforest Resort in Singapore, a hotel designed to immerse visitors in the surrounding nature. The resort is part of a larger wildlife and nature destination funded by the Singapore government, which also includes the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, and Bird Paradise.
The hotel’s design minimizes its impact on the forest and its biodiversity, with a structure that “creeps through the jungle” and preserves existing habitats. The building achieves the Green Mark Super Low Energy certification, awarded by the Building and Construction Authority to buildings that achieve at least a 60% energy saving compared to the 2005 building code.
Key Features:
– Treehouse pods containing rooms elevated within the forest’s canopy
– Organic forms featuring throughout the hotel’s interior, with wooden furniture nodding to the jungle
– Spiral staircase resembling the “spinal column of a living creature” leading to the hotel’s upper floors
– Private rooms with views out towards the surrounding landscape, including glazing across the hotel’s north-facing facade overlooking the reservoir
– Sustainable design with interactive air-conditioning controls and an open-air approach to ventilation
The resort’s design seeks to forge stronger relationships between people and their natural environments, with a focus on education and sustainability. The hotel’s integration of nature into the building aims to create a dialogue and awareness that would build towards the concept of the citizen ecologist.
Image Courtesy: Dezeen
