IFLA Award of Excellence 2022

bioSEA worked with Surbana Jurong to ecologically design the a Housing development board project Yishun N3C27 in Singapore. The under-construction project received the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) Award of Excellence 2022 for their strategic greening and masterful execution of biophilic and ecological design. 

Australia’s First 6-Star Green Star Building 2020

bioSEA worked with WOHA & CBUS Property to evaluate the Ecological Value of the Green Start Assessment for 443 Queen Street development in Brisbane, Australia. This helped the development win Australia’s first 6 star green start building. 

Dubai Expo SG Pavilion

Dubai Expo SG Pavilion wins Gold Award: Carbon capture & cooler climates 

April 2022

You see the Green. We Measure it.

bioSEA worked with WOHA Architects to measure the ecosystem service performance of the vegetation at the Singapore pavilion which won a Gold Award at the World Expo in Dubai. We found that the vegetation sequesters 61 tons of Carbon diOxide over its lifespan. It is also 2.66 times more effective than Dubai’s desert vegetation in sequestering carbon over a similar area.

Kampung Admiralty

Curated garden or curated wild: Singapore 

Jan 2022

The acceptance of wild nature over curated nature seems to be growing in Singapore.

bioSEA’s study of Kampung Admiralty showed that the development had a higher level of species diversity (across animal groups, except birds) than 2 of its nearby neighbourhood parks. This was particularly true for insects. Wildflower patches thrived at the rooftop community gardens at Kampung Admiralty. This attracted bees, butterflies, and many other beautiful insects.

Mind Blown

Nov 2021

Watch our feature on how termites can help cool our buildings in tropical Singapore in Singapore’s Channel News Asia TV show Mind Blown: Nature.

DesignSingapore feature

Dec 2021

Read how Good Design Research is supporting local designers by marrying research and design.

Why It Matters?

Jan 2022 

Watch our work featured on termite mound-inspired 3D printed wall panels in Singapore’s Channel News Asia TV show Why it Matters: Nature to the rescue. With Zheng Kai from SUTD and Munshi Toh, we conceived breathable wall panels that can improve building ventilation.

A-Magazine

Feb 2022

Read a feature of how the GDR team is referencing everything from termite mounds to elephant skins and ears and Namib beetles to solve the challenges of our tropical built environment.

Newsletter #5 – Namib Desert Beetle 

Learn how we are mimicking the desert beetle’s strategy to create better water-capture building facades. 

Newsletter #4 – Elephant ear

29 July 2022

Our fourth newsletter talks about how the elephant ears go beyond hearing. Ears also help elephants keep cool. Learn more about how we are working to mimic these strategies and create double bioskin facades.   

Newsletter #3 – Elephant skin 

30 May 2022

Learn about how elephants’ textured skin helps them stay cool despite them not having sweat glands. This has helped us design textured facades that reduce incident radiation on building wall panels.  

Newsletter #2:

29 April 2022 

Our second Biomimicry Design Toolkit newsletter was delivered on 29 April. Focused on the termite mounds, it showcases how cool termite mounds are and how they have inspired bioSEA and the team to design a unique wall panel ventilation system.

Newsletter #1 

24 March 2022

bioSEA launched its first biomimicry design toolkit newsletter today to advance the application of biomimicry in the built environment in the tropics.

This initiative is supported by the DesignSingapore Council’s Good Design Research (GDR) initiative and specifically addresses thermal comfort for tropical building facades.

Sungei Kadut

Factory in a forest: Reimagining Singapore’s industrial landscape 

April 2022 

Reimagining the industrial estates of the future as circular yet biodiverse and liveable needs some bold and unconventional thinking, especially in how we apply nature-based solutions.

Most people think of manufacturing industries and biodiversity as two ends of the sustainability spectrum. Do they have to be opposites or could they be synergistic?

With other tutors, bioSEA’s director Anuj guided students from the National University of Singapore’s Integrated Sustainable Design studio students to integrate nature-based solutions in redesigning the Sungei Kadut estate in Singapore.

The designs are out in a shining new book with support from the JTC. Kudos to Nirmal Kishnani, Dr Swinal Samant, and Mun Summ for leading the overall studio and to co-authors Dreiseitl Herbert and Celine Tan for authoring our vision of a new blue & green infrastructure.

Opinion

Singapore’s green awakening conversation

July 2021

Our former design & research associate, Celine Tan, was featured in an article about Singapore’s green awakening about how urban development can be better aligned to ecology in Singapore and beyond.

Research

Wildlife and urban co-existence through landscape design

2021

Read our new publication published in the Journal of Urban Ecology titled “Landscape design approaches to enhance human-wildlife interactions in a compact tropical city”. This collaboration with bioSEA’s director Anuj and National University of Singapore’s Assoc/Prof Yun Hye Hwang outlines 12 design strategies to encourage designers and planners to strengthen the links between wildlife and urban dwellers and promote wildlife conservation within cities.

Research

South American butterfly, Julia Heliconian, makes Singapore home and expands range

Julia heiconian (Dryas iulia) has been known in Singapore since its first sighting in Hort Park in  June 2021. bioSEA published a scientific record of the sightings of this exotic species from the Sungei Pandan reservoir area in April – May 2022. Read more here. 

An article featuring bioSEA on the same topic was out in the Straits Times on 30 June 2022.