Eden House: Garden house. What tools allow you to integrate nature into architecture
From the outside, Touching Eden House, built in Singapore by Wallflower Architecture + Design, looks like a vertical garden. But behind this "green facade" is hidden a rather simple concrete building with panoramic glazing. How did the architects manage to create such a "multi-layered building" and what were their motivations? How Touching Eden House implements the principles of the garden-city concept implemented in Singapore. What does the building have in common with garden gazebos? And what materials were used during the construction of this mansion? Read about it below...
Given Singapore's hot climate, one of the main challenges facing architects working here is mitigating the urban heat island effect. This effect is the difference in temperature between the city and the suburbs, which is caused by the fact that asphalt, concrete and building roofs are heated more by the sun than trees. "After studying the effect of the landscape on the temperature of the city, we came to the conclusion that in order to mitigate the 'urban heat island', it is better to place plants at different levels: on the ground, on the facades of houses, on the roofs. The exterior of the Touching Eden House is a vertical garden." noted the architects. In addition, the building needed a green facade from an aesthetic point of view, Touching Eden House is located next to the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
To support the plants in the vertical garden, the architects used wooden trellises set a short distance from the house's concrete structure with a large area of panoramic glazing. This gap is designed to create comfortable conditions for plant development. In turn, wooden lattices consist of elements of L-shaped and I-shaped sections, which can be connected in 12 different ways. This allows you to create different inclined surfaces of the facade structure, thereby creating an optimal balance of interior lighting and shadow at different times of the day.
What's behind the green facade of Touching Eden House?
On the first floor there is a hall, two kitchens, a dining room and a bathroom. From here you can go through the glass doors to the backyard with a garden with a swimming pool. On the second floor there are children's rooms, a bedroom, a living room, a gym and an office. The facade facing the yard does not provide for the installation of a large number of plants. Here, the architects have left a large area of open panoramic glazing so that residents can enjoy the view of the lush greenery next to the house, as well as admire the nearby Botanical Garden. The interior is decorated with wood paneling, earth-colored fabrics, as well as marble and travertine.
Name of the building - Touching Eden House
Authors/Architects: Wallflower Architecture + Design
Year of construction: 2023
Place of manufacture: Singapore