Wilkinson Eyre has completed two of the largest climate-controlled glasshouses in the world for the new 100-hectare Gardens by the Bay project in Singapore.
Situated at the heart of the £350 million Marina South gardens, the Cooled Conservatory Complex covers an area in excess of 20,000sq m, comprising a 1.28ha cool dry biome (the “Flower Dome”) and a 0.73ha cool moist biome (the “Cloud Forest”), containing lush planted landscapes - including an artificial mountain with a 35m high waterfall.
Roof construction
The biomes are formed of a composite structure of a self-supporting gridshell working in tandem with a superstructure of radial steel ribs. This creates a large, clear-span frame that is as slender as possible to allow the required amounts of daylight to enter the building. The gridshell - which, to the shallower slope of the Flower Dome, is thought to be the largest in the world - is constructed from triangular-section steels to maximise daylight entering the building. These standard sections are linked to plate steel nodes, designed in “families” to accommodate the changing geometry of the building