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Design inspiration from
abroad : redneck trash condo USA
Coffin Condo Singapore
Ole Shereen design departs from the
ordinary in high-rise Singapore. Design evokes symbolisms of death
If
you've ever played jenga or stacked stirring sticks in a cafe, even,
you'll understand the excitement encased in creating a precarious form,
the thrill of not knowing if or when it will tumble and the necessity to
pay attention to it in case it does. While perhaps not the desired
effect, Ole Shereen's design for The Interlace joins the ranks of the
leaning tower of Pisa and the immense cantilever of Foster's Zenith to
provide this amusement nonetheless.
In a departure from the
norm in Singapore, the freshly released images of the OMA architect's
design show layers of horizontal towers stacked askew of each other
creating an array of aspects for street-side interactors to gaze at in
wonderment, a selection of views for future residents to fight over, and
an engineering challenge worth talking about.
An impressive 31
six-storey blocks are arranged on four main ‘Superlevels’ comprising 24
stories, although most Superlevel blocks range from 6 to 18 stories to
form a stepped building topography. Thought has been put into the
arrangement of the blocks in terms of responding to the natural elements
of sun, wind and micro-climate and cascading balconies and terraces add
green space and allow residents to interact with the outdoor space.
The Interlace is set to
create new Beverley Hills-style luxury accommodation, set in the lush
Gillman Heights suburb of Singapore and providing a total of 1,040
apartment units set within 8 hectares of land at the Southern Ridges of
Singapore. The concept symbolizes a new way of living for Singapore,
taking rich city-slickers out of the high-rise centre of the city and
offering a commutable green hub that retains just enough of a city-feel
within the community of buildings.
“The design addresses
concerns of shared space and social needs in a contemporary society and
simultaneously responds to issues of shared living and individuality by
offering a multiplicity of indoor/outdoor spaces specific to the
tropical context," commented Shereen.
Ms Patricia Chia, CEO
of CapitaLand Residential Singapore, added: “This is a great opportunity
to create and build a residential destination at the Gillman Heights
site that will challenge the present architectural definition of the
living space. In developing the dramatic external form, we have also
focused much attention on creating comfortable internal spaces. Our
vision for the site is to build homes that will last through the
generations and to define an address that the home owner identifies
with. The name, The Interlace, reinforces the interconnectivity between
man and the space, community and natural environment surrounding him.
Ole Scheeren has created a new postcard for Singapore.”
Niki May Young
News Editor
The interlace, also
raises concerns that the symbolism of death is being used to entice
en-blockers to purchase over-priced new flats at half the space they use
to occupy and at double the cost.
Says
pearlbankapartments.com "this project is immensely appropriate for the
Singapore condition, preparing the living to occupy the smallest space
possible at double the cost. Laying flat like the stacked coffins of
Sago Lane'. Expectations for this project that will 'last through the
generations' are laughable.
The symbolism of death is used in the
ground breaking design of this new Singapore condo development. Stacked
like coffins at the funeral parlors of Sago Lane, the building forms
will remind Singaporeans of the transitory state of existence on this
human rights violating island-state. But be assured it won't last long.
Under strict en-block policies, this coffin condo can be demolished in
10 years time.
A seller's cautionary tale
En block sale and after
Straits Times Friday October 2nd
2009
I AM compelled to share
my experience as a cautionary tale after reading the report, 'Private
homes still seeing high demand' (Sept 22). I was a flat owner of Gillman
Heights, which was sold in a collective property sale exercise and for
which I received $887,000 (around $520 per sq ft) for my 1,700 sq ft
three-bedroom unit.
By the time I received
my money, I could only afford a similar unit far from the city and
certainly not as central as Gillman Heights.
Former owners like me
were assured we would receive priority in buying units in the new
condominium - The Interlace - on the site of our former home.
But at $1,000 psf, I
would have been effectively downgraded to a much smaller apartment at
the same location. Worse, we were given only three days' advance notice
of the exclusive preview for us to choose our units at the Shenton Way
office of the developer, CapitaLand Residential.
The preview, like the
units offered to us, was unfavorable. We were not given brochures and
all we had to gauge the new condo visually was an amateurish miniature
model which was a stark contrast to the sleek, three-dimensional and
professionally crafted model displayed at the sales office at the public
launch.
The preview seemed like
a half-hearted attempt by the developer to meet its obligations under
the sales pact.
Was the professional
Interlace model completed and ready for viewing at the off-site sales
office, and if yes, why was the 'private preview' not held at
CapitaLand's temporary River Valley Road sales office instead?
Why were the preview
for ex-owners and the public launch of The Interlace so starkly
different? Former owners were not offered a discount and while it may
seem like a public relations coup to announce that ex-owners of Gillman
Heights would receive priority in selection of apartments in the new
project, the ones we were offered were some of the most unfavorable.
So, if there is a moral
to my experience for flat owners contemplating collective sale, I would
say potential seller beware: Read the fine print over matters like
priority purchase of the new condo.
Reginald Tan
The amateurish
miniature model of The Interlace condominium (left) at the exclusive
private preview for former owners of Gillman Heights was a stark
contrast to the sleek, three-dimensional and professionally crafted
model displayed at the public launch. -- PHOTO: REGINALD TAN
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