DP Architects conferred HDB Design Award for work within Tengah Town Master Plan

Plantation Village, part of HDB’s Tengah Town Master Plan, has been recognised for its design excellence and conferred the HDB Design Award.

This year, a total of 17 HDB Design Awards were presented to architects, the largest number of awards given out since the programme’s inception in 2008. Awards are given annually to business partners whose projects demonstrate design excellence.

Of the seven districts within the Tengah development, DP Architects was commissioned to conceive the architectural design and urban planning of the ‘Plantation Village’ precinct and the Farm-way – an urban park and key recreational corridor connecting the other districts together.

In line with HDB’s vision, the development features smart solutions for a more efficient and sustainable environment, including smart-enabled homes that allow residents to remotely control home amenities via their mobile devices, more energy-efficient centralised cooling systems, and solar-ready roofs.

The project’s landscape and architecture design drew inspiration from the location’s rich agricultural heritage and history to enhance the character and spirit of place.

Its community farm-way functions as a recreational corridor that connects to the adjacent Park and Garden districts. Within Plantation Village, a gateway marker frames and connects the urban park to the precinct heart.

Across, stepping raingardens connect up to the neighbourhood parks situated above the multi-storey carpark. These green public spaces provide additional avenues for community interactions. Simultaneously, roofs are converted into lush garden spaces and organised around a series of courtyards of different scales and themes. All 15 residential blocks are terraced to create views of the gardens and community farm-way.

A network of pedestrian bridges connects the Nutmeg and Pepper precincts to the wider neighbourhood. This ease of mobility and connectivity will also enable residents from surrounding precincts to enjoy the park space.

The community farmway is designed in three thematic zones. The Community Zone fronting the Neighbourhood Centre has ABC waters demonstrative garden, infiltration beds, pavilions and playscapes overlooking the central community lawn. The Play Zone has plantation-themed playgrounds with rustic earth mounds and tall slender, vertical trees reminiscent of a plantation. The Third Zone is dedicated to urban farming with fruit trees and fragrant spice gardens – a further tribute to the site’s agricultural heritage.

The Precinct Heart will serve as an inclusive central courtyard and green oasis. The organic central void, which brings daylight and ventilation to the basement car park, is surrounded on all four sides by community living rooms. Residents can cycle or enjoy a leisurely stroll through these green public spaces towards the farm-way and the Neighbourhood Centre, which is designed to foster the kampong spirit. Its lofty well-ventilated community plaza is where weekend farmers’ market and other events can take place. These events can spill out onto the community lawn as an outdoor extension of this social plaza.