SINGAPORE - Two of the Housing and Development Board's (HDB) upcoming integrated developments will combine form with function in design features that will incorporate water with public spaces, and reduce its wastage.
Oasis Terraces, a neighbourhood centre in Punggol, and Kampung Admiralty, a senior-friendly complex that includes studio apartments and other amenities, will both feature rain gardens and vegetated swales that will help to clean rainwater run-off for use in irrigation, for example.
On Wednesday (July 13), they were among 14 projects to receive national water agency PUB's Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC) Waters certification for extensively integrating its design features.
The ABC Waters programme, in its 10th year, aims to spruce up Singapore's water bodies and transform concrete canals and drains into areas that can also be used for community events and recreation.
Under the certification scheme, started in 2010, projects must score sufficient points in criteria such as integration of water features within site architecture, and community engagement.
Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor presented the certificates to project developers at an ABC Waters seminar at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, held in conjunction with this year's Singapore International Water Week.
"We are beautifying waterways across Singapore and integrating them with surrounding landscapes... developers play a very important role in bringing ABC Waters to the masses," she said.
Oasis Terraces will also have water features such as jumping jets, water wheels and rhythmic water geysers, while Kampung Admiralty features a tiered design that helps to detain and treat more than 30 per cent of the site area's rainwater runoff.
Landscape architect Koh Jiann Bin, who has been involved with over 20 projects that have adopted the ABC Waters concept, including Oasis Terraces, said that the programme has given him a new understanding of landscape design.
"Now I see water differently, and it makes it more exciting having a new tool to design with," he said.
