Scotts Tower / UNStudio


© Darren Soh

© Darren Soh
  • Architects: UNStudio
  • Location: 38 Scotts Road, Singapore
  • Architect In Charge: Ben van Berkel, Astrid Piber
  • Design Team: Ger Gijzen, Konstantinos Chrysos, Luis Etchegorry, Cynthia Markhoff, Elisabeth Brauner, Shany Barath, Thomas van Bekhoven, Iris Pastor, Rodrigo Cañizares, Albert Gnodde, Mo Ching Ying Lai, Grete Veskiväli, Philipp Weisz, Samuel Bernier Lavigne, Lukasz Walczak, Alicja Chola, Cheng Gong
  • Area: 16855.34 m2
  • Project Year: 2018
  • Photographs: Darren Soh
  • Executive Architect: ONG&ONG, Singapore
  • Project Management: Arcadis, Singapore
  • Landscape Architect: Sitetectonix, Singapore
  • Structural Engineer: KTP Consultants, Singapore
  • Mechanical Engineer: United Project Consultants, Singapore
  • Interior Design (Residential Units): Creative Mind Design, Singapore

© Darren Soh

© Darren Soh

Text description provided by the architects. The Scotts Tower is situated on a prime location in Singapore, close to the Orchard Road luxury shopping district and with views encompassing both nearby parkland and the panoramic cityscape of Singapore City.


© Darren Soh

© Darren Soh

The 18,500m2, 31-storey, 231-unit tower consists of 1 to 3-bedroom apartments and 4-bedroom penthouses, along with expansive landscaped gardens, sky terraces, penthouse roof gardens and a variety of recreational facilities.   


© Darren Soh

© Darren Soh

Ben van Berkel: “An interesting facet of The Scotts Tower is the way that it reacts to the urban context of Singapore. Instead of the more usual means of planning a city horizontally, we have created neighbourhoods in the sky: a vertical city where each zone has its own distinct identity.”


© Darren Soh

© Darren Soh

Vertical City & Home
The design concept of The Scotts Tower is that of a vertical city incorporating a variety of residence types and scales. The tower is divided into four different residential clusters, denoted as ‘neighbourhoods’. Within each of these neighbourhoods, individual identity is given to each unit by means of type, scale, distribution and articulation of outdoor space and the possibility for personalisation of the interior layout. Terraces unique to each unit type further enhance the personalised feel.


Analysis diagram

Analysis diagram

Ben van Berkel: “The balconies, combined with the zoning of the individually framed neighbourhoods, in The Scotts Tower create different scales of detail in the structure; both intricate, smaller details and larger gestural details. In The Scotts Tower the balconies form part of the interior furniture.”


© Darren Soh

© Darren Soh

Frame
The nearby green area to the West of the tower is extended into The Scotts Tower site initially by means of a ground level landscape concept designed by Sitetectonix. This ground level concept incorporates a multi-layered environment which links together the different zones and recreational facilities available to the residents.


© Darren Soh

© Darren Soh

The vertical city concept along with the green areas are bound together by two gestures: the ‘vertical frame’ and the ‘sky frames.’ The vertical frame organises the tower in an urban manner. It unites the tower into one ‘vertical city’, but also provides clear distinctions between the four residential clusters, providing the neighbourhood effect.


Analysis diagram

Analysis diagram

The sky frame – at the lobby (level 1 and 2) and sky terrace (level 25) – organise the amenity spaces and green areas of the tower and provide areas with panoramic views. The communal nature of these spaces also encourages interaction among users, enhancing the neighbourhood concept.


© Darren Soh

© Darren Soh

Lobby design
A verdant landscape unifies the communal outdoor spaces. An extension of this quality, through the use of natural materials, was the primary design intention for the lift lobbies of the tower.


© Darren Soh

© Darren Soh

Marble tiles are arranged on the floor in a random pattern and extend upwards on the lower part of the lobby walls to extend the space. Above this, curvilinear wooden ribbons fold on to the ceiling and span across the lobby, connecting both ends and introducing motion and residential warmth into the space.


© Darren Soh

© Darren Soh