Our next stop - the Marina One 'Green Heart' development - is a different beast. This is a green building on a much larger scale. Here, there is a central 'atrium' between four skyscrapers that has been sculpted into a forest several storeys high. It is open to the elements and so it is bright and airy, yet it feels contained. The buildings are all crazy flowing shapes and resemble a surrealist fantasy.
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| Flowing building facades |
What it does achieve is an incredible lightness of form. The buildings don't seem bulky even though they're large. Lots of light gets through and the central space doesn't feel claustrophobic.
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| Looking up to the sky |
Once again, there's artistry (or should that be wizardry?!) here - lots of organic shapes, muted colours, water and a variety of textures
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| The waterfall - not a gushing torrent but a gentle trickle that mimics the sound of rain |
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| At ground level - inside the 'Green Heart' |
Once again we take the lift upstairs to a garden terrace that is several storeys above street level. It is a vast space. It is a weekday morning and we are the only ones there apart from a cleaner. Hard to imagine who might use this space usually... office workers? Is it used for functions? Although warm and humid at street level, up here it is surprisingly breezy. There are garden beds densely packed with tropical vegetation, green walls, and an astonishing view across to neighbouring buildings.
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| The garden terrace... with twisting sculptures? |
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| Green walls |
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| Lush green wall |
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| Garden bed and a visual link to the financial district beyond |
It is not the most legible of spaces and we get a bit lost finding our way back down, but we eventually get to Level 2, where it's possible to walk down a winding ramp back towards the Green Heart.
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| Twisting steel forms that encircle the Green Heart |
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| Descending the ramp back towards the Green Heart |
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| Back to the forest floor |
We have already been treated to two amazing developments today and it isn't even midday yet! My green wishlist is satisfied however, so it is onto other adventures.
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