Gardens by the Bay

The Gardens by the Bay (Chinese: 滨海湾花园) is a working name for the planned development of three major parks around the Marina Bay in downtown Singapore. First announced to the general public in the National Day Rally by the Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in August 2005, it will allocate 94 hectares of prime waterfront land for park space, including a conservatory and serving as Singapore's second botanical garden.

The gardens

Three gardens will wrap around the Marina Bay area and Marina Channel, forming a continuous ring which may be traversed by foot via new bridges which will be built.

The Garden at Marina South

Involving 54 hectares of land on Marina South, including the existing 30-hectare Marina City Park which will be redeveloped together with the new park. With a climate-controlled conservatory showcasing plants from around the world and as the future permanent home of the Singapore Garden Festival, it will form the backdrop behind the high-rise developments along the Bayfront area, and will link it to the Marina Barrage currently under construction.

It will also incorporate something the designers call "Super Trees." The super trees will be artificial structures acting as hanging gardens, rainwater catches, night time lighting, bar and restaurant venues, and shade providers for the pathways below. Some will be connected by aerial walkways. They will be of differing heights between 30 and 50 meters.

The Garden at Marina East

With 30 hectares of waterfront park land along the Marina Channel on the reclaimed land of Marina East, it will be connected to the eastern end of East Coast Park. The watersports themed park will allow for activities such as canoeing, water skiing, sculling and dragon boat races to be conducted along the Channel. It will also feature a number of artificial waterfalls and a wading pool.

The Garden at Marina Centre

A long strip of land of about 10 hectares along the promenade of Marina Centre will link the other two parts with the Marina Promenade, as well as the Kallang Park Connector along the Kallang River with the rest of the park network across the country.

Design competition

An international design competition was launched on 20 January 2006 by the National Parks Board, the competition organiser and registrar, and who will guide the parks' development after their completion. The two-stage competition involves a Masterplan Competition in the first stage of which the winning entry will be used as a basis, followed by the second stage's Design Competition for key features from stage one.

The judging panel is chaired by Dr Tan Wee Kiat, Chief Executive Officer of the National Parks Board, and is composed of members from government agencies like the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the Public Utilities Board and the Singapore Tourism Board, industrial players like the Singapore Institute of Architects and Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects, as well as members from the gardening community in Singapore [http://www.nparks.gov.sg/news/newsroom.shtml] . Three foreign experts are also roped in, including Fumihiko Maki from Japan, Peter Walker and James Folsom, both from the United States.

Over 70 entries were received for the first stage, involving over 170 companies from 24 countries. 35 of these companies are based in Singapore [http://www.gardensbythebay.org.sg/articlesgrp/35/EOI_Media_Release_220306.pdf] . On 13 April 2006, ten finalist teams were announced and advanced into the second stage. These included 38 companies of which ten are from Japan, nine from Singapore, nine from the United Kingdom, six from the United States, three from The Netherlands and one from Australia [http://www.gardensbythebay.org.sg/articlesgrp/35/Shortlist_Announcement_13April06.pdf] .

The winners were announced on 6 September 2006, with two joint-winners selected for two individual parks and the third remaining park remaining without a winner [http://www.gardensbythebay.org.sg/?p=section&sub=article&articlegrppk=35] . Grant Associates, in partnership with Wilkinson Eyre Architects, Atelier One, Atelier Ten, Land Design Studios, Meinhardt Infrastructure Pte Ltd and Davis Langdon & Seah Singapore Pte Ltd won in the Garden at Marina South while the team led by Gustafson Porter in collaboration with Ove Arup and Davis Langdon & Seah Singapore Pte Ltd took the Marina East site.

External links

* [http://www.gardensbythebay.org.sg Gardens by the Bay International Design Competition]
* [http://www.gardensbythebay.org.sg Nparks press release for Gardens by the Bay International Design Competition]