Design In Print 4.4 The Dubai Mall Issue 2013

The DUbai mall Issue

A Micro-Urbanism on an Unprecedented Scale

Wins Best Future Project

In Focus

Double Bay Residences wins

The dubai mall The Integrated Design Process

Sports Hub

Skyrise Greenery Award

MICA (P) 113/08/2013

Industry

www.dpa.com.sg

In DePTH

VOLUME 4 Number 4 2013 Singapore

Vo l u m e 4 N u m b e r 4 , 2 0 1 3 , S i n g a p o re

Contents The latest happenings in DP

Letter from the Guest Editor

Sand to Spectacle: The Dubai Mall 2nd edition DPians lend a hand to the elderly

Dear Readers, Welcome to this special issue of Design in Print which focuses on our most significant international project to date – The Dubai Mall.

Completed nearly five years ago in 2008, The Dubai Mall is more vibrant and relevant than ever. Initially conceived in late 2003, The Dubai Mall opened during an economically precarious time amidst the uncertainty of a global recession. Since the mall started operation, it has consistently surpassed its yearly projected visitor numbers, recording over 65 million visitors in 2012. The mall’s success has proven that, despite difficult economic times, discerning shoppers will continue to support retailers and locations that offer a truly unique world-class experience.

The Dubai Mall’s continued success has transformed DP Architects. We have demonstrated that we are capable of designing and leading an international project to exacting standards that balances clarity of design with operational efficiency and maximum functionality. It has shaped how we approach other projects in terms of scale, work processes and retail strategies, and paved the way for our progress on the global stage.

In this issue, we take a critical look at The Dubai Mall – the specific design strategies that have made it a resounding success, and how the project has greatly influenced the firm’s evolution since its completion. Coinciding with this issue is the relaunch of our publication, Sand to Spectacle: The Dubai Mall which chronicles the firm’s design and construction process of the world’s largest shopping mall.

With works already underway to expand The Dubai Mall by one million square feet in the first phase alone, we are confident that the project will continue to influence the global practice of retail design for years to come.

Chan Hui Min Nartano Lim Toh Bee Ping

Design In Print Team

Leanne Lim

01 CDL Green Gallery 02 Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road 03 Carlton City Hotel 04 tag.A 05 DUO 06 TCC Super Tower 07 Crystal Tower and Residences @ Junction Square 08 Yahya Awal Master Plan

Featured project

The Dubai Mall

In Focus Sustainable design

The Integrated Design Process

Awards & events

Sports Hub wins Best Future Project Double Bay Residences wins Skyrise Greenery Award

DP personalities

Interview with Clyde Uriarte & May Chan

Celebration of past projects

Suntec City, 1997

Graphics

Writing

Editorial

Ti Lian Seng Director, DP Architects Pte Ltd

Short takes on new & notable projects

Tong Tong

Loh Yew Cheng Lee Hui Yee Fu Tingting

Additional contributors: Jackie Poh and Lek Noonchoo

Cover image: The Dubai Mall

| The latest happenings in DP

DPA launches second edition of

Sand to Spectacle: The Dubai Mall

community buildings

The second edition of Sand to Spectacle: The Dubai Mall will be launched in December 2013. The book chronicles DP Architects’ design and construction of the world’s largest mall in just over four years, and explores the historical, architectural, cultural and physical context of the project. The first edition was published in a limited print run in 2011.

| Short takes on new & notable projects

With the recent announcement of the mall’s massive expansion to target 100 million visitors, the book – expanded with new photography – explains the thought process and design philosophy that helped to make The Dubai Mall one of the most visited retail and leisure destinations in the world.

Read our InDepth feature on The Dubai Mall on Page 4.

Community service

DPians lend a hand to the elderly

01 CDL Green Gallery Singapore

The CDL Green Gallery is an extension to the Singapore Botanic Gardens Heritage Museum and showcases botanical and greening-related exhibits.

From the start, all aspects of the project – from conceptualisation, design, construction, material selection and maintenance – were intended to support sustainability and environmental protection.

The gallery boasts of two eco-innovative features introduced in Singapore for the first time: the use of a prefabricated modular system for quick construction, and hempcrete, a durable plantbased material used for the external wall cladding.

The latter, which is a mixture of hemp core, lime binders and water, also has very good thermal performance ideal for the air-conditioned gallery.

Volunteers from DP Architects spent the afternoon of 25 October 2013 cleaning the homes of elderly residents in the Toa Payoh estate. The event was organised through TOUCH Community Services, a voluntary welfare organisation that provides for the needy and disadvantaged.

The five DP teams were each assigned a home. Armed with newly bought cleaning supplies, the teams undertook the task with a simple strategy: plan smart and stay focused. Ms Lisa Hui, associate director and leader of the mission, said, “We leveraged on the DP mindset of planning ahead to ensure things went smoothly, and successfully brought the DPA culture into community work.”

Besides cleaning the homes, DP Architects donated new mattresses and pillows to the residents.

The CDL Green Gallery officially opened on 30 November 2013.

Photos courtesy of City Developments Limited.

Other eco-friendly features at the gallery include green walls purposefully clad with butterflyattracting plant species to encourage biodiversity, energy-efficient interior fittings, and passive and low-energy architectural designs. In addition, the project uses highly energy-efficient building systems and solar photovoltaic-clad roof panels that harvest renewable energy for the building’s operations, making the development Singapore’s first zero energy Green Gallery.

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Short takes on new & notable projects

02 Pan Pacific

03 Carlton City Hotel

hotel

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Singapore

Serviced Suites Beach Road

The design for the four-star, 386-room business hotel creates an interesting spatial experience within a small footprint, with the help of highvolume spaces and a diagonal arrival circulation path. Rooms facing north offer spectacular views of the Central Business District and Chinatown, while rooms facing south open towards the Tanjong Pagar waterfront. The 29-storey tower is interlocked with a three-storey granite-clad podium; the latter is distinguished by a rotunda that is a signature reference to the Carlton Hotel on Bras Basah Road. Clad in dark-grey tinted glass and accentuated with vertical fins that serve as sun-shading devices, the hotel exudes a timeless and contemporary look.

Singapore

Singapore

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industrial

tag.A

hospitality

Located at the cross junction of Beach Road and Ophir Road, the new 180-suite, 15-storey Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road is juxtaposed against a multi-storey car park, and provides a compelling visual counterpoint to an existing office tower. The façade is clad in different tones of grey, and blends with the simple yet effective contemporary design language that reverberates throughout the entire development.

A series of new link-bridges enhances the pedestrian connectivity of the once disparate blocks, while a rooftop swimming pool and gymnasium capture spectacular views of the city, completing the urban retreat experience.

The design for the proposed four-storey development projects a contemporary image, an antithesis to the typical enclosed and monotonous façades of industrial buildings. Two linear blocks which feature rooftop recreational elements are slanted apart, allowing the insertion of two inner landscaped courtyards on the ground and basement levels; the courtyards enhance cross-ventilation and serve as strategic unifying nodes in the development. Rhythmic linear protrusions and recessions distort the glass façade, breaking down the imposing building mass into a more intimate scale. The same effect is achieved on the internal skin through vertical trellises that line the direct circulation corridors from the ground level to the rooftop.

mixed development

DUO designed by Ole Scheeren (c) Buro Ole Scheeren

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DUO

Singapore

DUO is located at a strategic site within the Ophir-Rochor belt, identified as a new growth area by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, one that marks a nexus between commercial and historical districts in Singapore. The project therefore took the opportunity to create two towers that synergetically embrace not only each other but also their diverse surroundings. Public realms are carved out of the zoning envelope; the resulting curves create generous outdoor public spaces and dynamic street façades. Dramatic cantilevers and generous roof terraces create a distinct new skyline. The curved façades are veiled by hexagonal sun-shading, while the flat faces are articulated by vertical fins that emphasise the towers’ vertical elegance. Natural landscaping on multiple levels provides a lush tropical environment. The development also incorporates environmental strategies: the building’s orientation is optimised to prevailing sun and wind angles; the curved building massing channels winds through and across the site; efficient air-conditioning, rainwater harvesting and irrigation, as well as energy and water-efficient fittings are incorporated into the building design.

mixed development

mixed development

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TCC Super Tower Indonesia

The later of two towers planned for The City Centre development project in Jakarta, the 54-storey tower, which comprises an office tower above a retail podium, is poised to become a distinguished landmark in the city. The design veers away from the typical podium and tower arrangement to better integrate facilities within the building. Enclosed by layers of vertical fins, the building takes its form from the Chinese character 川 (chuan), meaning river. The tower slopes upwards in a gradual curve from the ground to the peak. Apart from form making, the sloping design allows the office tower to merge seamlessly with the retail podium, while offering larger than usual floor plates for office tenants. A sky restaurant and two levels of dining options facing large garden spaces add to the vibrancy of the development, and provide a welcome respite for visitors.

master plan

Crystal Tower and Residences @ Junction Square Myanmar

The proposed extension to the Junction Square shopping mall, located in the central city area of Yangon, comprises an elegant 17-storey office tower named Crystal Tower, a 15-storey high-end serviced apartment tower named Crystal Residences, and an annex mall.

Anchoring the northern end of the site, Crystal Tower features a stark rectangular form, wrapped in a combination of flat and indented full-height glass as well as solid panels. When viewed from different angles, the random yet modulated arrangement creates unique patterns on the façade.

Crystal Residences is oriented to face one of Myanmar’s most iconic historical sites – Shwedagon Pagoda. The apartments are designed to adapt to the local context and lifestyle, including a spacious wet kitchen in every unit to cater to the locals’ affection for heavy cooking. In addition, crossventilation and natural lighting throughout the residences is provided through a large central atrium, cut-outs on the building massing, and the careful orientation of the units. An environmental deck on the sixth floor features a swimming pool, Jacuzzi, gym, barbeque area and children’s playground.

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Yahya Awal Master Plan Malaysia

The Yahya Awal master plan is a dynamic hub which offers an integrated and sustainable environment. The site is divided into five phases, namely residential, gateway, hospitality, iconic office and connectivity, with each having its own distinct character. A large sky garden acts as a seamless connector throughout the phases and enhances connectivity. This 1km-long green corridor provides a platform for public activities that relate to the characteristics of each phase. The connectivity creates a cohesive and immersive experience where one can live, work and play.

Softscaping on the podium level provides an opportunity to give back to nature with a series of ecologically sustainable interventions. These could include features like a ‘learning garden’ filled with native plants for children to explore or a rainwater harvesting system that makes use of green-roof filtration and bioswale technology.

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Featured projects

The Dubai MalL A Micro-Urbanism on an Unprecedented Scale

By Tong Tong & Nartano Lim

Above: The Dubai Mall as seen from above.

Right: The Grand Drive, the primary faรงade of The Dubai Mall, operates at both the massive scale of the building and the human scale.

The Dubai Mall is a retail project that defies categorisation due to its massive scale and complexity. It is not just a piece of architecture; it is a construction in a space of vast scale, and it possesses the complexity of an urban centre.

Measured by covered area, it is the largest mall in the world. Yet breaking the record to build the largest mall was not the goal for DP Architects. Instead, the important principle throughout has been to develop a piece of architecture that will continue to be enjoyed by the entire family while giving retailers the most efficient and functional working environment.

Catering to both the visitor and the retailer has created the best shopping experience in the world.

Year: 2008

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SITE Area: 555,600 sqm

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United Arab Emirates

Addressing the needs of such a large-scale retail project, DP Architects adopted a city design process and rethought every aspect of retail architecture design.

An emerging international city, Dubai has gained global attention, in part, because of its ambitious architectural projects that challenged the norms in terms of scale or audacity. The world’s largest covered mall, The Dubai Mall, is adjacent to the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa. Despite the mall’s scale and context among the biggest and the best, it was first and foremost designed as a supremely functional space.

Combining many years of experience in retail design, DP Architects conceived five planning principles: clear pedestrian circulation with no secondary corridors or hidden corners, visual connectivity to all shopfronts, sufficient parking space and integrated public transportation, efficient service areas for each tenant, and subdivision of the mall into zones with distinct characters.

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Above: The Fashion Atrium is one of the nine unique atrium

DP Architects didn’t consider The Dubai Mall just a shopping centre in itself, but a micro-urbanism manifested by the interactions among its habitats and visitors. The scale of the project and the need to differentiate districts for wayfinding and to create attractions necessitated the incorporation of elements of urban planning.

In this way, a singular piece of architecture can demonstrate the quality of a miniature city.

spaces that function as both wayfinding landmarks and places of rest and social-mixing.

There are three primary planning conditions that were applied to the ‘urban design’ of The Dubai Mall. The first is that the circulation and retail spaces need to have clarity and legibility.

This aspect is of special importance when navigating in environments at the urban scale.

To be lost in an immense setting that has over 23 linear kilometres of pathways would be a frustrating experience and would guarantee visitors’ hesitation to return.

A quadrant circulation pattern with recognisable nodes was created for legibility. Nodes for rest and relaxation were choreographed in key locations along the walkways; these public spaces effectively created landmarks that aid in wayfinding and create attraction points that offer variety to the urban experience.

world’s biggest mall gets bigger

By Tong Tong

For the Dubai Mall, DPA adopted a city design process and rethought every aspect of retail architecture design

The Dubai Mall not only has been an influential civic focal point in Downtown Dubai since its opening in 2008, but has also become one of the world’s most popular shopping and leisure destinations.

All kinds of activities and events bring vivid social life inside. The mall has proven to be incredibly successful and the number of visitors has risen steadily every year.

To prepare for a projected 100 million visitors, another one million square feet (92,900sqm) is being added to The Dubai Mall in the first phase of a massive expansion.

In 2012, the mall welcomed 65 million visitors – attracting more tourists than New York City – far exceeding the initial annual projection of 35 million.

Expected to open by December 2015, this expansion will further enhance the lively urban experience and create more distinctive public spaces within The Dubai Mall.

The popular Fashion Avenue will be developed further to accommodate new and personalised flagship stores of the world’s top brands, enhancing the fashion portfolio of the mall.

Team Members (Standing left to right)

Daniel Aquino,

Sze Hock Thong,

Tan Cheng Pei,

John Alejandro,

Lee Weoi Min,

Mike Lim,

Jessica Darmadi Tan,

Jaslyn Chang,

Ong Rui Ting,

Ahmmad Trisyarahman,

Dessy Budhianto,

Dawn Chen,

(sitting left to right)

Above:

Raden Andhini,

May Chan,

(Standing left to right)

Gregorio Mesoga,

Maureen Suryani,

Ngata Tapsell,

Satish Rajan,

(sitting left to right)

Ervin Cariaso,

Clyde Uriarte,

Satrio Utomo Dradjat,

Tala Kammourieh,

Anna Narciso,

Ti Lian Seng,

Veronica Antones,

Rachel Chin &

Monica Aryani,

Francis Lee &

Corazon Visayana,

Sonya Kundi.

Dominador Licup,

Toh Sze Chong.

Perry Manalo,

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The Dubai Mall incorporates multiple largescale attractions normally only seen in the city to create urban conditions for social events and occasions

Top: The Dubai Mall Aquarium and Underwater Zoo is the physical centrepiece of the mall and features over 33,000 aquatic animals.

Left: The Star Atrium spans the full height of the mall, reaching from the basement to the roof and bringing natural light to the lowest levels of the mall.

Right: The mall’s corridors are generously proportioned – both in width as well as height – with avenues of double-height retail shopfronts.

Like any meaningful and rich urban setting, each node has something special and is given a specific name and theme. The scale of each node was considered in direct relation with the visitor’s journey.

Similarly, retailers can easily be seen from a visitor’s perspective so that when you are in an atrium space you can see the retailers on other floors. This visual connectivity allows for recognition and familiarity. Just as a miniature city, The Dubai Mall has its intimate inner pattern:

the street, square and other attractions that make it liveable.

A second aspect of the mall’s urban condition is its extremely rich and diverse collection of public spaces and mixed programmes.

Due to its unprecedented scale and an edict by the client to ensure that the mall offers something for the whole family, the architects had the opportunity to investigate a variety of non-commercial programmes beyond the retail focus.

The design team perceived urbanity as a set of relationships, both physical and social.

The Dubai Mall brings together an incredibly diverse assortment of visitors from around the world. Thus, the designers attempted to encourage the mixing of the various demographics by creating urban conditions for various social events and occasions. The mall incorporates multiple large-scale attractions normally only seen in the city – one of the world’s largest indoor aquariums, an indoor triple-height waterfall, an indoor adventure park and an Olympic-sized ice-skating rink.

Along with these attractions are multiple and unique atrium spaces that perforate the boulevards as social collectors, and respite points that use materiality and the play of natural light to create unique environments along the mall’s boulevards.

Due to its location at the physical centre of the mall’s primary axis, the forecourt of the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo functions as a public plaza for gathering and features one of the largest acrylic viewing panels in the world.

These numerous vivid integrated settings cater to multiple public activities on many levels at all times of the day, serving as a civic destination for families.

Beyond practical functions, these public settings and attractions are highly valuable as they create collection points for potential shoppers. The enormous mass of The Dubai Mall has been perforated by well-formed public spaces adjacent to shopping areas.

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Featured projects

the true heart of the mall’s success lies in the effective planning techniques The last aspect that embraces the notion of micro-urbanism is its circulation system which has been planned to accommodate vehicle movement and linkages for this miniature city.

One thousand and two hundred shops and parking for 14,000 vehicles are supported by a network of roadways. The building is accessible through four grand entrances and vehicular dropoff points, which are transition points to enter the building. These entrance pavilions operate at the scale of the car and the building through their expressive and identifiable volumes, as well as at the human scale with their detailed mashrabiya surfacing treatments and finishes.

The elongated Grand Drive was conceived as a form of ‘architectural promenade’ to enhance the sense of arrival and create a showplace to see and be seen. Within the many levels of parking decks, 53 entrances were named after its respective nearby landmarks, such as ‘Gold Souk Entrance’ or ‘Ice-rink Car Park’. These cues of orientation and path-finding are part of an overall identifiable network.

Just as important, retailers have dedicated, extensive loading areas with a network of behind-the-scene corridors that allow seamless operation of the shopping mall, ensuring that goods can be brought in as efficiently as possible. While efficient and logical circulation may not be the first thing that people think of when considering the top aspects of spaces, it is with repeat usage that the skills of the design team become apparent – the team has designed a mall that lends itself to repeat customers.

The Dubai Mall has charted a new way to conceive a large-scale built environment as a microurbanism, and it has become a new form of retail paradigm that has invigorated the global retail scene. While it would be obvious to only dwell on the more obvious conditions of the mall’s design, such as the considered design of its roofscape or the delicate selection of materiality – the true heart of the mall’s success lies in the effective planning techniques. It is supremely functional which has led to its continued success of breaking visitor targets every year since opening.

Above: The Diving Men captures the dynamism and spectacle of the Waterfall atrium.

Below: The Waterfall atrium is one of the many attraction nodes which offers spaces of respite and relaxation.

Facing page: The Gold Souk entrance pavilion features a backlit mashrabiya façade which transforms at night into a lantern along the Grand Drive.

Year: 2013

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SITE Area: 894,400 sqm

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sINGAPORE

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Featured projects

The Scale OF SUCCESS: DPA and The Dubai Mall

By Nartano Lim

The Dubai Mall is the single largest project DP Architects has ever undertaken; the scale and complexity were beyond anything that the firm had previously encountered. The design and construction time frame was brief, the cultural differences vast and the client demanding.

Right: The Dubai Mall’s The Village can be opened to the sky during the cooler months to

Despite the challenges, DPA gained immense knowledge and expertise throughout the experience, which was then applied to various projects that followed. These were not restricted to retail projects but broadly applied across the firm’s portfolio. These new avenues of expertise can be placed in three general categories: Scale, Global Reach and Retail Design.

create an indoor-outdoor environment.

Below: The ‘fifth elevation’ or roofscape of The Dubai Mall reveals the design team’s considerations of every surface and view of the building.

In collaboration with Michael Graves & Associates

SCALE The Dubai Mall required intricate coordination and increased manpower that led to a reorganisation of the entire office. With an area ten times larger than VivoCity, the biggest shopping centre in Singapore, the associated complexity is exponentially increased due to the amount of coordination required. The firm’s strength grew by nearly 100 people to manage the massive amounts of data and documentation necessary for the project’s progression.

This growth continued in the following years as the reorganisation paved the way for DPA to undertake other mega projects such as the 49ha Resorts World Sentosa and the 35ha Singapore Sports Hub. Resorts World Sentosa

was a complex planning and constructional feat comprising six hotels, a Universal Studios theme park, a marine life park, a maritime museum, a water theme park, one of the world’s largest aquariums boasting the world’s largest acrylic viewing panel (only surpassing The Dubai Mall’s aquarium), and a plethora of amenities and attractions for the entire family. Similar to The Dubai Mall, Resorts World’s scale of construction, time frame and level of complexity demanded an increase in resources to manage. Between 2006 and 2008, when the firm was working on both projects, its staff strength grew by over 40 percent. The final zone of Resorts World was completed early this year and many of the project members were alumni of The Dubai Mall.

The growth and reorganisation following the Dubai Mall paved the way for DPA to undertake other mega projects

Top: Resorts World Sentosa’s scale of construction, time frame and level of complexity demanded an increase in resources to manage.

Right: Although situated in a completely different climate, the shopping avenues of Resorts World Sentosa share the appreciation of natural light and generous volume.

In collaboration with Michael Graves & Associates

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Featured projects

Design by DP Architects and Arup (Sport Venue Design)

Over the years, DPA has undertaken many projects which set records for their scale and complexity in their respective eras

Continuing this evolution of mega projects, Singapore Sports Hub, the largest sportsrelated public-private partnership in the world, applied a similar hyper-programmed intention to the appreciation of sports in many forms. The resultant project boasts five major sporting facilities that cater for world-class events across many disciplines.

Over the years, DPA has acquired a reputation of being adept at complex mega-projects – dating back to projects such as People’s Park Complex, Marina Centre and Suntec City which set records for their scale and complexity in their respective eras. Continuing the lineage, The Dubai Mall stands as a testament to DPA’s ability to handle scales which are once in a lifetime for many practices.

An evolution of complex mixed-use developments: (Top to bottom): Singapore Sports Hub (2014), People’s Park Complex (1973), and Marina Centre: Marina Square (1991), Suntec City (1997), Millenia Development (1997), Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay (2002) and Singapore Flyer (2008).

GLOBAL PRACTICE The Dubai Mall endorsed DP Architects’ reputation as a truly global practice. The firm currently has twelve offices worldwide, compared to seven prior to the project in 2004. While Singapore remains the firm’s operational base, the ability to work among various geographical and social conditions was greatly bolstered by the experience with The Dubai Mall.

Although DPA’s overseas journey started early – taking on projects in Malaysia from nearly the firm’s inception and moving on to countries including China, Indonesia and the Philippines in the late 80s – The Dubai Mall was a turning point as it demonstrated that not only could DPA design a major project abroad, but the firm was able to lead the international consultant teams through the construction process to ensure that the design intent was carefully followed, and to deliver a world-class project that has set the bar for retail planning and excellence.

Diversifying its international portfolio, the firm has recently ventured into two new locales – Turkey and Myanmar. Emaar Square, located in Istanbul, is a retail experience inspired by the streetscapes and scales of the Turkish metropolis’ dense urban conditions. Opening in 2015, it will be the largest shopping mall in Istanbul. The firm has also extended its holistic design strategies to Myanmar to meet the emerging country’s increasing demand for facilities generated by economic expansion.

Junction City brings the urban mixed-development typology to Yangon’s central business district with retail, residential, hotel, office and convention centre programmes in a single layered site.

Above: Emaar Square, Istanbul (2015).

Left: Junction City, Yangon (2013).

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Featured projects

RETAIL DESIGN Finally, The Dubai Mall has profoundly refined the firm’s design and execution expertise in the typologies of retail, hospitality and largescale projects generally. As a result, a new set of design traits has been applied to the firm’s projects across the board, including a special attention to construction detailing, clarity of circulation, material selection, the relationship between back-of-house and public spaces, and the uniqueness of the visitor experience.

The mall has become a key project for retailers to study and is often quoted by clients as a primary motivator to work with DPA. While the scale of The Dubai Mall has yet to be replicated, the lessons of retail design that were acquired can be applied at a number of scales and locales through the awareness of wayfinding, retailer visibility and operational efficiency. These cornerstones of intelligent retail design, already entrenched, have been refined in all of our retail projects.

Poised to become the retail and entertainment hub of Qatar, Doha Festival City – a largescale retail development acquired through an endorsement from The Dubai Mall’s owner – boasts clear visitor circulation through four themed zones. Despite the scale difference, One Prime in Shanghai shares with The Dubai Mall a clarity of circulation, naturally lit atria and

Right and far right: Doha Festival City’s interior spaces are accentuated by natural light from high windows and skylights.

terraced floor plates which ease visibility of retailers and encourage visitors to access the higher levels of the space.

The Dubai Mall has profoundly refined the firm’s Retail design and execution expertise

A MODEL OF SUCCESS The Dubai Mall represents a milestone for DP Architects. The retail tour de force ushered in a new era in which the firm would undertake new works at scales that had previously not been feasible. The successful completion of The Dubai Mall led to projects throughout the Middle East and opened new markets due to the mall’s continued success. The capabilities gained from The Dubai Mall have been spread among a wide range of projects and furthered the firm’s on-going endeavour to evolve and hone its skills in the practice of architecture.

Top left: Elevation of One Prime’s retail podium.

Above: The retail podium of One Prime in Shanghai has a clarity of circulation and a naturally lit atrium that enhances visual connectivity.

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Sustainable design

The Integrated Design Process in Mega Developments

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synergies and trade-offs among the various building services and components – that will improve efficiencies of energy, water and wasterecycling performance throughout the project’s lifespan. All measures are then assessed by predetermined performance metrics.

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By Lee Boon Woei

The integrated design process is spearheaded by an environmentally sustainable design team who adopts proper standards for measuring and comparing the sustainability performance of different components of the design. Workshops are held throughout all stages of the project in which stakeholders’ focus shifts from ‘compliance’ to ‘performance’. The importance of ‘compliance’ is not relegated in the process; rather, the importance of ‘system performance’ is elevated. In a largescale project, a mere one-percent saving in energy cost will have an immense impact on the operational cost. Furthermore, informed decisions on various system performances are made based on real-time dynamic simulation modelling that provides stakeholders an economically attractive menu of options and their respective direct impacts on other areas of the project.

Opportunities to adopt Integrated Design

In a mega development, the implementation of environmentally sustainable design takes on a different perspective. The economies of scale provide great opportunities for system design optimisation where the quantum of energy saved makes the investment in technologies economically viable. Opportunities such as harnessing the waste stream of a building process to be feedstock of another building operation could also be explored readily, leading to an increase in the value of a development.

The most effective approach in implementing environmentally sustainable design in a mega project is to adopt what is known as the integrated design process. This is similar to an ‘environmental sustainability master plan’ that involves the early intervention of a multidisciplinary team to map out strategies – through a holistic understanding between all parties, and the

The integrated design process runs parallel with the design process and the integrated design workshops are ‘road makers’ that ensure that sustainable design objectives are modified and incorporated at the design stage, implemented and calibrated at the

Sustainability scorecard

Building design/simulation specialists: acoustics, thermal, comfort, daylighting

The key features of an integrated design process are summarised as follows:1. An understanding of the operational functions of various building energy systems at the concept design and how to tailor design the system to address operational needs. This involves the early participation of system operators in the design process.

2. The extensive use of simulation analysis to better understand the energy performance of the proposed solutions and how they could be further optimised to produce better performance. This leads to an iterative design optimisation process.

3. Design optimisation requires the team to seek and identify synergies, resulting in a multidisciplinary approach.

4. Life-cycle cost analysis is adopted extensively in justifying the performance of the design.

An integrated design process enables the entire design process to be streamlined, resulting in fit-for-purpose and future-proof solutions, with appropriately sized building systems to meet demand efficiently at reduced operating costs.

The columnist is the director of DP Sustainable Design, a subsidiary firm of DP Architects that specialises in environmentally sustainable design.

Site design specialists: geoscientists, ecologists, local universities

Local community advisory panel, academic experts Water Management

Landscape Architect

Mechanical, electrical, structural, civil engineers

Architect Valuation/appraisal expert, real estate expert, marketing, management company

construction stage, and verified and measured at the operational stage.

Regulatory authorities: government agencies, planners

ESD Consultants Quantity Surveyor

Renewables Specialists

Contractor

Project Manager Systems specialists: commissioning agent, control system and security experts

Sub-trades, product suppliers and manufacturers Building operator, utilities and maintenance staff Stakeholder engagement for Multidisciplinary Design Integration

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Awards & events

Singapore Sports Hub

At this year’s World Architecture Festival (WAF), DP Architects was honoured with the Best Future Project award in the leisure-led development category for Singapore Sports Hub, beating six other shortlisted entries from around the world.

wins best future project award

Scheduled to complete in 2014, the 35ha waterfront complex, which will provide a wide range of sporting, community, retail, recreational and leisure spaces, was commended by the jury for “its exemplary masterplanning vision, engineering solutions and handling of diverse programme scales to generate an important new addition to Singapore, which will be open to all.”

DPA at WAF 2013 Director Teoh Hai Pin, who heads the Singapore Sports Hub team at DP Architects, was invited to speak on a panel that discussed the value of sporting infrastructure.

Using Singapore Sports Hub as a case study, Mr Teoh addressed how the design team created a structure that would meet functional requirements as a venue for world-class sporting events and, at the same time, be a dynamic lifestyle destination with facilities for use throughout the year.

Above: The Singapore Sports Hub design team.

(Left to right) Phillip Wang & Seah Chee Huang (DP Architects), Clive Lewis (Arup Associates), Teoh Hai Pin (DP Architects), Karen Tham &

Another DP director, Mr Chin Thoe Chong, was invited to sit on the awards jury. He was one of three judges who presided in the House category. This is the second year that a DP director has participated as a member of the WAF Awards jury.

Jonathan Rose (Aecom).

Right: Director Teoh Hai Pin addressing the audience.

With him are (from left) Poh Yu Khing of SportsHub Pte Ltd and Clive Lewis of Arup Associates.

Photos courtesy of World Architectural Festival

The international festival, in its sixth year, was held at Marina Bay Sands from 2-4 October 2013.

Double Bay Residences wins

Skyrise Greenery Award Double Bay Residences has been conferred an Excellence Award at the 2013 Skyrise Greenery Awards, organised by the National Parks Board to honour projects which demonstrate excellence in implementing sky gardens and vertical greenery.

Located in the eastern part of Singapore, the 646-unit condominium integrated the following features into its design: a five-storey high green wall that embellishes the multi-storey car park; creepers that create patterns and textures on the façade; greenery that extends to the roof of the car park and transforms into a landscape deck with common facilities.

The awards were presented at the opening of GreenUrbanScape Asia from 7-9 November 2013 at the Singapore EXPO. DP 19

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DP personalities

An interview with

Clyde & May IN PERSON celebrates the firm’s diversity by profiling members of the DP family. The interview is conducted as a casual conversation between individuals.

Associate directors Clyde Uriarte and May Chan were both based in Dubai as key members of the project team that worked on The Dubai Mall. They share with Design in Print their experience of working on the international scene and what they think makes the mall successful.

Interview by Leanne Lim

What do you think contributed to the success of the mall?

C: The mall was really designed to be a regional hub for shopping, but increasingly, you have the rich from countries like China flying to Dubai just to shop. As far as retail is concerned, the mall is very selective of the brands they bring in. You won’t see the same anchor tenants at other malls within the United Arab Emirates. With the success of the mall, there is a great demand for more shop space. That’s one reason for the expansion – one million square feet just for the first phase.

M: Part of the success of the mall also comes from the buzz and excitement of it being the largest mall in the world (by covered area). By its sheer size, The Dubai Mall has stamped out most of the competition. However, being massive doesn’t guarantee success. Given its

“It was a whole new game, where you had to know the international standards. It was a steep learning curve.”

- Clyde

size, many studies were made to guarantee clarity of circulation so that visitors would find it easy to move around and not be overwhelmed. The mall also has key attractions such as The Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, and Dubai Ice Rink that draw visitors to it annually.

What was it like leading an international team of consultants?

C: In Dubai, it’s really an international arena in practice. There was a project manager who challenged us on our documentation, our specifications and drawings. It was a whole new game, where you had to know the international standards. It was a steep learning curve for me. And in the international arena,

“Dealing with personalities who could be pushy and aggressive, who did not consider you as an equal, has toughened me up.”

- May

Shake, Rattle & Roll

DP Halloween Event 2013

it’s “you draw, I build”, which is unlike here. If you look at my schematic drawings, they look like tender drawings. This is the standard we now apply to all Middle East projects. So for me, it was a priceless experience.

M: Firstly, it was a great learning experience being able to work with and interact with people from many different nationalities and cultures – I was fortunate to see, hear and learn from the many fresh ideas and approaches that they brought to this project. Secondly, having to deal with personalities who could be rather pushy and aggressive, who did not consider you as an equal, as opposed to the more reserved working style of Asians, has toughened me up. You train yourself to operate above the loud voices and detach from any heated emotions, and to always stake your grounded claim and make sure you are heard, else you risk being walked over. That said, if you know what you are doing and it is right, and you stand your ground firmly, you will be respected regardless of your personality.

What was the most gratifying part about the job?

C: It was seeing the mall go up. We designed and delivered a project of that scale and complexity in four short years.

Building it from scratch and finally seeing it completed in 2008 – I could hardly believe it myself. Right up until the day before the mall opened, I was still having nagging thoughts about the likelihood of it happening, but my worries were unfounded. It was something that could only be achieved through a massive amount of focus, team work and sacrifice.

M: Looking back, it was knowing that our work was appreciated by the client, Mr Alabbar, so much so that he recommended The Dubai Mall team for the Doha Festival City project, a large-scale mall we are currently working on. On top of having impeccable taste, Mr Alabbar is very sharp, sets extremely high standards and has a keen eye for detail. Sometimes he would just glance at something and say, “this is not right”; or he would suggest ways to improve the design, and you’d realise his way is actually better. With his high standards, for him to recommend DPA, and at the risk of his own reputation, is indeed a great compliment.

Tell us something about yourself that few people know about.

C: I love cars. I prefer driving manual shift cars to automatic ones, as I believe in dictating how the engine should be driven, rather than letting it dictate the way I drive. As a teenager in the late 1980s, I used to drag race in the streets of Manila too, but not like in the Fast and Furious movies of course. I would also do modifications to my cars. I go for the clean sporty look, not the ah beng type!

M: To my husband’s great dismay, I baked my own wedding cake.

It had three tiers of fruit cake covered in marzipan. I enjoy baking.

Before joining DPA, I even thought of setting up my own bakery.

I also made cupcakes and the cupcake tower (to arrange the cupcakes on) for my baby’s first month celebration. It was fun!

October finished with a fright and November began with a bang as DP Architects celebrated Halloween with an exciting line-up of events. Kick-starting the festivities, the Dress-Up-Your-Bay contest held on 31 October 2013 saw DPians transforming their work bays with creative ghoulish props and decorations. Spooky jack-o’lanterns, fake cobwebs, life-sized skeletons, dismembered bodies and creepy cemeteries were seen everywhere as teams competed for the scariest and most creative work bays.

Joining in the celebrations were the children of DPians, who brought much cheer into the office on a Friday afternoon. Decked out in Halloween outfits ranging from princess to devil costumes, they trick-ortreated at all the DP studios and were rewarded with lots of candy from the staff. The evening rounded off with a Halloween party complete with games, presentation of prizes, as well as pizza and wine.

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Copyright © DP Architects Pte Ltd MICA (P) 013/08/2013 Printed by SC (Sang Choy) International Pte Ltd L008/03/2013 Published by DP Architects Pte Ltd 6 Raffles Boulevard #04-100 Marina Square Singapore 039594 T: +65 6338 3988 F: +65 6337 9989 E: ask_corpcomm@dpa.com.sg W: www.dpa.com.sg Photo Contributors: Bahr Karim, Ho Wai Kit, Irfan Naqi, Jackie Poh, Jeremy San, Lee Hui Yee, Loh Yew Cheng, Menandro Daet, Patrick Arancon, Rida Sobana, Rory Daniel, Shu He Photography, Tai Chooi Mee & Wellington Kuswanto.

All photos are credited to the mentioned photographers unless otherwise stated.

DP 21

The formal organisation for the development of Suntec City resembles an open palm: five office towers – four 45-storey and one 18-storey – establish the fingers and an international convention centre, the wrist. These six structures are connected programmatically at their bases by a fourstorey retail podium and are set centripetally about a 16,000sqm circular fountain that operates as the site’s focal point and unifies the complex’s many parts. Here, the waters flow inward to the centre of the site’s open palm, a symbol of good luck and prosperity.

This project was designed in collaboration with Tsao & McKown Architects.

Project Team: Francis Lee, Gan Eng Oon, Ti Lian Seng, Angelene Chan, Wu Tzu Chiang, Chin Thoe Chong, Vikas M Gore, Lesley Lim, Leo Mauricio and David Harbord

Suntec City

1997