Gardens by Bay is a park spanning 101 hectares
(1,010,000 m2) of reclaimed land in central Singapore, adjacent
to the Marina Reservoir. The park
consists of three waterfront gardens; Bay South
Garden, Bay East Garden and Bay Central Garden. The largest of the three
gardens is Bay South Garden, standing at 54 hectares.
Gardens by the Bay is an integral part of a strategy by the Singapore government to
transform Singapore from a “Garden City” to a “ City in a Garden”. The stayed
aims is to raise the quality of life by enhancing greenery and flora in the
city.
First announced to the public by Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong in August 2005, gardens by
the Bay is intended to become Singapore’s premier urban out door recreation
space, a national icon. The park has proven extremely popular for event
planners, with demand so high that the park has to limit the number of events
to three per week.
Bay Central Garden stands at 15 hectares with a 3
kilometer waterfront promenade that allows for scenic walks stretching from the
city center to the east of Singapore.
Bay east Garden stands in 32 hectares and it
has 2 kilometer promenade frontage that
embroiders the marina reservoir. An interim park was developed at Bay East
Garden in support of the 2010 Summer
Youth Olympics. The first phase of the garden was opened to the public in October 2011, allowing
alternate access to the marina Barrage. Designed as a series
of large tropical leaf – shaped each with its own specific landscaping
design, character and theme. There will be five water inlets aligned with the prevailing wind direction, maximizing and
extending the shoreline while allowing wind and water to penetrate the site to
help cool areas of activity around them Bay East Garden will provide visitors
with an unobstructed view of the city skyline. Upcoming developments of Bay East Garden will be based
on the theme of water.
Bay South
Garden opened to the public on 29 June 2012. It is the largest of the three
gardens at 54 hectares and aims to showcase the best of tropical horticulture
and garden artistry.
The overall concept of its master plan draws
inspiration from an orchid as it is representative of the tropics and of
Singapore, being the country’s national flower.
The conservatory complex at Gardens by the Bay,
Singapore, comprises two cooled conservatories, the Flower Dome and the Cloud
Forest situated along the edge of marina Reservoir. The conservatories designed
by Wilkinson Eyre Architects are intended to be an energy efficient showcase of
sustainable building technologies. Both are very large and the flower Dome is
the world’s largest column less glasshouse.
The construction of glasshouses is special in two
ways. First of all by being able to have such large a glass – roof without
additional interior support. Secondly
because the constructions aims strongly at minimizing the environmental
footprint. Rainwater is collected from the surface and circulated in the
cooling system which is connected to Supertrees. The Supertrees are used both
to vent hot air and to cool circulated water.
The Flower Dome is the lower but larger of the two
at 1.2 hectares. It replicates mild, dry climate and features plants found in
the Mediterranean and other semi – arid tropical regions. The Flower Dome is 38
meter and maintain a temperature 23 o C and 25 o C,
slightly lower at night.
The Cloud Forest is higher but slightly smaller at
0.8 hectares. It replicates the cool moist conditions found in tropical
mountain regions between 1,000 meters and 3,000 meters above sea level, found
in South – East Asia, Middle – and South America. It features a 42 – meter “
Cloud Mountain”, accessible by an elevator, and visitors will be able to
descend the mountain via a circular path where a 35 meter waterfall provides
visitors with refreshing cool air.
Supertrees are tree – like structures that dominate
the gardens’ landscape with heights that range between 25 meters. They are
vertical gardens that perform multitude of functions, which include planting,
shading and working as an environmental engines for the gardens.
Children Gardens designed by Grant Associates, which
also designed Gardens by the Bay is an attraction for children aged 5 and
below6 – 12 years old. This attraction was opened on 21 January 2014. The Children garden is near the tree house and the
adventure trail. The adventure trail consists of trampolines, balancing beams,
hanging bridges and many more. It is
open on Tuesdays to Sundays from 9 am TO 9 pm. It will be closed on Mondays, or
on the next working day if Mondays is a public holiday.