| Category | Residential |
|---|---|
| Year | 2011 |
| Size | 17,900sqm |
Projects
Jardin
A ‘green’ edifice
Jardin, or simply “garden” in French, stands as a medium-rise condominium along the end of Dunearn Road before the Bukit Timah circus. Carved deeply into its front façade are wide “sky-garden” terraces, brimming with greenery at multiple levels held up by vine-covered pilotis. This harks back to the Corbusian precept of returning the land; or in this instance, gardens – of which the building has robbed to its upper reaches. In this light, Jardin is a celebration of the notion of living within a garden where architecture and landscape fuse inextricably to emerge as a ‘green’ edifice. Here, residents are offered a unique living environment coupled with a certain je ne sais quoi of a tastefully elegant lifestyle.
Details
Arising from the peripheral berms, the architecture is composed of deep sky terraces on alternate floors with the residential units relegated to the rear. Hence, the widest possible terraces are created not only to bring the gardens to the immediate unit thresholds in a high-rise situation but also essentially creates a deep buffer; again filtering the view and noise from the heavy traffic below.
To enhance the overall ‘Jardin’ theme, a different garden style is conceived for each communal sky terrace, giving residents different stylisitc landscapes to enjoy from Flower, Grass, and Tiled Rock to Pleasure gardens on the uppermost roof terrace.
Stately Illawara Flame trees, Branchychiton acerifolius line the poolside deck, effectively accentuating the linearity of the pool.
Peripheral planters added along the entire length of each sky terrace is filled with flowering trailers that ‘green’ and add colour. Various columns and elevator shafts are veiled over by shrouds of vines grown over a distinctive chevron-motif tillage that has now been obliterated by the profuse growth of vines.
The experience of Jardin’s landscaped setting really begins from its frontal presence. Located at ground level along Dunearn Road, the building is raised on a berm with dramatically aligned, glaucous hedgerows of Leucophyllum fructescens that draw the eye upwards to the building. This is similarly accentuated by rows of Terminalia mollis trees that march up alongside the hedgerows. In all, this alludes to the bucolic landscapes of Provence with its lavender fields and wind-breaks. The berm also serves to conceal the entry driveway behind whilst elevating for privacy and filtering the immediate living spaces above the noise, dust and view of the heavy traffic along the main road.
Conjuring paradise
At the topmost Roof Terrace, a ‘Garden of Pleasures’ awaits. Dramatic infinity pools stretch the length of the block with spa pavilions at one end and club amenities at the other. Its aesthetics and sense of luscious luxury are further accentuated by carefully selected and landscaped greens. Here, the Japanese notion of Shakkei or ‘borrowed scenery’ is employed. Where the linearity of its architecture and landscaping effectively capture the panoramic rainforest skyline of distant Bukit Timah, it also contributes to an almost mystical conjuring of Paradise. Here, on misty evenings, the pool-scape becomes almost ethereal.
Specialist Services
Integrated services provided for this project.
AWARDS
| 2013 |
FIABCI Singapore Property Awards (Winner) Jardin |
|---|