Design Team
Tay
Kheng Soon
Chung Meng Ker
Jeffrey Leong
Design Data
Client:
Mirabell Pte Ltd
Main Contractor (Ph2): Lee Kim Tah (Pte) Ltd
Main Contractor (Ph3): Taisei Corporation Engineering & Construction
Structural Engineer: Dr. Lee Chiow Meng & Associates
M & E Engineer: J. M. Pang & Associates Pte Ltd
Quantity Surveyor: KPK Quantity Surveyor
Site
Area: 75,982.66 sq m
Site Coverage: 22.54 %
Plot Ratio: 1 : 0.35
Gross Floor Area: 26,869.95 sq m
Building type: 6 highrise & 12 lowrise blocks, 477 units
Dairy Farm Condominium consists of 477 apartments of various unit types. The confi-guration of the site allows for the location of six high-rise blocks in the central part of the site with an almost continuous perimeter of 12 low-rise blocks. This spatial pattern follows the research findings of March and Steadman of the Cambridge Centre for Built Form Studies. Higher densities will always be achieved by building as nearly as possible a continuous perimeter block. The added advantage of this arrangement is that, viewed from the road, the scale is domestic. The higher blocks are not intrusive.
There is a relaxed resort-like ambience which is derived from the dis-tinctive
tropical aesthetic and the mature landscaping which employs a variety
of local palms and coconut trees. The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve forms
a dramatic backcloth to the development.
The strongly-articulated overhangs of the roof shelter balconies and outdoor
spaces within the apartments create a deep shadow line. Seen from Bukit
Timah Road, the overhanging roofs of
the tall blocks are dramatic and convey a distinctly tropical aesthetic.
The apart-ments have extensive balconies and the owners have retained
this openness and the lifestyle it entails, shunning, the now common practice
in Singapore, of glazing the balcony to create an extra room. Clothes-drying
areas in each apartment are carefully screened behind wooden fretwork.
The use of square gridded balustrades and mesh screens gives continuity
with traditional practices. Services and carparks are tucked below the
apartments and sheltered behind landscaped embankments to reduce their
visual impact.
Each unit is entered through a generous forecourt, creating a transition
space to the private space beyond. This forecourt permits personalisation
of the semi-private interface with the public space. The upper floors
have rooms of generous heights aiding thermal insulation and cross ventilation.
The Dairy Farm Estate is exemplary in terms of its adaptation to climate.
Ideas explored here have been further refined by Akitek Tenggara and reworked
in their design of a public housing project for the Housing and Development
Board at Choa Chu Kang, completed in 1997.
