Going Green

Sustainability is now a hot topic, but for Wong Chiu Man and Maria Warner Wong, the founders of Wow Architects, it has always been the only way

- Luo Jingmei

Every day seems to bring a new, dire warning about the state of the environment. But before climate change was on everyone’s lips, husband-and-wife team Wong Chiu Man and Maria Warner Wong, the founders of Wow Architects in Singapore, were promoting sustainable living in their designs.

Among their most famous eco-friendly projects are Vivanta by Taj, a hotel in Bangalore, India with a vast, grass-covered rooftop; the 2012 Archifest Zero Waste Pavilion in Singapore, which was made from upcycled materials that were later repurposed; and the striking St Regis Maldives resort that seems to float over the ocean. The latter won the prestigious Prix Versailles for its bold design. The couple are currently working on the Mandai eco-resort in Singapore, a 328-room property set to open in 2023 that, if all goes to plan, will be the city-state’s greenest hotel.

The couple’s home in Singapore, Chiltern House, which they built eight years ago, is another example of their environmentally friendly approach. Moss covers the exposed concrete walls, a money plant creeps towards the roof and a lily pond outside the master bedroom creates a sense of calm. In the master bathroom, full-height windows allow the couple to watch the animals and birds who call their garden home.

I meet the couple in their living room, where an alcove with a long, horizontal window frames the landscape like a painting. Wong shows me a photograph of him and his future wife as students, embracing in a forest clearing. “Here we are camping. I show this photograph because we share a deep love of nature. It has been very much a part of our inner journey as well as our lives together,” he says.