Gardens By The Bay

Located in Marina Bay, Gardens by the Bay is a key project in delivering the Singapore Government’s vision of transforming Singapore into a ‘city in a garden’. At a total of 101 hectares, the Gardens by the Bay project comprises three distinct waterfront gardens – Bay South, Bay East and Bay Central. The commission to design the 54-hectare Bay South garden was won in 2006 by a team led by Grant Associates and including Wilkinson Eyre Architects, Atelier One, Atelier Ten, Land Design and Davis Langdon and Seah.

At the heart of Bay South Garden is the Cooled Conservatory Complex, which is the focal point of the Gardens. The two main Conservatories cover an area more than 20,000sq m and are among the largest climate controlled glasshouses in the world. They provide a spectacular, all-weather attraction and comprise a 1.28-hectare cool dry conservatory (the Flower Dome) and a 0.73-hectare cool moist conservatory (the Cloud Forest). Each has its own distinct character, but both explore the horticulture of those environments most likely to be affected by climate change.

Conservatories: The Flower Dome tells the story of plants and people in the Mediterranean climate zone, and how the plants cultivated in these regions will gradually become endangered as temperatures rise. It has a planted footprint of more than 10,100sq m and aims to bring alive the experience of seasonal change for visitors who are more used to Singapore’s eternally tropical climate and lush green vegetation. From the lavender fields and olive groves of the Cultivated Worlds section to the baobab and pachypodium trees in the Strange Worlds area, the visitor is presented with a unique collection of plants. The landform of the conservatories draws inspiration from Mediterranean landscapes and evokes the language of dry, sun-baked hillsides punctuated with rocky terraces and stony outcrops, and the intimate bond between land, geology, vegetation and cultivation. At the centre of this permanent display is the Flower Field – a vast carpet of flowers in bloom which will change seasonally.