classrooms, lecture spaces, studios, a cafe and a library. And no less than 50% of the
spaces are naturally ventilated, which in Singapore is sort of awesome.
The giant front canopy is most crisply evident from the end elevations of the building, where
you see that the short-end facades are opaque walls of intimidating scale, nary a window
apparent. In fact, they are clad in perforated metal screens (and there are openings) – the
outer plane is pulled forward of the actual walls, the better to shade them. Indeed, this is
apparently the city-state’s first net-zero-energy building – not too bad for an 8,500 outing.
But this one is really all about the prime facade. And despite rather prosaic glazing,
exposed HVAC lines, and consistent evidence of economy, this wall is impressive. It makes
the building as a whole seem larger than it actually is, and is to its benefit somehow. The
enormously tall columns mill perfectly with the huge trees just metres away, and the push
and pull of the planes behind them both enliven and civilise the building. This is just the type
of academic building that might have been built in France or England or Germany in 1932, or
even in Boston or Philadelphia in the 1970s. And that is no insult. We know this approach
because it’s worked for decades and in all sorts of climates. It’s a building in which to get
on with things, sans fuss... A true workhorse. And in this iteration, an actual laboratory for
architectural ambitions in a time of climate crisis. Hear hear to all that.