Forget the idea of a “concrete jungle.” In Singapore, we call it an “urban garden.” It’s a city where the line between the natural world and stunning architecture blurs, creating a landscape that soothes and inspires you all at once.
Right here, in one of the world’s most dynamic cities, you’ll find incredible buildings that make nature a core part of their design. You can stroll past skyscrapers draped in breathtaking vertical gardens or check into a hotel that welcomes you with its own lush, indoor forest. These are places designed to make you stop, breathe, and simply marvel.
These structures prove that you don’t have to choose between the thrill of the city and the calm of nature. For hardworking professionals like us, they offer a perfect, comfortable escape right where you’d least expect it. So, if you’re ready for a different kind of tour, let me guide you through the very best of Singapore’s green architecture. Prepare to be amazed!
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Pan Pacific Orchard
You can find the Pan Pacific Orchard right in the heart of Singapore’s famous Orchard Road. The renowned WOHA Architects designed this stunning building to look like a green oasis rising into the sky. The hotel opened at 10 Claymore Road and is the newest flagship for the Pan Pacific Hotels Group in Singapore.
This 23-story hotel has 347 rooms and mixes modern style with nature. It features four unique open-air terraces: Forest, Beach, Garden, and Cloud. These terraces honor Orchard Road’s past as a place full of fruit orchards and plantations.
When you arrive, the Forest Terrace greets you with a cascading waterfall and a lush, tropical feel. Head up to the fifth floor to find the Beach Terrace, which feels like an island getaway with its lagoon pool and palm trees. You can also relax in the peaceful Garden Terrace or host events at the Cloud Terrace on the 18th floor, which offers stunning city views.
The hotel rooms match the theme of their terrace. For example, rooms on the Beach Terrace use wood panels and sandy colors to create a beach vibe. The Garden Terrace rooms feature calming shades of green.
High up, the Cloud Terrace rooms have a light and airy feel, just like being in the clouds.
The hotel is also a fantastic spot for food lovers. You can find three different places to eat, like Mosella, which serves Mediterranean food with a Peruvian twist all day. Pan Pacific Orchard also plans to feature local Singaporean brands that showcase great craftsmanship and new ideas.
Breakfast buffet is a little bit chaotic and disorganised in comparison with other hotel amenities and lack of attention to detail (clean cutlery, missing cutlery etc). That being said everything else was absolutely perfect and made up for the breakfast experience.
The staff deserve special recognition, every single team member I encountered was simply amazing. From the warm and attentive service in the Club Lounge, to the impeccable housekeeping, the cheerful breakfast staff, the welcoming reception team and the helpful valet, everyone went above and beyond to make me feel at home. Their professionalism and genuine hospitality set a new benchmark.
The food was another highlight. Breakfast and meals were thoughtfully prepared in both Mosella and the Club lounge with dishes rotated daily to keep things fresh and exciting.
The atmosphere throughout the hotel is elegant yet inviting, and the attention to detail in service and presentation is second to none. I genuinely cannot fault a single aspect of my stay.
Leaving tomorrow, I do so with wonderful memories and immense gratitude. Pan Pacific Orchard has set the bar incredibly high, and I look forward to returning again very soon. Warm regards from Michelle and Tomo xx
Oasia Hotel Downtown
The architecture firm WOHA designed the 30-story Oasia Hotel Downtown to challenge the concrete look of Singapore’s business district. Its famous red aluminum mesh exterior acts as a giant trellis for 21 different species of climbing plants.
This “living tower” is so green that it has a Green Plot Ratio of 1,100%. This means it provides 11 times more greenery than the land it sits on, effectively giving back to nature. This groundbreaking design won it the “Best Tall Building Worldwide” award in 2018.
The architects focused on creating a sustainable ecosystem that attracts wildlife like birds, insects, and squirrels right into the city. Inside, the world-renowned Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola handled the inviting furniture and interior design.
A key feature is the four large, open-air sky gardens located on levels 6, 12, 21, and 27. These gardens allow fresh air to flow through the hotel’s lobbies and public spaces, so there’s no need for enclosed, air-conditioned areas.
This design creates a thriving natural environment high above the ground. The lush plants and water features offer a refreshing and comfortable escape for anyone needing a break from the city’s buzz.
Приятный завтрак
The club level is really great, with a nice, relaxing pool area. I liked being able to grab something from the lounge and enjoy it by the pool. Evening cocktails were nice, especially on Christmas Eve, with fantastic food and snack offerings and excellent service. We preferred having breakfast at the club level.
The room, however, was not the best. The interior felt worn. It took a long time to get hot water, and the shower drain was very slow. The Wi-Fi stopped working one evening. The AC blasted cold air straight onto the bed.
Overall, I would still recommend staying here, thanks to the location, club level benefits and professional staff.
Cons:
It's really cold in the elevators.
The gym is really small.
I haven't stayed at this hotel, but I will on my next trip.
A truly one-of-a-kind hotel! The Oasia Hotel Downtown is a vertical oasis in the heart of the city: the entire façade is covered in plants, and the structure, with its red and green design, is a sight to behold. Even just walking past it puts you in a good mood.
The interior spaces are modern, bright, and designed for relaxation. The open terraces and common areas offer a sense of openness and tranquility rare in the city center. The location is also excellent, very convenient for exploring Chinatown, Tanjong Pagar, and the surrounding area.
A perfect example of sustainable architecture integrated into the city. Absolutely worth seeing—and a must-try if you're looking for a different experience!
PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering
Between the blocks of guest rooms, spacious curvy sky gardens are draped in tropical plants and supported by frangipani and palm trees, cantilevered at every fourth level.
The grounds of the venue are green, and so are the flourishes within. The trees and gardens of the hotel blend in with those from the adjacent park.
The WOHA-designed hotel contains 15,000 square meters of sustainable sky gardens, waterfalls, and planter walls that provide a breathable environment for hotel guests.
The 637-room hotel won the “2013 Best of Year Award for Hotel Common Space”.
With the verdant greenery and fluid lines, PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering stands apart among low historic shophouses in Chinatown with its ‘hotel-in-garden’ design.
Inside, you’ll find green walls plated by waterfalls for relaxation or outdoor dining onsite near these eco-conscious designers’ masterpieces.
Sky gardens are also environmentally friendly, using solar cells, motion sensors, rainwater harvesting, and reclaimed water to function.
The design for this hotel was intended to have an E-shaped plan, with all guest rooms facing northward towards the park or sky gardens while also providing views of these spaces from each room.
Services were placed on the southern side so guests could easily access them when they enter/exit the external connecting corridors.
Jewel Changi Airport
The complex was designed by Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie of the famous Safdie Architects company, with Peter Walker and Partners as the landscape architects.
Built over the former open-air car park in front of Changi Airport Terminal 1. The Jewel development added 70% more space to Terminal 1’s arrival hall and baggage claim areas. It increased the handling capacity from 21 to 24 million passengers a year.
Jewel comprises gardens, attractions, a hotel, 300 retail stores, eating establishments, and early baggage check-in aviation services.
Located at the heart of the mall, the indoor garden Shiseido Forest Valley has a spectacular indoor waterfall (HSBC Rain Vortex) and lush green space with an exquisite floral layout.
The eye-catching waterfall feature, which holds the world’s tallest indoor waterfall title, is 40 meters high and collects rainwater for reuse.
The mall features over 2,000 trees and palms with 100,000 shrubs lining its tiered gardens, encouraging you to take time out from your shopping trip to enjoy this lush environment.
Singapore Changi Jewel Guided Walking Tour
Experience Jewel and explore architectural marvels, a lush indoor forest with over 2,000 trees and 100,000 shrubs, alongside exclusive shopping and dining. Enjoy stunning views and Canopy Park access, enriching your visit to this must-see Singapore destination.
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From our perspective as travellers, the mall has all the stores you need in one place. It is clean and has all the facilities a traveller would require.
We really appreciated the early bag drop facility which allowed us to drop our checked bags off so we could do more shopping before our flight.
Also a great place to burn through a few hours after an early morning flight when you arrive (before you can check in to your hotel) and the same for if you have a late departure flight.
snowy cheese gyoza: cheese complimented the gyoza well, with dried cranberries too
Thank you, Jewel.
Marina One
Named one of Asia’s most innovative buildings for its creativity in blending commercial space with residential living quarters seamlessly without any distractions or obstructions, while being sustainable.
Marina One’s unique architectural louvers, inspired by Asian rice terraces in a valley, allow greater air circulation and improved microclimate thanks to the ‘City in a Garden’ concept.
The characteristic louvers and extensive greenery improve the microclimate and enhance biodiversity. In contrast, the organic form of the building cluster with its iconic louvers contributes to this.
The award-winning Marina One is a Certified LEED Platinum and BCA Greenmark development designed by Ingenhoven Architects. They collaborate with Gustafson Porter + Bowman and ICN Design International as landscape architects.
The complex has two 750-foot-tall office towers and two 475-foot residential buildings connected on lower levels by an open podium. It embraces spacious gardens with tropical plants worldwide.
The garden includes over 350 varieties of trees and plants, with 700 trees planted in a landscaped area of 37,000 square meters.
@nic
@nic
Kampung Admiralty
Have you ever seen a whole village stacked up to the sky? Let me tell you about Kampung Admiralty, a special place in Singapore that does just that. “Kampung” is the Malay word for “village,” and this building evokes the friendly, community feeling of old days.
I think of it as a “Vertical Village.” Instead of spreading out, it’s built upwards to save space, which is very smart in a busy city like Singapore. Imagine a yummy club sandwich; that’s how this building is layered.
At the bottom, you’ll find the Community Plaza. It’s like a public living room where you can shop, eat at the food court, or just hang out with friends, rain or shine, because a layer above provides shelter.
In the middle is a Medical Centre. This makes it super easy for people living here to see a doctor without having to travel far. The space is designed with big windows and a courtyard, letting in lots of natural light to help everyone feel calm and connected to the world outside.
On the very top, you’ll discover a beautiful Community Park. This rooftop garden is a peaceful village green where you can exercise, chat with neighbors, or even grow plants in the community farm. This is also where you’ll find apartments designed for seniors. The building cleverly includes a childcare center and senior activity spots side-by-side, bringing kids and older adults together to eat, play, and enjoy life.
Before it was built, this spot was just an empty lot. Now, it’s a thriving home with over 700 trees and gardens that even water themselves! This smart system saves over a million gallons of tap water every year.
Kampung Admiralty is more than just a building; it’s a wonderful idea for the future, showing how we can create a caring community where people of all ages can live happily together.
