World Architecture Awards: Singapore's 'vertical village' named building of the year

Two UK buildings, including the Olympic stadium, were also awarded prizes

Olivia Blair
Saturday 07 November 2015 15:45 GMT
Comments
The complex has 31 stacked residential blocks
The complex has 31 stacked residential blocks (World Architecture Festival)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A ‘vertical village’ in Singapore has been named the World Building of the Year.

Judges at the eighth annual World Architecture Festival, held at the prestigious Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore, awarded the top prize to The Interlace.

The village, designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture and Buro Ole Scheeren was praised for its “radical and alternative” approach to living in a tropical environment.

The Interlace was praised as 'radical' and 'alternative'
The Interlace was praised as 'radical' and 'alternative' (World Architecture Festival)

Festival director Paul Finch said the housing project was “blazing a trail with an example of bold, contemporary architectural thinking.”

“The project presents an alternative way of thinking about developments which might otherwise become generic tower clusters.”

The building contains 31 ‘stacked’ residential blocks and is six stories tall. Swimming pools, tennis courts, gardens and roof terraces are also featured in the village.

Other awards included the Future Project of the year award which was given to Vancouver House in Canada; the silhouette of which is said to resemble “a curtain being drawn aside”.

Vancouver House in Canada won the overall Future Project of the year award
Vancouver House in Canada won the overall Future Project of the year award (World Architecture Festival)

The Olympic Stadium in east London also scooped the 2015 Future-Led Development prize on day one of the festival, with a judge praising that the building was “sustainable, efficient and respectful of London’s Olympic heritage”.

The future project for the Olympic stadium received a prize
The future project for the Olympic stadium received a prize (World Architecture Festival)

Another UK prize went to the Wellington College Performing Arts Centre, in Berkshire which won the Future Projects Education award. According to judges, the centre has “a poetic relationship between the planned spaces and the existing building and landscape”, with the forest for a backdrop.

The performing arts centre at Wellington College received the 'schools' future project award
The performing arts centre at Wellington College received the 'schools' future project award (World Architecture Festival)

The 2016 awards will be hosted in Berlin, after being held in Singapore for the past four years.

The full list of winners:

Completed Projects:

House: Saigon House, Hochiminh, Vietnam, by a21studio

Civic and community: Cam Thanh Community House, Vietnam, by 1+1>2 International Architects

Mixed use: Casba, Australia, by Billard Leece and SJB Architects

Higher education and research: Toho Gakuen School of Music, Tokyo, Japan, by Nikken Sekkei

Office: HIGO, Japan, by nA Nakayama Architects

Housing: The Interlace, Singapore, by OMA/Buro Ole Sheeren

Shopping: Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu, Chengdu, China, by The Oval Partnership

Display: Brazilian Expo Pavilion 2015, Milan, Italy, by Studio Arthur Casas and Atelier Marko Brajovics

Future Projects:

Infrastructure: Cukurova Regional Airport Complex, Adana, Turkey, by Emre Arolat Architects

Masterplanning: Development Concept for the Historic Centre of Kalingrad, Russia, by Studio 44 Architects

House: Issa Grotto/Hill House, Vis, Croatia, by Proarh

Office: Reservoir, Rajasthan, India, by Sanjay Puri Architects

Health: Al Maha Centre for Children and Young Adults, Doha, Qatar, by HDR Rice Daubney

Leisure-led development: London Olympic Stadium Transformation, London, United Kingdom, by Populous

Culture: Museum of Painting and Sculpture, Istanbul, Turkey, by Emre Arolat Architects

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in