Grün ist die Welt: Expo-Pavillon von Singapur in Dubai von WOHA

Like hardly any other architecture studio in the world, Singapore’s WOHA has devoted itself to a close connection between architecture and vegetation. When the Urban Development Authority, the island country’s central office for planning and the protection of historical monuments, commissioned the studio led by Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell to design the city state’s pavilion for Expo 2020 in Dubai, the result was clear right from the start: a multi-storey green oasis that would let visitors forget the desert land’s hot, arid climate for a while.
The exhibition program in the pavilion extends over three levels. From the entrance, guests wander upwards on meandering steel catwalks set between three greened cones measuring 9 metres in height. Each of these cones is home to a themed space of a different kind: in the first, a multimedia installation presents Singapore’s contribution to solving global problems; the second allows visitors to experience the country’s wealth of orchids in a colourful display; the third appeals to the senses with fine mists, artificial rainbows and a rotating tree sculpture. On the upper level, the Sky Market opens up with a restaurant as well as further spaces for exhibitions and event. The tour ends on the ground floor with another gallery featuring shops.
The pavilion construction is based on a steel skeleton for which, despite the irregular building shape, the engineers had to ensure they used as many similar parts as possible. The planted outer shell consists of a modular system of more than 45,000 individual planters, each of which is equipped with an automatic system for drip irrigation. These come from a local supplier and were planted before the exposition in order to give the pavilion its lush, green appearance from the very start of the event.
A solar roof covered almost entirely with photovoltaic modules extends over the pavilion. Throughout the six months of the Expo, the 517 modules will generate around 160 MWh, which corresponds to the consumption of 70 average Singaporean households. It is also enough to cover all the electricity needs of the pavilion, including a desalination system in the basement, where reverse osmosis transforms 40 m³ of salty groundwater into potable water every day that serves not only to water the plants, but also to operate the dry-mist systems distributed throughout the pavilion. These systems comprise a combination of fan and mist projector and are used to cool the ambient air and make the indoor temperature more bearable.
In addition, the plants themselves cool the air by evaporation. The planning team’s calculations state that the interior of the pavilion is around 5 - 10 degrees cooler than the outdoor temperature, and that the natural cooling system in the building consumes approximately 70% less energy than what would have been required to run a closed, mechanically air-conditioned space of the same size.

Further Information:
Landscape Architecture: Salad Dressing Landscape Design
Technical Building Equipment Planning: CKR Consulting Engineers
Environment and Sustainability Concept: Transsolar Energietechnik
Light Planning: Light Collab