OUE Downtown

OUE Downtown at 6 Shenton Way is the redevelopment of a prominent office tower in Singapore's Shenton Way core, and the project brief combines two distinct greening strategies. The first treats the ground plane as a public urban space: a one-kilometre pedestrian walkway is designed under the controls of the Urban Redevelopment Authority and NParks to preserve the overall design and public-realm standards of Shenton Way. Existing trees are retained and re-composed with new planting into ordered, beautiful patterns that give passers-by an inviting landscape, and universal design principles are applied throughout the paving to maximise pedestrian flow and spatial efficiency. Rest areas are placed on the corridor between the office lobby and the retail zone, and a stepped seating area on an elevated ramp helps push the building into the background; a rich variety of surrounding species invites people to linger and immerse themselves in nature, while a water feature delivers a soothing natural soundscape and micro-climate all day long. The second strategy treats the building itself as a vertical landscape: because dense city sites like this leave little ground-floor garden, the proposal adds green surfaces not only at grade but across the facade of the thirty-two-storey tower, including green walls and sky gardens. Careful planting and irrigation details, together with simulation testing of the actual green facade surfaces, are treated as essential to the long-term sustainability of the vertical greening. At roof level, an infinity pool allows guests to enjoy water activities and sunset views; varied planting is interwoven with sharply modern water lines and timber decks to give the space a unique character, and the pool deck and pavilions are positioned as ideal points from which to take in the views of Shenton Way and the sea. The gym, outdoor showers and breakfast lounge on the upper floors are all wrapped in tranquil greenery, so that the whole tower reads as a vertical park inserted into the downtown core.