GREEN CORRIDOR : A GREENBELT MASTERPLAN AND AMENITIES CENTRE @ ONE-NORTH R+D HUB

Abstract

Greenbelts are a form of land use designation which consists of a linear strip of planted land which maybe undeveloped or constructed as a park. They usually serve to protect natural environments, restrict metropolitan growth and improve the environmental quality of the surrounding urban area. However in land-scarced Singapore, setting aside land for greenbelts, which potentially becomes under-utilised, may not be ideal. The thesis attempts to explore the idea of fusing greenbelt and architecture together, as opposed to the conventional method of zoning greenbelts or green-spaces as separate from buildings.

In doing so, the design shall try to resolve certain planning issues within the chosen site of one-north, which resulted from the cluster zoning and the pre-allocation of a green-belt, and it will act as a catalyst to facilitate interaction and connectivity. Deriving from site analysis, the different zones within one-north are isolated from each other and such isolation may be worsened by the presence of the green-belt, which is currently just a park and grossly under-used. Therefore, the thesis proposes to make use of the green-belt as a circulation spine to tie the different zones of one-north together, by the use of a coherent master-planning and the input of suitable facilities. The project shall also make use of the green-belt to harvest rainwater which would then be used to irrigate and maintain the green-belt itself.