Project 10 | Kelantan Plus

Reimagines Singapore's existing high-rise typology to achieve future energy-independent estates with renewable energy sources through community energy co-creation by means of an adaptive planning approach.

Master of Architecture, Final Year

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Thesis Research:

My thesis research focused on how high-rise residential buildings may produce their own energy by involving residents in becoming energy prosumers by altering their daily living

to contribute to community energy co-creation. The goal was for each housing estate to

become energy independent and decrease reliance on non-renewable energy.

Existing Site & Conditions:

Kelantan Plus is a project that aims to transform an existing estate built in the 1990s to prepare it for the renewable energy transition and beyond. It includes the addition of a new structure as a façade, to link different blocks, and introduce new shared spaces. It is located at Kelantan Court, which sits beside the Kallang River in the central region of Singapore.

Through a SWOT Analysis, the main strengths of the site include unobstructed sunlight throughout the day, opportunities for integrating water from the Kallang River, and unobstructed views. Some weaknesses include noise pollution from commercial activities, and a Malay cemetery opposite the site requires tactful design.

Strategies & Drivers:

To achieve energy independence, 3 strategies can be implemented:

Firstly, reducing energy use intensity for living: this is done by reducing an individual’s energy demand; Secondly, integrating central community spaces: by introducing amenities to consolidate high-energy utilities. Lastly, provision for future development: this involves designing systems that are compatible with current and future renewable energy sources in the scope of the project’s lifespan.

Shareable Spaces:

Next, by evaluating spaces for living, 4 main categories emerge, However, I will only focus on the Sharable Spaces. Sharable essential spaces are common areas that multiple residents can use, such as shared kitchens and laundry rooms. They can reduce individual resource consumption & increase social interaction. Sharable non-essential spaces are common spaces that are not necessary for daily living, but they contribute to a higher quality of life & greater sense of community, such as resting areas and fitness corners.

Adaptive Planning:

Kelantan Plus is designed with Visual Spatial Outlines & Phasing Strategies in its Adaptive Planning approach. These help establish a clear vision for the project's initial stages, guiding its development and ensuring it stays on track, while breaking the project into stages allows for flexibility and adaptation over time. These strategies involve drafting a timeline

that takes future conditions into account.

2100 Timeline:

This timeline extends until 2100 and shows several key energy indicators and how they affect

the project's different phases. The graph's bottom section displays the depletion of non-renewable energies like coal and natural gas worldwide, while showing the increasing trend of renewable energy.

The timeline also illustrates estimates for the efficiency of photovoltaic panels, population growth, & Singapore’s energy demands. As PV panel prices are expected to decrease, Phase 1 may commence by introducing a new energy ecosystem to the Kalantan site. This phase includes an extension complex as a test bed for advanced Renewable Energy Systems, like multi-junction PV cells. When Singapore's population and energy needs reach their peak, Phase 2 may be initiated, which is when Kelantan Plus begins. The successful Renewable Energy Systems from Phase 1 can then be implemented into a large-scale high-rise residential estate with shared spaces and future energy generating methods.

Phases 3 and 4 involve experimenting with new Renewable Energy & spatial configurations. As superfluous energy has been sold back to the main grid, profits may be channelled into future upgrades & new facilities, which will be more catered to the needs and demands of the future inhabitants.

Kelantan Plus: Architectural Features

Kelantan Plus features an open ground floor, where users will enjoy improved porosity through the site, allowing the 5 blocks to be interconnected by 4 parks, which allows for the residents and the public to share resting and communal spaces. These spaces include stalls, senior care centres, childcare centres, the battery park, and exercise corners.

Kelantan Plus also features an elevated mezzanine level, which allows for more communal spaces, house more stalls, allow for a passive cooling to the buildings, & to increase interconnectivity of the 5 blocks.

From the typical apartment floors, one can observe that the existing buildings were designed with facing corridors in between blocks with units at the rear of each building.

Kelantan Plus bridges these facing corridors to introduce a new structure as a façade, to link blocks, and to introduce new shared spaces in between the blocks.

The Perspective and the section cut from here can show most of Kelantan Plus’ Energy Generating and Space Sharing features. Firstly, the vertical wind turbines, central cooling stacks & the vertical green walls are located at the unit's side, allowing for passive energy generation and cooling. The ground floor features the connected parks, the battery park, outdoor amphitheatre, and energy generating fitness corners, all of which creates a new community plaza for communal living.

The Shared Bridges:

The shared bridges facilitate the sharing of high energy-consuming utilities among users, such as kitchens and laundry rooms. It maximises accessibility for users & creates new communal spaces for interaction for residents from 2 different blocks.

The Sharing Bridges and the external facades are designed as lightweight structures made of mass engineered timber, or MET. Timber is chosen as it is not only sustainable as a building material, but it is able to be designed to attach onto an existing concrete structure

due to its lightweight nature. Users can gather here to cook and to have meals together

while enjoying the views of the Kallang River.

The Timber Modular Façades:

The External Timber Modular Facade system allows for not just existing photovoltaic systems to be installed, but for new future building integrated renewable systems to be installed after the current PV systems are decommissioned. This can include future PVs, wind-based systems, and more. The Timber Facades also extends the existing floor area at specific parts of the project to introduce new shared spaces by responding to the orientation and the positioning of the existing building.

Battery Park:

Next, by integrating a water-powered gravity battery into the park, Kelantan Plus allows for users to have a closer proximity & visual representation of their energy consumption and generation, promoting responsible energy usage and to be more energy-aware.

Energy Potentials & Community Complexes:

The abundance of sunlight, the Kallang River, & the openness of the site enables other nearby sites to be developed with the same approach as Kelantan Plus. Opportunities include rooftops of nearby multi storey car parks and low-rise office buildings.

One such development would be the Community Complex in Phase 1, which is designed as a prototype for testing potential technologies based on the MET construction logic from Kelantan Plus in a small-scale model of a larger community & includes necessary facilities for residents to live, work, and play sustainably.

Adaptive Planning:

Adaptive planning types and tool such as visual spatial outlines, phasing strategies, structural spatial plans, and flexible framework plans, are crucial to enable projects to be developed in a logical, efficient, and effective manner, while also allowing for changes and adaptations of the future.

Future Scenario:

In the far future, energy demands in Kelantan Plus will increase, and the project will receive multiple upgrades such as aerial EV chargers, wind turbines, hydroelectric generators, to meet the future inhabitants' requirements. By then, Kelantan Plus would be an energy independent estate with residents who are energy aware.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, Kelantan Plus reimagines Singapore's existing high-rise typology to achieve

future energy-independent estates with renewable energy sources through community energy co-creation by means of an adaptive planning approach.

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