Poles with honorable mention in SKYHIVE competition
Kinga Gawlik and Piotr Rajewski from the West Pomeranian University of Technology received an honorable mention in the international SKYHIVE competition, whose challenge was to design a skyscraper in any location in the world. The Poles chose the center of Singapore and proposed a building consisting of mobile residential capsules. Meet Nomad Unite!
The premise of the fifth edition of the SKYHIVE international architectural competition organized by the Buildner platform was to design a skyscraper on any plot of land chosen by the participants, with dimensions not exceeding 130×80 meters. The proposal had to take into account the context and respond to the existing surroundings. The organizers of the competition did not limit the participants in terms of the parameters of the building, but suggested objects with a diverse functional layout. An important aspect was the inclusion of new technologies and materials, ecological solutions, interesting aesthetics and spatial organization. They were also looking for designs that could respond to economic and residential problems.
Nomad Unite was designed in the center of Singapore
© Kinga Gawlik, Piotr Rajewski
Poles with honorable mention
The submitted works were evaluated by a jury consisting of: Hayri Atak (Hayri Atak Architectural Design Studio, Turkey), Jim Bissell (set designer, USA), Thomas Corbasson (Chartier+Corbasson Architectes, France), Benedikt Hartl (Opposite Office, Germany), Samista Jugwanth (Zutari, South Africa), Ilias Papageorgiou (PILA, Greece). The jury awarded three main prizes (First Prize went to the City 2040: Microclimate Control Tower project by a team of South Korean students consisting of: Dong Young Kim, Young Hyun Choi) and six honorable mentions. Among the honorable mentions was a project from Poland - Nomad Unite, by Kinga Gawlik and Piotr Rajewski.
The building has a diverse functional layout
© Kinga Gawlik, Piotr Rajewski
We chose a plot of land in the center of Singapore for the location of our project, located on the border of the business district and the still undeveloped land next to the marina. Our choice was guided by the neighboring high-rise development, the city's approach to shaping an ecological green urban space and openness to new technological solutions. Analyzing the architectural icons that they are, the Nagakin Capsule Tower (Tokyo - Kishō Kurokawa) and the Unité d'habitation (Marseille - Le Corbusier) we attempted to create a hybrid of them, the Nomad Unite (Nomadic Unit), the authors say.
ground and third floor plan
© Kinga Gawlik, Piotr Rajewski
Nomad Unite in Singapore
Although functionally the entire Nomad Unite has been tailored to its main residential function, visually the authors took care to adapt the building to its surroundings. The lump of the building was divided into three zones: underground - invisible, integrated with the communication system, above-ground - multifunctional, referring with its simplicity of form to the neighboring office buildings, and above-ground - residential in the form of towers with mobile capsules, with a terraced layout.
On the first floor there are open entrance pavilions
© Kinga Gawlik, Piotr Rajewski
Everything was proposed on a rectangular plan covering the entire quarter and opened up through a spacious atrium and numerous public terraces. As the authors say, at the stage of shaping the body of the building and its functional connections, they suggested solutions proposed by the local equivalent of the Local Development Plan, which clearly outlined how to reclaim the existing green areas designated for development.
Wanting to ensure the greatest possible comfort for future users, the designed towers were positioned to provide views of the marina and Gardens By The Bay. We also tried to limit the effect of mutual obscuring of the designed high-rise parts of the entire establishment, the architects add.
division of functions and ecological solutions
© Kinga Gawlik, Piotr Rajewski
mobile living capsules
The Poles' design is based on a system of modular, mobile residential capsules. The building's basement was designed in the vein of Le Corbusier's ideas - it consists of a vacant first floor, where entrance pavilions for various functions are interspersed with a public park setting.
One of the main design ideas was self-sufficiency and the ability to meet all daily needs within the Unit - hence the division of the building into a public area (with parking, underground walkway, healthcare, spa & wellness area wellness, shopping center, food court, museum, concert hall and private offices) and with limited access for residents (with offices for rent or open space, residential area and shared roof terraces on both towers).
Diagram of moving the capsules around the building
© Kinga Gawlik, Piotr Rajewski
apartments for digital nomads
Our facility was designed with digital nomads in mind, people who are not tied to a specific place and, through technological innovations, can work from anywhere on earth. Therefore, the designed capsule system, allows its users - to choose a variant of interior design, and move around the world with the same personalized capsule. The use of this solution would reduce the growing demand for new housing and, by reducing the number of new development projects, benefit the planet in the form of lower pollution levels, carbon dioxide emissions and an increase in the amount of undeveloped green space. In this way, the system fits perfectly into the ecological trend - reuse, which means, among other things, reusing the same object again and again, Kinga Gawlik and Piotr Rajewski conclude.
