Tom Otley is transfixed by the spectacle that is Singapore’s new Gardens by the Bay
Successful as Singapore is as a financial centre, tourism destination and business and meetings hub, it isn’t resting on its laurels. The city-state is keen to emphasise its environmental credentials, and how its new developments are contributing to the “greening” of its territory – and none more so than in Gardens by the Bay.
Gardens started as a project by the National Parks Board on 101 hectares of former industrial land. It is made up of three distinctive waterfront gardens – Bay South, Bay East and Bay Central. Phase one, Bay South, opened last summer, and is the largest of the three, with 54 hectares next to the Marina Bay integrated resort.
Designed by UK-based landscape architecture firm Grant Associates, it has two “cooled conservatories” – the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest, both maintained at 23°C-25°C – as well as 18 “Supertrees” dotted around the Golden Garden, Silver Garden and Supertree Grove, plus the Heritage Gardens, with Chinese, Indian, Malay and Colonial horticultural themes. Other attractions include the eclectic World of Plants and the Dragonfly and Kingfisher Lakes.
If you are a keen gardener then you are probably already planning a visit the next time you are in Singapore, but even if you’re not, it would be worth spending an afternoon here. As someone whose idea of horticulture is mowing the lawn, I was ready to be less than thrilled, but it was the waterfall that sealed the deal.
I’d been impressed by the swoop of the Flower Dome, wowed by the Aerial Skywalk between Supertrees ranging in height from 25 metres to 50 metres, but entering the Cloud Forest to find a 35-metre waterfall with orchids, ferns and moss clinging to its slopes, while a fine mist hung in the air, finally removed any cynicism about the project.
It’s more than a spectacle, however. There’s lots of information displayed to explain the exhibits – the Supertrees, for instance, showcase “a variety of bromeliads, ferns and tropical flowering climbers… the 18 tree-like structures marrying the form and function of mature trees”. Some even have “photovoltaic cells on their canopies to harvest solar energy for lighting up the Supertrees at night, while others are integrated with the cooled conservatories and serve as air exhaust receptacles”.
To round off your visit, there are several restaurants and cafés, including Pollen by Jason Atherton – owner of Table No1 in Shanghai and London’s Pollen Street Social – for Mediterranean-influenced modern European cuisine (see Taste Singapore).
Entry to Bay South is free; a S$28 (£14) charge applies for the Cooled Conservatories and Aerial Walkway. gardensbythebay.org.sg
