Libeskind (left) and Keppel Land’s Albert Foo at the media preview of Corals at Keppel Bay in July last year
While the winners in most of the categories at the inaugural EdgeProp Singapore Excellence Awards 2017 were decided by our panel of judges, we reserved one award for the audience of EdgeProp.sg to decide whom it should go to — the People’s Choice Award.
They voted for their favourite project from more than 30 shortlisted projects posted on the EdgeProp Singapore Excellence Awards website. Almost 3,000 votes were received at the close of the two-week voting period from Sept 25 to Oct 9. The project with the highest number of votes — accounting for more than 10% of total votes received — was Corals at Keppel Bay.
According to developer Keppel Land, its vision has always been to develop Corals into a luxury waterfront residential development to enhance Keppel Bay’s reputation as “Singapore’s future world-class waterfront precinct”.
As Keppel Land wanted an iconic design, it went back to world-acclaimed Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind, who also designed the developer’s 1,129-unit Reflections at Keppel Bay, which was completed in 2011. Reflections incorporates Libeskind hallmarks such as curvilinear structures and dramatic geometric shapes.
Libeskind is renowned for his master plan of One World Trade Centre in New York and the design of museums such as the Jewish Museum Berlin; the Imperial War Museum North in the UK; the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden, Germany; and his dramatic titanium-clad new wing for the Denver Art Museum in the US.
“My interest is to address history in every site,” says Libeskind in his speech titled “Architecture is a Language” at TEDx Dublin in 2012. “Every place has a history.”
When it came to Corals at Keppel Bay, it was a historical sea wall more than a century old that the developer and Libeskind sought to preserve. A viewing corridor was incorporated into the design. Coral cultivation was initiated to further enhance marine life. Libeskind was also inspired by the project’s location along the southern coastline of Singapore. The 11 residential blocks have an organic façade and are arranged like meandering coral reefs. The blocks are orientated such that each of the 366 units have views of water features — reflective pools, swimming pools, the waterway or the dockside promenade. The most premium villas have direct views of the sea and Sentosa Island across the water.
In addition to offering spectacular views, access to waterways and generous facilities for residents within the condominium project, Corals at Keppel Bay is connected to surrounding parks such as Mount Faber, Labrador Park, Southern Ridges and the Public Promenade along the southern water edge. “Nature is extended inwards, to the lush central garden at the heart of the development,” says Keppel Land.
The blocks at Corals have an organic façade and are arranged like meandering coral reefs
The clubhouse lounge has a function room, gym and multi-purpose studio
This article, written by EdgeProp Singapore, appeared in EdgeProp Pullout, Issue 803 (Oct 30, 2017).