Located on 88 Market Street in Singapore's evolving Central Business District, a 280-meter-tall tower that BIG and Carlo Ratti Associati designed broke ground earlier this week. The team had the winning proposal in a competition organized by real estate company CapitaLand, the project client. The tower is currently slated for a 2021 completion, and will be one of Singapore's tallest buildings.

Replacing a former parking complex built in the '80s, the 93,000 m2 tower will contain office and retail space, 299 residential units, and lush tropical greenery at the tower's base, core, and rooftop. Perhaps the tower's most distinctive feature is its exterior facade, which has vertical elements that are “pulled apart” to allow the greenery from inside to peek out, creating a “dynamic interplay of orthogonal lines and lush greenery”, BIG says.

Winding garden paths and covered passages will lead to the “City Room”, a 19-meter-tall open space at the foot of the tower. The first eight floors will comprise of residences and amenities, while the top 29 floors will have office spaces. “Sensors, Internet-of-Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence capabilities are scattered throughout the tower which will enable the tenants to customize their experience of the building,” BIG describes.

At ground level, visitors can hang out in the public rainforest plaza and park. At the core of the building, there will be a 30-meter, open-air garden called the “Green Oasis” where people can work, relax, or hold events.