How will we rework nice eating from an unique, passive consumption expertise into an energetic and shared journey? Can nice eating transcend pleasure and encourage broader interested by meals and the atmosphere, on subjects comparable to accountable ingredient sourcing and meals waste? OMA was tasked to design the eating and cooking house for AIR Round Campus in Singapore, the place these questions are addressed.
© Frans Parthesius
AIR is positioned on Dempsey Hill. Now a frequented artwork and life-style quarter, it was a nutmeg plantation within the mid-nineteenth century, and a barrack complicated between the 1860s and Nineties. The location of AIR is outlined by its 4,000 sqm inexperienced house, and the modernist CSC Dempsey Clubhouse, constructed within the Nineteen Seventies for the sports activities and leisure actions of the civil servants. Right here, nature is distinguished and valuable: all of the bushes with girths over one meter have to be conserved in response to the native authority. The CSC Dempsey Clubhouse, thought of to haven’t any particular historic worth, will be freely reconfigured. This distinction prompted us to ask: Ought to we solely protect what’s deemed important and alter all the things else? Can architectural interventions articulate the cherished nature and the insignificant constructing into equally invaluable parts? Within the course, minimal modifications will be made to the constructing to attenuate building waste.
© Frans Parthesius
In our design, the present nature and the CSC Dempsey Clubhouse are the primary elements. A key architectural intervention is the 100-meter walkway, a brand new footpath between the clubhouse and considered one of Dempsey Hill’s fundamental parking heaps. This footpath replaces the initially slim and hidden route that made the clubhouse inaccessible. Natural in type, it evokes the pure topography, whereas loosely defining the expansive inexperienced house into two zones: the backyard on one facet and the garden on the opposite. From the walkway, the guests can go straight into the clubhouse, which has now been remodeled into the house to AIR. The guests can even detour into the meandering paths of the backyard – AIR’s farm, the place the guests can study how meals grows and style the harvest. Alternatively, they’ll wander into the garden, the place picnics and a wide range of occasions happen. Alongside the walkway are patios that turn out to be sitting-out areas complementing the garden.
© Frans Parthesius
The clubhouse is a modernist double-floor constructing outlined by ribbon home windows. On the primary ground, the walkway extends into the inside to outline the circulation house. The primary eating house faces the garden. By means of an operable entrance façade, the initially enclosed first ground turns into a semi-outdoor eating house with prolonged terraces linked to the garden for meals in an informal environment. On the rear is the open kitchen, the place the processes of constructing dishes turn out to be clear to everybody. On the second degree, glass replaces the unique façade to create an indoor space overlooking the garden. The guests discover right here a extra intimate eating space, and the analysis house for experimentations on substances, generally unsuspected. The cooking college on the rear of this degree permits all of the guests to share cooking abilities and information on the substances from the backyard.
© Frans Parthesius
One other intervention within the constructing is the cylinder. It consolidates the front-of-house and back-of-house packages, together with the staircases for the visitors and the employees, a bar, a kitchen, and a machine room. Positioned on the rear, away from the entrance façade, the newly put in cylinder signifies the coexistence of the previous and the brand new. AIR’s fixtures and furnishings have been designed by Andreu Carulla utilizing recycled timber and plastic bottles (HDPE) sourced from a former artwork set up, in addition to Styrofoam, generally utilized in disposable meals containers. These parts allude to the ethos of AIR to find the potential and sweetness in what is commonly perceived as waste.
Diagram 1
With farming, picnic, wandering, cooking, studying, and eating concurrently happening at completely different places, AIR is a campus the place the traditional eating expertise is challenged: fairly than passive diners being served, the visitors are energetic explorers of alternatives to eat nicely and have enjoyable. A brand new and casual fine-dining tradition is within the making within the inventive platform.
Undertaking Data:
Anastasia Andreieva
Anastasia Andreieva is an completed Architectural Initiatives Editor at Arch2O, bringing a singular mix of linguistic experience and design enthusiasm to the crew. Born and raised in Ukraine, she holds a Grasp’s diploma in Languages from Taras Shevchenko Nationwide College of Kyiv. Her deep ardour for structure and visible storytelling led her to transition from translation and editorial roles into the world of design media. With a eager eye for conceptual readability and narrative construction, Anastasia curates and presents international architectural initiatives with precision and aptitude. She is especially drawn to parametric and digital design, cultural context, and rising voices in structure.
Once I’m not analyzing the newest architectural developments, you’ll in all probability discover me trying to find hidden gems in cityscapes or appreciating the fantastic thing about well-crafted areas. In any case, nice design—like nice connections—will be present in probably the most sudden locations. Talking of connections, as a result of structure isn’t the one factor that brings individuals collectively.
