The Future is Green

Imagine this.

A rainforest rising 35m skywards, its verdant canopy cascading towards the clouds. Lush greenery, flowering plants and towering trees are everywhere you look.

Sounds like an Instagram dream come true?

Now imagine all this right smack in the middle of a 280m skyscraper.

With its intentional biophilic design that creates closer connections to nature through architecture, CapitaSpring is where you’ll find the show-stopping, four-storey-tall Green Oasis seamlessly integrated between Grade A office floors and serviced residences.

Stepping inside the botanical sanctuary, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re transported away from the concrete jungle of the Central Business District (CBD), when you’re actually right at the heart of it.

A tropical tapestry of luscious foliage and flourishing flora and fauna interwoven with work and social spaces, CapitaSpring offers city dwellers a rare opportunity to reconnect with nature.

Where Mother Nature is Second Nature

Baccaurea Spitulata. Gnetum Gnemon. Arachnothryx Leucophylla. Calathea Loeseneri.

Can you pronounce any of them?

While these multisyllabic plants may not roll off the tongue easily, they are certainly easy on the eye. From ravishing magnolias to majestic wild date palms to the picture-perfect Leopard Tree (Caesalpinia ferrea), gorgrous blooms will greet you at every turn.

Pinching yourself yet? Because you’re not just in the middle of the bustling CBD, but also mid-air inside a skyscraper. Such was the bold vision of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the architectural firm behind the design of CapitaSpring. Managing Director of COEN International Design, Hannah Ann Teo, and her team were then the landscape designers that brought this vision to life with their planting palette of the verdant landscapes of CapitaSpring.

CapitaSpring is home to a plethora of green spaces, with a total landscape area of more than 90,000 sq ft, equivalent to 140% of its site area. We wanted to bring nature inside our urban city, and into our building, by making the landscape areas accessible at different heights with the Green Oasis. More impressively, 62% of the plant species at CapitaSpring are native and will play a key role in habitat enhancement and species recovery efforts. That means you may even find yourself in some unexpected company.

“Native shrubs like Leea Rubra and Scaevola Taccada attract birds such as the Yellow-Vented Bulbul and Pink-Necked Green Pigeon with their fruits.

Lantana Camara, a naturalised shrub species, is a host plant for the Pygmy Grass Blue, the smallest butterfly in Singapore.

The inclusion of these native plants will further enhance the biodiversity of CapitaSpring.”

Raising the Bar, 280m high- One of the Tallest in CBD

Make your way all the way up to Level 51 and you’ll find a 280-metre-high rooftop Sky Garden — home to the highest urban farm in Singapore.

Rooftop Urban Farm - 1 -Arden Food Forest by 1-Group

The 4,500 sq ft edible garden and urban farm will serve as a sustainable source of ingredients for a fine-dining restaurant by F&B and lifestyle group 1-Group on the same floor. A farm-to-table concept, the rooftop farm helps reduce the restaurant’s carbon footprint when sourcing herbs and vegetables. The integrated rooftop farm is an essential aspect of the restaurant concepts as a sustainability showcase.

With five different themed edible gardens, the carefully curated farm will provide insight on how we can build food diversity, as well as support the urban food system, contributing to the development’s efforts in pushing for holistic sustainability. It will also evoke a sense of exploration and curiosity for the public to appreciate nature in the city.

Fresh air and even fresher ingredients. Rooftop dining simply doesn’t get any better than this.

The Power of Plants

CapitaSpring’s landscape is also carefully designed to bring an array of benefits to its community of tenants and office workers. With ample natural light and effective daylighting for at least 35% of occupied spaces, your mood will surely get its boost here.

“Numerous studies have associated improved well-being of people with the presence of plants,” said Hannah Ann.

You can even take your work meeting outdoors. Besides trading your Zoom virtual background for a botanical backdrop, you can destress and unwind at CapitaSpring’s jungle gym, ideation nests and yoga alcove.

Setting Sights on Sustainability

The future is here and it is green.

Besides its green spaces, CapitaSpring also promotes sustainable and active mobility in the CBD. These efforts include 165 bicycle lots, fully-equipped end-of-trip facilities, as well as a 600-metre cycling path that forms part of the Central Area cycling network connecting Raffles Place to the country’s larger cycling network.

The construction of the building also achieved energy savings that even exceeded BCA’s base standard of 25%, the BCA Green Mark Platinum-certified CapitaSpring is yet another positive stride in CapitaLand’s 2030 Sustainability Master Plan. From water-efficient fittings and rainwater harvesting systems to an energy-efficient central air conditioning system, CapitaSpring is elevating its commitment to global sustainability.

With its slate of sustainable features, as well as blurring of boundaries between urban life and tropical nature, the concrete jungle of the CBD is about to get a whole lot greener.