WELCOME TO
Tropical Renewable Architecture Design Lab
National University of Singapore
The SkyTimber™: Tropical Renewable Architecture Design Lab is a focal point of advanced designs and interdisciplinary research, thought leadership and education on tropical renewable architecture in the Southeast Asian region and the tropics worldwide. It brings together interdisciplinary groups of architects, researchers, industry partners, regulatory bodies to develop capability to design and build tropical renewable architecture in academic, professional, built environmental sectors - envisioning the symbiosis between sustainable forestry and built environment in the tropics.
INNOVATIVE DESIGN-RESEARCH
Tropical renewable architecture, namely tropical mass engineered timber (MET) to sink carbon in solid building forms, requires interdisciplinary design and research indispensably. We deliver unique yet functional sustainable architectural aesthetics for human-comfort and sustainable built environment, which is enabled by extensive research across forestry, manufacturing, architectonics, building physics to champion high humidity, weathering and termite attacks in the tropics.
The Tropical Renewable Architecture Design Lab explores unique yet functional sustainable architecture by championing various challenges on tropical renewable architecture, especially in high-density urbanism, aiming to synthesize living comfort, passive microclimate strategy, carbon sink in building forms and symbiosis between greenery and habitation.
Due to year-round sunlight, some plantation species in the tropics may grow a few times faster than those in temperate climate, which may eventually have relatively weak mechanical properties on their own, which most of the current use is limited to furniture, plywood, pulps and chips. However, those fast-growing plantation timber may become suitable for construction use if developed into tropical MET, which may enable massive buildings as effective carbon sink for long-term: a true game changer in the global warming era.
EVENTS
MASS TIMBER ARCHITECTURE IN THE TROPICS Int’l Seminar 2023 : Challenges and PossibilitiesFri, 20 Octhttps://cde.nus.edu.sg/arch/news_and_eve
iF DESIGN AWARD 2022: BookBridgeMay 2022NUS Central Library, Singapore
SkyTimber: Mass Timber Architecture in the Tropics Lecture Series 6Thu, 21 MarL4 Barrel Room
Introduction to Mass Timber Architecture in the Tropics Final Review23rd Nov. 2022Singapore
Job Advertisement: Design Research AssistantJul. 2024 -Singapore
BCA Academy Annex construction site visit5th Oct. 2022Singapore
Tat Hin Timber saw mill visit13th Jan. 2022Singapore
NTU Academic Building South Construction Site7th Feb 2020Singapore
Wohhup Technology Hub VisitThu, 16 MarSingapore
Sky Timber: Mass Timber Architecture in the Tropics Lecture Series 5Thu, 09 MarL5 Forum, SDE4
NUS Central Library Book Bridge LaunchWed, 24 MarNUS Central Library
Urban Sustainability R&D Congress 2019Tue, 23 JulSuntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition
Sky Timber: Mass Timber Architecture in the Tropics Lecture Series 2018Fri, 02 NovSingapore
Sky Timber: Mass Timber Architecture in the Tropics Lecture Series 4Thu, 01 NovSingapore
Sky Timber: Mass Timber Architecture in the Tropics Lecture Series 3Thu, 06 SeptSingapore
Sky Timber: Mass Timber Architecture in the Tropics Lecture Series 2Tue, 04 SeptSingapore
Sky Timber: Mass Timber Architecture in the Tropics Lecture Series 1Mon, 27 AugSingapore
