Pan Pacific Orchard, Singapour, Singapour

The design of Pan Pacific Orchard Singapore proposes a new prototype for high-rise tropical hospitality. It features breezy open-air architecture and lush greenery throughout its four distinct strata containing a matrix of guestrooms, social spaces, and garden terraces. At the ground level, the Forest Terrace with its main entrance doubles as a publicly accessible urban connection. The Beach Terrace above is a tropical oasis with a lagoon, ‘floating’ above Orchard Road. Further up, the Garden Terrace orientates towards a residential area and is flanked by the hotel’s bar and lounge. At the top, the Cloud Terrace comprises a landscaped event plaza surrounded by a 400-seat ballroom, function room, planter islands, and reflection pools. The terrace is sheltered by a photovoltaic canopy. Green columns anchor each terrace and visually connect the four strata. Together with the landscaping on the terraces, the building replaces 200% of its site area with greenery.

Pan Pacific Orchard contributes to the vibrancy of the city by revealing events that are normally hidden indoors. This is made possible by the open-air, cross-ventilated yet sheltered spaces, which are designed specifically for Singapore’s equatorial climate, where warm, humid air, low wind speeds, and frequent, yet unpredictable, heavy rainfall make fully outdoor events a challenge. These garden volumes provide views for both the rooms and the neighbors, creating a spatial interplay with the neighborhood that is lacking in most high-density environments. Likewise, the signature creeper-clad columns make a powerful green statement. The huge volumes function as giant sunshades to the terrace and rooms, while the reflective ceilings act as thermal mirrors, providing radiant cooling by doubling the surface area of gardens and water.

Outdoor Comfort is No Accident
Transsolar crafted a conceptual framework for enhancing the outdoor comfort of all open terraces and the expansive open lobby and entrance area. The targeted areas are typically regarded as non-Gross Floor Area (GFA) zones, situated entirely outdoors, devoid of facades and air conditioning systems. By optimizing outdoor comfort levels, more functional and leasable spaces were created, albeit with a tropical ambience, in alignment with the hotel operator's specifications. This innovative approach delivered exceptional tropical urban outdoor comfort, optimal performance, with minimal investment costs.
For the event terrace, a spillover system was developed taking advantage of the otherwise exhausted air from the ball room. For this, a custom-made stele was developed, and air flow and comfort were tested under lab conditions before implemented. The system increases the comfortable and usable areas by 30%. On the ground level HVLS ceiling fans are integrated into the architectural design providing a smooth adaptive transition for the guest while checking in. For an enhanced tropical comfort experience Dry Mist Fans are provided. Dry Mist Systems provide a drop of about 4 to 6 degrees C (7,2 to 10,8 °F) in perceived temperatures, creating excellent outdoor comfort. The fan heads used at Pan Pacific have been refurbished from the award-winning Singapore Pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Video of the final testing of stele design in laboratory of Schanze Lufttechnik (SLT) >

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