Gardens by the Bay (GB) is a key project underpinning the National Parks Board's continuous strategy to realise the vision of transforming Singapore into a Garden City. Occupying 101 hectares of prime land by Marina Bay, the Gardens is a fantasia showcasing horticultural craftsmanship and floral artistry at its finest.

The largest of the three gardens in the overall development, the 54-hectare Gardens at Marina South (GBMS) was implemented. With an expansive water frontage, the Gardens at Marina South showcases the best of tropical horticulture and garden artistry, with mass display of tropical flowers and coloured foliage. Vibrant programming is incorporated for the gardens to host a suite of international and national events.

Green Design
Gardens by the Bay sets the standard for a new generation of garden development and management practices, applying sustainable energy and water usage solutions. The integrated system of Cool Conservatories and 'Supertrees' will showcase the application of sustainable energy solutions. Besides replacing the conventional air-conditioning system with centralised district cooling systems, the project applies sustainable energy solutions through the burning of biomass generated from the gardens to power up its combined heat and power system, together with photovoltaic collectors that produce electricity for the garden's own use. Water harvesting and storage from the 'Supertrees' also provide an alternative source for irrigation.

The green features implemented are a bio-waste cogeneration system, liquid desiccant system, automatic shading system with lux level control, spectrally-selective high performance glass, displacement cooling and slab cooling, photovoltaic panels, light shelves/sky roofs, green roofs, 100% recycled concrete, rainwater harvesting, natural water filtration with aquatic plants and weather control station for irrigation plants.

Transportation Engineering
A Traffic Impact Assessment was conducted for the project. The scope of work included the following:

• Forecasting the trip generation of GBMS and its surrounding developments
• Establishing the proposed highway network surrounding the garden
• Assessing parking requirements based on trip generation and the Land Transport Authority's parking standards for the garden and its developments
• Reviewing the internal vehicular traffic layout, pick-up/ drop-off areas and vehicle parking areas in the garden
• Undertaking junction analysis during peak hours for the design years using SIDRA Intersection software
• Proposing road junction improvements
• Estimating the pedestrian volumes generated for the garden and assessing the impact on nearby pedestrian facilities connected to the garden
• Providing measures for crowd control and formulating a traffic operation plan during a major event in the garden.

Visitor flow modelling of the interiors of the Cool-Dry and Cool-Moist Conservatories at GBMS was also conducted. In anticipation of the large crowd that the development will attract, STEPS (Simulation of Transient Evacuation and Pedestrian Movements) modelling was used to identify areas that require improvements and fine-tuning for smoother pedestrian flow.

The study has provided insight into visitor circulation patterns within the conservatories and helped to provide design assurance in these areas.

Environmental Engineering
A Traffic Impact Assessment was conducted for the project. The scope of work included the following:

• Forecasting the trip generation of GBMS and its surrounding developments
• Establishing the proposed highway network surrounding the garden
• Assessing parking requirements based on trip generation and the Land Transport Authority's parking standards for the garden and its developments
• Reviewing the internal vehicular traffic layout, pick-up/ drop-off areas and vehicle parking areas in the garden
• Undertaking junction analysis during peak hours for the design years using SIDRA Intersection software
• Proposing road junction improvements
• Estimating the pedestrian volumes generated for the garden and assessing the impact on nearby pedestrian facilities connected to the garden
• Providing measures for crowd control and formulating a traffic operation plan during a major event in the garden.

Visitor flow modelling of the interiors of the Cool-Dry and Cool-Moist Conservatories at GBMS was also conducted. In anticipation of the large crowd that the development will attract, STEPS (Simulation of Transient Evacuation and Pedestrian Movements) modelling was used to identify areas that require improvements and fine-tuning for smoother pedestrian flow.

The study has provided insight into visitor circulation patterns within the conservatories and helped to provide design assurance in these areas.