Architect 2014-07.pdf

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CENTER
ARCHITECT THE AIA MAGAZINE JULY 2014 WWW.ARCHITECTMAGAZINE.COM
DETAIL
IN THE FOLD
FOR SINGAPORE’S NATIONAL DESIGN CENTER, SCDA ARCHITECTS CRAFTED AN ALUMINUM-
MESH SKIN TO BOOST THE LOOK AND PERFORMANCE OF THE EXISTING SPACE.
Pleated mesh screens by SCDA Architects clad the ceiling of the auditorium, which was formerly a chapel.
Text by Shonquis Moreno
SINGAPORE’S NATIONAL Design Center is finally
living up to its name. In the city-state’s cultural
district of Bras Basah Bugis, SCDA Architects
recently restored and converted a group of three
prewar Art Deco buildings and one postwar
modern building that now serves as the home
of the center, which is a promoter and incubator
of the region’s burgeoning design culture.
Once a convent school, the complex has
been adapted to contain lecture rooms and
galleries, offices, classrooms, and basic design
and prototyping facilities. One of the most
poetic displays of complexity spans the breadth
of the formal, 46-foot-by-30-foot chapel, which
SCDA founder Soo K. Chan, Intl. Assoc. AIA,
turned into an auditorium. Above visitors’
heads, a creased aluminum-mesh skin envelops
the chapel’s 29.5-foot-tall ceiling, providing
visual interest that is simultaneously sculptural,
industrial, and abstracted.
The pleated mesh panels fold together like
an origami screen. The triangular surfaces dip
and rise almost 2 feet, framing historical details
such as the restored religious reliefs that ring
the upper walls and former altar, and hiding the
mechanical, electrical, and audiovisual services.
Chan and his team designed the ceiling
using Trimble SketchUp, Autodesk 3ds Max,
AutoCAD, and other programs. Extensive on-site
discussions and adjustments were required to
ensure the mesh would fit the existing building
like a glove. The screens anchor into a steel
portal frame, which is subsequently bolted
to concrete ceiling beams. The connectors
allow the screens, which are also pinned to
each other, to move as the building settles
AARON PEACCOK