Capella Hotel, Singapore Luxury Hotel Building, Sentosa Island Resort Villas

Capella Singapore : Sentosa Island Hotel

Luxury Hotel Development Southeast Asia – design by Foster + Partners Architects

6 Apr 2009

Capella Resort Sentosa Island

Design: Foster + Partners

Foster + Partners’ Capella Resort on Sentosa Island completed

Foster + Partners’ Capella Resort on Sentosa Island has opened today. Comprising a six-star hotel, villas and a centrepiece garden courtyard, the project frames two carefully restored historic colonial buildings and it follows the natural contours of the site, cascading down the tiers of the hillside as it dissolves into a 12-hectare tropical sanctuary.

The masterplan and the scale of the new elements respectfully relate to the former military Tanah Merah buildings, which dominate the overall composition and provide a gateway to the resort. Views to these buildings from the grounds are largely retained and the hotel incorporates and extends them to frame a garden courtyard. This central space anchors the scheme and establishes a strong plan. A series of further gardens, cascading pools and suites trace the contours of the hillside in a gently layered arrangement. The intention is to regain the lush planting that had formerly existed on the site, so that the buildings will eventually appear to be lost within a rich landscape.

The unassuming treatment of the exteriors allows the landscape and the historic buildings to have prominence and is counterbalanced with the creation of an interior experience that is more dramatic. The villas, for example, while extremely simple in their design, encompass dynamic double-height spaces. The hotel will feature a range of accommodation for business and leisure, a ballroom and spa. Longer-term accommodation will be provided in Villa Suites and Sea Facing Suites lower down the hillside. In addition, the resort has extensive facilities for outdoor events.

David Nelson, Head of Design said:

“Our design aims to achieve a strong sense of place, continuity and context by respecting the topography of the site and sensitively integrating the historic Tanah Merah buildings, which frame the hotel and provide a gateway to the resort. The new elements of the Capella Resort follow the natural tiers of the hill to form a subtle, layered intervention into the tropical sanctuary of the grounds.”

Capella Singapore Development

8 Mar 2009

Ultra-luxury hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa Island set to open its doors to travellers this month.

Web Structures’ highly-acclaimed “Fusion Engineering” techniques were put to work on the Foster + Partners designed Capella Hotel – the upmarket group’s new flagship in Asia.

The striking Capella Singapore development, on a 30 acre site overlooking the ocean, also contains Singapore’s first circular, glass-roofed ballroom, two restaurants, a spa, private meeting rooms, a business centre and a club lounge.

Additionally, guests will have the option to live in the hotel for extended stays in sea-facing private suites and luxury bungalows nestled in rolling hills.

The Foster design fused the contemporary with the historic, and the built elements with the tropical forest.

Lord Foster said: “Capella Singapore is seamlessly integrated with the beauty of its natural setting and the three remarkable historic buildings on the site.”

Foster & Partners called in Web Structures to help deliver its vision. The firm is a pioneer of “Fusion Engineering” – using cost efficiencies to redefine engineering excellence through true innovation and design – enabling groundbreaking architecture to become building reality.

Web Structures’ team had to use all its expertise and innovation on the project, which blended the old with the new and included constructing a new development right alongside the old colonial buildings.

Another delicate part of the plan was the creation of a three-storey basement on the site, with no retaining walls.

Dr Hossein Rezai-Jorabi, Web Structures group director, said his firm had successfully risen to “many challenges” during the project.

He said: “The engineering challenges were numerous and varied, from the three storey basement, built on a site immediately next to the existing conservation buildings, to the large span ballroom.

“We also had to meet the challenges of the design and construction of the many different components of the resort on the steep slopes of the hilly site.

“Foster + Partners retained the existing colonial buildings which were on the site, and integrated these into the design in a manner that celebrated the characters of these buildings.

“That involved very delicate work, but using our techniques the new build now sits side by side with those historic buildings.

“Web Structures expertise is in creating high-quality engineering answers and we have had to use all our experience to deliver the solutions demanded both of our clients and the challenging location.”

The Capella project is the second major international leisure development Web Structures has successfully completed in recent months.

The group has just finished a complex three year project for holiday resort group Four Seasons at its luxury new development in Seychelles.

Web Structures’ team of experts used its expertise on the island of Mahe, working to protect and preserve the fragile local environment.

The development is in a sensitive site at Petite Anse, stretching from a coral beach to tropical hillsides and rock outcrops.

Web Structures is an internationally-acclaimed civil, structural and geotechnical engineering consultancy delivering innovative solutions across the globe.

Founded in 1996 with a staff of two, today Web Structures has a 60-strong team of talented experts working from offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, London and Shanghai.

Web Structures’ diverse portfolio includes work on award-winning suspension bridges, luxury resort hotels, residential skyscrapers and complex commercial and industrial projects.

The practice is currently collaborating on cutting-edge developments globally – the Far East and China, the Gulf, Europe, Africa and North America – with Foster & Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects, Conran & Partners, Sir Terence Conran’s architecture and design practice and Adjaye Associates.

For more information about Web Structures and its projects across the globe log onto www.webstruc.net

Location: Sentosa Island