In March 2004 the team was commissioned to develop the urban design guidelines for the ICT media and Nepal district in the one-north master plan, a 200 hectare new economy science park in central Singapore. One-north is to be developed over the next 20 years as a major catalyst to reposition Singapore’s role in South east Asia for the 21st century.

The driving objective for planning one-north is to shape an environment for decision-making and development that will promote the construction of a lively and distinctive next-generation science park based on a vibrant mix of live, work, play and learning environments. The development of the urban design guidelines are based on the existing planning concepts of the masterplan by the London-based architect Zaha Hadid.

The challenge of this project is to address the rigours of the open market with high ambitions but still robust enough to entice developers. This is achieved through a strategic phasing strategy using the governing principle of non-contiguous growth. A spatial understanding of the realities of this strategy are defined through a set of rules and guidelines for execution by other parties. A special hybrid is invented to negotiate between the value of dense mixed use urban fabric within the economic climate of Singapore. The results of defining protect both the strictly defined streets and expressive roofscape as a powerful image.

Further, through utilising spatial voids as a design guideline to shape a new type of urban morphology, the traditional tool of GFA (Ground Floor Area) could be negotiated with the urban envelope to create a clear set of development instructions for future stakeholders.