Singapore's Incredible 160-Foot Supertree Statues | Megastructures: Gardens By The Bay | Spark

paper was light gold in medieval times i want tobacco sugar [Music] that everything we thought we knew about the world might turn out to be completely wrong singapore's gardens by the bay is unlike any other garden in the world engineers have to build two mega glass houses and control the weather within while shielding against heat radiation and tropical monsoons if the system fails that would be a disaster they have to source plants from as far afield as mexico even build unique super trees that meld concrete and steel with lush greenery if engineers succeed they will create the 21st century's new york city central park and raise the bar for future green spaces [Music] singapore is one of the world's most densely populated countries over 5 million people live in a land area smaller than new york city [Music] to make such a small and highly urbanized place livable singapore grows green lungs incredibly plants cover almost 50 of the country now the nation is embarking on one of its most ambitious greening projects to date gardens by the bay it features not one but three massive gardens the size of 177 soccer fields and just like the famous eden project in cornwall uk the gardens will contain an array of plants from around the world to create an international showcase of flora the project's most daunting challenges however are made of concrete steel and glass two vast conservatories have to display hundreds of plants and flowers for much cooler climates but how do you chill giant glass houses in one of the hottest regions in the world or design them to shield against singapore's tropical monsoon in the heart of the complex mammoth super trees form unique vertical gardens 18 towering structures up to 50 meters high will not only support plant life but also an aerial walkway and restaurant the challenge is no one has ever attempted such designs before the team behind gardens by the bay are only too aware that they face an uphill battle and the stakes are high the singapore government is paying 800 million us dollars to make the project a reality the former minister of national development has been a driving force behind the gardens this particular garden is one of those things that we hope you know can cement our status as a model sustainability of the future engineers plan to build gardens by the bay on close to 11 million square feet of prime real estate here on marina bay the fresh water reservoir is also a multi-billion dollar entertainment hub featuring the world's largest ferris wheel a state-of-the-art dam and the marina bay sands resort gardens by the bay will be another jewel in the crown landscape architect andrew grant is in charge of master planning the southern part of the project his speciality creating futuristic and sustainable buildings and environments over the last 20 years grant has spearheaded some innovative spaces in the uk for clients like rolls royce and the british government gardens by the bay will be his biggest project yet we spend a lot of time just thinking what's the core idea that's going to hold this whole thing together we thought you know the orchid is a really interesting sort of starting point because it's the the national flair of singapore it's the most cosmopolitan plant species there's over 25 000 species of orchids around the world and it seemed to me that singapore was all about that so let's let's get this melting point of things different things going on and so we started to think about how we could structure the the garden around the idea of an orchid the perths became formed by the stem system the gardens were the flowers and it suddenly all started to make sense site engineers are more worried about securing the footprint where grant will execute his vision what looks like solid ground is actually reclaimed land beneath this section of marina bay is a marine clay layer over 30 meters deep [Music] often called black toothpaste marine clay is dangerously soft and highly unstable without the right precautions it can prove fatal body of one worker confirmed in 2004 a standard excavation on an underground line for the mass rapid transit system causes a catastrophic collapse killing four workers and damaging nearby nickel highway the danger of marine clay is felt most in the southern part of the gardens [Music] marine clay could destabilize the buildings and cause severe damage [Music] geotechnical engineers study all the options before them only one indicated the best result cast in situ piling in cast in situ a borehole is first drilled past marine clay into a stronger layer in this case alluvial soil up to 60 meters deep then a prefabricated steel casing is hammered down to the same level [Applause] after a steel reinforced cage is lowered into the casing high-strength concrete is poured in to solidify the pile when the concrete is set the permanent structure supports the soil around it [Music] by constructing over a thousand cast in situ piles engineers can overcome marine clay and secure the foundation [Music] another challenge remains how to prevent the muddy construction from polluting marina bay which supplies 10 percent of the country's drinking water the quick answer use of the coastal defence wall which shields the site's 200 meter coastline [Music] made of cast in situ concrete the wall prevents soil or construction material from discharging into the bay and polluting it [Music] to ensure the wall is impenetrable to even muddy water it's covered with a silt fence the fence is made of a white poly felt material that is woven tightly enough to filter out soil particles in water [Music] to top it off engineers order a 24-hour watch on the wall for any movements or leakages there are no straightforward solutions at gardens by the bay part of what will make it a unique attraction is that 60 percent of its plants are not found in singapore many of them come from drier and cooler regions around the world like australia and europe to house them engineers will have to build two massive conservatories but how can they create and control the low temperatures needed inside on an island just north of the equator and how do you protect what are essentially fragile glass houses [Music] the one challenge facing singapore's gardens by the bay stems ironically from its prime waterfront location there are no surrounding buildings to shield some of nature's finest specimens from the intense tropics monsoon rain is just one threat facing the garden's largest structures [Applause] glass-covered conservatories when it's not pouring singapore's sweltering tropical sun will bake them killing the expensive plants inside [Music] to avoid the nightmare scenarios engineers work feverishly to devise unique solutions [Music] architect paul baker oversees the team we did a massive amount of brainstorming and group discussion and as a team we sat down and we thought as freely and as clearly as we could about the objectives and the problems we had first and foremost baker and his team need to guard the conservatory's glass domes against high winds and heavy rain the answer mimics the human body's natural defenses an intricate system of 28 steel ribs called arches will reinforce the exterior of the conservatories like the human ribcage that protects our vital organs the arches keep the glass dome safe by absorbing and deflecting strong winds another layer of ribs strengthen the glass domes themselves a network of hundreds of steel frames called grid shells bind the pieces of glass together in theory the shells help the glass resist wind pressure while preventing leakages due to rain we looked and studied a long time the shape of the grid shell we've ended up with actually a triangular section to allow minimum shadow and to increase the perception of lightness not in terms of brightness but in terms of lightness of structure we're always striving for elegant forms that give us simplicity and look effortless the solution sounds like a winner but the question on everyone's mind is will it actually work the only way to be sure is to put the design through some serious punishment over the next 48 hours engineers will place a mock-up of the conservatory facade in this large pressurized chamber and then pummel it with the elements simulated thunderstorms will test the facades waterproofing and computer-aided wind pressure will push it to the limit harold pates is the 43-year veteran engineer in charge if the system fails that would be a disaster but we are definitely sure it will not fail we are very confident in our design work during the pressure test harold constantly monitors the facade as air around the chamber reaches levels of over 200 kilograms of force per square meter the immense pressure can bend the glass and harold has to make sure that the bending is no more than 20 millimeters when you see here there will be anything happen on the pressure itself it will be stopping then we know there is some problem something is happening it comes to 300 now now we will stay for one minute then release the pressure again as the pressure increases so does harold's blood pressure the readings have to be precise or the whole plan could fall apart we have an emergency stop we will immediately release the pressure totally and then we will check on the mock-up itself what may happen in the end the mock-up passes both the rain and pressure tests but harold isn't leaving anything to chance there is one more extreme scenario for the facade to survive these men are simulating hailstones when you see from the other from the glass specification certain impact is already in the design included so if you put a stone on this or something like this it may crack it will not break [Music] the secret behind the strength of the glass can be found in one of the most common objects in the world car windscreens windscreens are made of laminated glass the type of safety glass that holds together when shattered and just like the windscreen the glass on the facade passes the test with flying colors [Music] with the experiment a success engineers can now contemplate the construction of the conservatories each building's frame will contain over 200 steel grid shells but installing is no easy task assembling the massive steel arches presents an entirely different challenge [Music] 28 of them span the conservatories and weigh a staggering 1 000 tons equivalent to 500 cars trying to lift one of these arches into place will be a near impossible task because each one measures 150 meters on top of that the delicate curves of the arches require highly accurate manufacturing techniques to find the solutions engineers hire the yongnam steelworks one of singapore's largest steel prefabrication facilities four thousand steel elements for the conservatories will be measured cut and welded to exact specifications here yongnam uses advanced 3d modeling programs to create a detailed map of each bend and twist in an arch then the diagrams with step-by-step instructions are printed for the supervisors and welders on site allowing them to pinpoint exactly how to put the complicated pieces together engineers also come up with an ingeniously practical solution to install the 150 meter long arches split each one into eight smaller segments the segments are then easier to transport and take up less space on site as each piece is finished it's trucked carefully to its destination with a police escort [Music] once on site the arch is hoisted up and prepared for its final installation the mission today is to bolt the longest of the arches into place a 22 meter giant that weighs 20 tons [Music] for the men lifting it is a nerve-wracking affair they could knock something out of place or worse damage the expensive segment beyond repair [Music] the key part of the process is to balance the arch onto temporary steel struts they will support the arch so that workers can bolt it into place joining the arch to the next one has to be accurate to the millimeter it's like gluing a model together but on a mega scale after a grueling 48 hours the segment is finally locked into place but engineers still can't breathe easy in order to complete the rest of the arches quickly and safely they realize that they have to assemble a lot more support scaffolding than is typically used and that is a problem goona sakaran is the construction manager you can see the the size of the dome and everything but we cannot simply build the domain only itself by building the so much scaffolding starting from the base to go and support the things so it will be a very big challenge a huge amount of scaffolding is not only impractical but also creates a crap and unsafe working environment to make matters worse the tight timeline means that engineers have to build the conservatory's arches grid shells and groundworks all at the same time this will inadvertently lead to massive congestion above and below ground engineers search for solutions in the end only one fits the bill crash decks they are essentially interconnected giant towers of steel columns and beams that form spacious working platforms above while creating sufficient room below to allow other construction to continue without congestion the crash decks erected at gardens by the bay will be one of the world's largest can't be happier with the decision the name came it is going to prevent the things which is going to crash down it's a supporting element in fact it is a big safety platform the plan is to simultaneously construct crash decks while installing the conservatory's arches and grid shells at the crash decks engineers use a team of cranes able to lift 300 tons to hoist the beams and columns into position [Music] the most amazing part of the process is that no welding at all is used to join the sections they are bolted together securely by hand installing platforms this high above the ground is extremely dangerous so good safety procedures can be the difference between life and death supervisor suresh ensures that the rules are sacred then i go to work in that area i use dishonest okay it's honest who part this lifeline okay this lifeline this one i hook it okay like it then i go into work the harness ensures that the workers will only fall two or three meters if an accident occurs while they hang in midair a rescue team will be dispatched to save them this stuff is there tangier very dangerous job also okay i follow the safety okay there's no no problem so now i have a 46 worker small injury any accident still no coming this way please now it's more work i have more tension point to finish i'm very happy really as engineers race against time to install the rest of the arches and grid shells landscape architect andrew grant is focusing on making the other giant structures in gardens by the bay a reality 18 super trees they will be incredibly tall up to 50 meters high like real trees they will carry life within them during the day their canopies will provide shade for visitors at night the canopy will come magically alive with colorful and specially sequenced lights but to make this wild concept a reality is easier said than done [Music] when landscape architect andrew grant first proposed the super trees it was born from a desire to create large vertical gardens to display tropical plants it will be like having an ancient rainforest in gardens by the bay but a key inspiration for his design came from a much drier climate the valley of the giants in western australia [Music] located in the walpole nornalak national park it's home to a variety of enormous eucalyptus trees some over 400 years old you go through this sort of typical sort of eucalyptus sort of forest which is about 15 20 meter high trees and you come to this little core of just the most amazing forest where the trees are 60 70 meters high and you can get it into the canopy this aerial walkway just 40 meters up in the air and it's just such a spectacular experience so i thought you know how can we do something like that at the heart of this project grant's vision is to recreate the ancient eucalyptus trees in the gardens like the real thing it will support plant life an aerial walkway and environmentally sustainable functions it will even cater for a restaurant [Music] but mother nature has had millions of years to perfect her design today's engineers have just three years to get the job done the key concern for engineers is finding an ultra fast and strong building solution for the trunks of the 18 super trees concrete will make a sturdy core material but the conventional cast in situ method is prone to constant weather delays [Music] in the end they take their cue from singapore's government constructed housing works over eighty percent of the country's citizens live in these residential flats to meet the high demand over the years the government relied on pre-cast concrete construction in pre-cast concreting blocks are produced rapidly without delays by being cast and cured indoors in a factory before being transported to site and installed engineers intend to replicate the same process to build the super trees in time edwin soh is the senior manager i've been needs the precast business uh for 20 over a year so uh it's exciting to see a different type of precaution doing right now the most important difference the super tree is the foundation so the foundation will be able to support the structures that is going up which is the trunk we are talking about and the trunk makes up of panels which will stack one part another the super trees precast concrete panels each weighing up to nine tons will be hoisted by this crawler crane [Applause] by stacking 28 of these panels so we'll be able to form the trunk of this 42 meter high super tree the biggest challenge of the hoisting procedure is to align the panels to steel continuity bars set within the walls they help to reinforce the trunk and form the backbone of the structure we cannot afford to have a one plane out of torrent so we have to align it carefully if you don't do it properly like crack the panel and once this panel is cracked we can actually use them because the structure integrity will be ever stayed affected [Music] to hoist a single panel to the top of the trunk and install it will be a two-hour mission suspended like a pendulum 40 meters in the air the 9-ton concrete panel is tricky to control even though we have gone through this lifting a few times so whenever i see the lifting i still get nervous so the wind will have some effect on the panel when doing installation by swinging here left to right so i might have to be careful now slowly the rope down so be careful it's a delicate process aligning the panel to the continuity bars like putting a thread through the eye of a needle after a tense hour of negotiating the final part of the lift the panel is safely lowered into place one super tree is now fully grown another 17 to build when you see it's being placed in final position you know they're done work it's a great job to be installed in a final position creating gigantic trees from concrete and steel make gardens by the bay truly unique but the project must also support real trees if it's to qualify as a garden that's easier said than done no matter how smart they are engineers can't grow trees overnight besides the place is literally a construction site it would be impossible to grow anything here the solution is to purchase millions of dollars worth of trees flowers and other plants not just from asia but also from around the world it's a radical idea but a logistical challenge whether they arrive by ship or by truck the plants have to be stored in their thousands in temporary nurseries near the construction site giving them time to grow and acclimatize before being permanently displayed among the mega plants transported to gardens by the bay are four 500 year old olive trees from spain transporting at night allows the wide loads plenty of room on the streets although sometimes it's still a tight fit an hour after leaving the ship these resilient old trees arrive at the nursery but enormous exotic trees are not the horticultural team's only targets local melaleuca trees or tea trees over four stories tall are being transplanted from a road work site in eastern singapore boone ghee is the national parks officer in charge basically what you're trying to do is recycling this tree and then rescue industry that will otherwise be affected by the development projects and these three are special in a sense that they are huge they have been there for almost 20 years and you will be using it for our garland's data so this is actually very very valuable stuff for us in what will be a three-month green engineering feat face the challenge of moving 16 tea trees at each tree they have to first dig a huge trench around it which detaches its roots from the surrounding soil then a waterproof tarpaulin is wrapped carefully around the root ball to protect it during transportation [Music] this tree alone this afternoon we have tooken one whole day to actually take this tree out so it's actually a lot of work a lot of planning a lot of resources involved upon reaching the site workers fasten a steel cage around it this will reinforce a new root cover which will contain a soil mix that is specially formulated for trees for boone gee getting this final mix right is always a gamble we can't prescribe a standard formula for all the trees that we transplanted the worst case scenario is after spending so much effort in bringing this tree in whether from oversea or from local another street would die so far the mortality rate is actually quite low we're actually quite happy we are talking about 10 percent out of the total number of trees that we have salvaged water and lots of sunlight will hopefully rehabilitate this tree in time but the same sunlight that is helping to keep it alive is proving to be a serious obstacle at the garden's largest structures the conservatories it's taken hundreds of workers under a year to complete the framework of the conservatories at gardens by the bay a miracle finish for such massive structures engineers will need another miracle if they are to prevent singapore's tropical sun from causing a meltdown inside the problem starts with a conservatory's designated role to exhibit cool climate plants the trouble is they are essentially glass houses typically built in cold weather places glass houses trap sunlight and heat to encourage plant growth in this case engineers have to somehow modify the process but how do you repel heat to cool a place down while still trapping the right amount of sunlight in which to grow plants i think that this particular project is all about the plants it's all about making an environment that is good for plants as well as for people so we we started from absolute basic principles we have a problem of balancing the light that's required for the plants to grow and to flourish against the heat that potentially will come into the building so our whole debate is really balancing the light and the heat baker and his team analyze idea after idea they test their concepts by building prototypes they have to find answers that will help maintain an indoor temperature as low as 16 degrees celsius while trapping 45 000 units of light or lux in the conservatories in the end they decide that the best solution is to cover the conservatory with customized state-of-the-art double-glazed glass manufacture some 3 000 pieces of glass each one weighing up to 350 kilograms to fill one conservatory [Music] every piece is shipped from china and comes with a hefty price tag [Music] no one wants to drop the expensive hardware the magic of the glass is invisible to the naked eye but can be found on its surface and within it [Music] one of its main components is metal oxide engineers found that by adjusting the metal oxide content to just a few microns thick they can achieve the right amount of light transmission into the building they then finish the inner surface of the glass with a low emissive or low e coating emissivity refers to the ability of glass to reflect or absorb heat [Music] so they have effectively turned each piece of glass into a mirror that controls the light passing through it but high-tech glass alone isn't going to give engineers the control they seek over the elements singapore has got a constantly changing climate so to have a static envelope would not be logical the logic that we pursued and the most sustainable story is to allow an envelope that is constantly changing so what can engineers add to the conservatory that will give it the power to respond to climate changes computerized sunshades [Music] located above the glass they work like the sails of a boat as the sun passes over the conservatory particularly at noon when it feels hottest temperature-sensitive cells beneath the glass trigger it to roll out on a cloudy or rainy day the shades will sense the change and automatically retract maintaining cool temperatures in the conservatory 24 7. even though engineers have armed the conservatories with advanced glass and shading technology their mission to cool them still isn't complete the buildings will need mega chillers in order to take temperatures down to as low as 16 degrees celsius and the singapore government isn't satisfied with using conventional cooling technology they want an energy efficient solution to set a new benchmark in sustainability right from the start our brief to the engineers was the energy consumption in this place cannot be more than what an ordinary office building would host a simple problem has quickly become an ambitious target that engineers have no choice but to meet engineers at gardens by the bay are on a tight schedule to cool the conservatories in an eco-friendly way there is no one simple story it's incredibly complex we've done conservatories elsewhere in the world here to do it sustainably was the biggest challenge [Music] the team quickly reassessed their problem outside temperatures in singapore often soar above 30 degrees celsius the air conditioning in the conservatories must somehow reduce temperatures inside to as low as 16 degrees celsius on top of that they also have to ensure they don't use more power than a standard office block it's an unconventional order it's been a key part of the story climate engineer patrick bellew has an unconventional idea you know what you're looking at when you when you have a climate like singapore is how do you make buildings more energy efficient and what you have here is lots of heat how do you make heat how do you turn heat into cooling solution the liquid desiccant cooling system essentially a dehumidifying system it contains a concentrated solution of lithium bromide dissolved in water this is sprayed into hot and humid air drawn in from outside to absorb its moisture the dry air then passes over a cooling coil before being pumped to the conservatories as chilled air when you buy a electronic gadget in a shop or a handbag or a pair of shoes you always find a little sachet of desiccant in the bottom that's a solid desiccant that is a material that absorbs moisture and that takes the moisture out of the air and reduces it from 90 humidity to 30 humidity we can then cool it down using a lot less energy that solves the cooling problem but engineers want to make it even more energy efficient they discover that the answer lies within what singapore already has in abundance trees the country's national parks board is responsible for three million of them they generate thousands of tons of garden pruning a month what if this massive amount of garden pruning is not discarded as waste but recycled to produce fuel to generate [Music] electricity this is the biomass generator a smaller version will be built at gardens by the bay [Music] what they do here every month is to take those thousands of tons of prunings and chip them into manageable sizes these wood chips become fuel for the huge boilers to burn which produces steam [Music] the steam drives a turbine which then generates electricity to power the conservatory's chillers [Music] even waste heat from the turbine is recycled the generator directs it to a heat exchanger which transfers more steam and ultimately more electricity the entire process is called the cogeneration system we've come up with an energy strategy for the whole project which is based around waste materials so in fact the the power that's generated on the site the cooling and the hot water is all done using waste waste wood but the engineer's work doesn't stop here the co-generation system creates other types of waste other than heat that have to be dealt with wood ash is recycled into fertilizer smoke is also treated into barely visible gas however standard factory chimneys exhaling gas at gardens by the bay will be unacceptable only one structure on site can properly disguise a chimney a super tree engineers have chosen this 37 meter behemoth to contain a chimney stack made of carbon steel it sounds like a relatively simple plan but it will take 35 men and three cranes to complete the lift the team has to lift the 18 ton stack vertically 80 meters into the air before slowly lowering it into the tree is the project director the lifting and the insertion of this chimney into the super tree is probably one of the toughest work for this empire project here for such a dangerous operation it will not take long engineers estimate that if all goes well it will be all over in just two hours during the procedure changes in wind speed are constantly monitored [Music] even a small puff of wind requires swift action by the ground crew two men with good head for heights are lifted 37 meters up to the canopy their job will be to guide the stack gently into the chimney the men keep a careful watch as do the ground crew below there are just millimeters of room around the opening in just under two hours one tastefully hidden chimney stack is now in its final position with the last hurdle out of the way engineers concentrate on putting the finishing touches to the super trees plants that have sat in the nursery for months find their final resting place attached to the trunks of the super trees and workers hanging 13 stories in the air give the conservatories a thorough cleaning [Music] the team behind one of the world's most remarkable gardens [Music] has truly defied engineering logic they've created exciting sustainable technologies tamed unstable ground [Music] and are well on their way to building a unique mega structure [Music] the man who helped kickstart the project he's only too pleased to give his thanks and lend a hand with the last piece of glass at the conservatories it really is something which i think everybody is responsible for from the time we mooted the idea bringing the various planners together the various experts together and then now to see it really beginning to take shape i i think it's tremendously satisfying those involved can't quite believe that it's almost all over this is a really exciting stage i mean for me to come and see you know the the site you know from drawings where you've done 3d fly through computer models and then suddenly come and see that [Music] we always are looking for new things to do but this is this is as good as it gets in many ways the buzz the thrill you get looking down on this amazing creation and to have been a part of it it's just been a real honour and it's been great fun as well [Applause] gardens by the bay a mega structure unlike any other where cutting edge engineering meets the green designs of tomorrow [Music] you

Channel: Spark

Views: 161,989

Keywords: Ambitious project, Botany, Climate mitigation, Conservation challenges, Earth, Ecological balance, Engineering, Environmental awareness, Environmental solutions, Green initiatives, Green roofs, Green technology, Landscape design, Landscaping, Plant diversity, Public spaces, Spark, Technology, Urban gardening, Urban resilience, Urbanisation

Id: 7n6b7Eis1HM

Length: 50min 29sec (3029 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 21 2021