16. November 2017
Mid-wipe screenshot showing WOHA's Oasia Hotel Downtown in 2017 (left) and two years earlier (right)
Some recent video footage shot by Keith Loutit shows the phenomenal growth of the creepers taking over the red metal facade of WOHA's Oasia Hotel Downtown in Singapore.
Although Oasia Hotel Downtown was completed in April 2016, the 21 species of creepers in nearly 1,800 planter boxes were installed about six months before that. So the plants have had a solid two years to grow and, according to WOHA's Richard Hassell and Wong Mun Summ during a talk they gave at the World Architecture Festival this morning, now cover nearly 75% of the 25,490 m2 facade. As the plants grow they take over the intentionally contrasting red facade, but as the duo further explained, as plants die some of the facade’s five shades of red show through again, turning the facade into a barometer of the greenery’s health and its ability to clean downtown Singapore’s air.
Here is a half-minute video showing two years of plant growth. Per Loutit, "These sequences are part of a larger time-lapse project, comprising over 30 site visits, that when completed will reveal continuous growth as plants cover the tower’s facade."
And for the sake of comparison, here is Loutit's time-lapse video from September 2016 showing the first year's growth: