2014

Education & Culture, Waterfront, Research, Boutique scale, Retail, Sustainbility

The Solar Orchid is a conceptual floating hawker centre designed for Singapore’s waterways, with the potential for implementation in other suitable locations. Singapore was built on an intimate relationship with the water, but the cities development over recent decades has largely severed this connection, SPARK’s Solar Orchid seeks to help reconnect Singapore with it waterfront. The Solar Orchid is a self-contained, solar-powered reinvention of the original Singaporean mobile street hawker. The Solar Orchid accommodates cooking stalls with built-in exhaust, water, gas, electrical, waste collection and water recycling services. The protective canopy is energy-generating ETFE with thin-film photovoltaic cells. It complements the $11 million Singaporean Government initiative to develop floating solar islands in Singapore’s reservoirs. The Solar Orchid can be clustered in various formations to create destinations that can respond to different locations and conditions. The Solar Orchid presents a new and culturally relevant interface with Singapore’s waterways that provides a platform for the presentation of the rich and diverse hawker cuisine to a new audience.