Joseph Koh, Executive Director and Deputy CEO (Real Estate and Leisure & Hospitality Divisions) at Koh Brothers Group, collecting the Award at the recent gala dinner.
Contributor Feature
By Nadia Willan
UPDATED: Connecting residents to healthy living and outdoor lifestyles is the wonderfully unique Westwood Residences, Singapore’s first bicycle-themed residential development with green and water-inspired features. This is a rare executive condo development within the non-HDB, landed Westwood Estate, in the sustainability-focused western regional centre of Jurong Lake District.
Renowned for creating unique lifestyle-themed residences, Koh Brothers Development in partnership with Heeton Homes are the brains behind this highly original concept. High-profile ADDP Architects put their skills to use on the development with landscaping by COEN Design International, which aims to “unearth what is hidden and cultivate…experiences that are both unique and vibrant”.
The project of 480 two- to five-bedroom units, set on a 520,000 sq ft plot with spacious yards, adopted a recreational-focused approach, leading to Westwood Residences attracting a Best Executive Condo Landscape Architectural Design win at the 8th annual PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Singapore) in October 2018.
The BCA Green Mark certified District 22 development seeks to create a relaxed oasis for city dwellers, with an emphasis on recreation for all, from youngsters to their parents and older generations too.
This year’s head judge, Lim Wenhui, partner and director at award-winning SPARK Architects, praised the cycling-inspired landscape architecture injected into the Koh Brothers and Heeton Homes project.
“Westwood Residences is designed with the savvy cyclist in mind, a truly unique bike-themed development. Unique landscape features include a BMX adventure park with a cycling track that connects the ground level to the podium roof garden,” she noted. “The development gifts every household a free bike which is stored in an impressive bike parking zone in the basement.”
As well as Singapore’s first-ever outdoor mini velodrome, with changing track gradients, there is also a kids’ traffic garden with bicycle mounds, a cycling pitstop and even a maintenance area – all of which are firsts for any residential development in Singapore.
The landscaping and softscaping are themed too, with greenery running along the perimeter of the residences while flowering and secret pocket gardens, lawns, a leisure zone and al fresco pavilion are displayed around the development, inspiring a holistic sense of relaxation for residents. Interspersed within the lush landscaping of Westwood Residences are amenities that extend activities for the resident community. These include a dining pavilion with hotplate and grill, outdoor and indoor gym, tennis court, half basketball/futsal court, kids’ playground and club house. These ensure the grounds create a practical and attractive landscape for activities and social events, along with cleverly designed spaces for solitary moments.
Along with cycling and green spaces, the outdoor architectural design weaves in impressive aqua-themed facilities for a fully immersive lifestyle landscape. This includes an Olympic-length lap pool, spa seats and hydrotherapy, water and sun decks, a kids’ pool with aqua playground and spray jets, and lounge deck for grown-ups.
Koh Brothers Development and Heeton Homes’ Westwood Residences stays true to the landscape architectural design concept of creating balance and harmony, and the results are original and dynamic.
This article is contributed by PropertyGuru Property Report, the official publication of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards.
