Architects: Safdie Architects
Area: 130000 ft²
Year: 2015
Photographs: Edward Hendricks, Jonathan Choe, Safdie Architects
Landscape Architect: Coen + Partners
Executive Landscape Architect: Coen Design International, Pte Ltd Singapore
Mechanical & Electrical Engineer: Squire Mech Pte Ltd
Architect In Charge: Charu Kokate, Jaron Lubin, Greg Reaves
Design Team: Howard Bloom, Chris Guignon, Jennifer Hardy, Dan Lee, Damon Sidel, Temple Simpson
Executive Architect: DCA Architects Pte Ltd
Structural Engineers: RSP Architects Planners & Engineers Pte Ltd
Awards: Best Urban Habitat, Best Highrise Building, Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, Finalist, 2016
Client: CapitaLand
Country: Singapore

Sky Habitat, a 38-story residential complex in Bishan, Singapore, designed by Safdie Architects, balances high-density living with community-focused design. The project features a three-dimensional matrix of homes with terraces, balconies, and communal gardens, integrating landscape elements throughout. The stepped towers offer multiple sun orientations, natural ventilation, and expansive views. Three sky gardens connect the towers, creating spaces for recreation and socializing while allowing breezes and daylight to permeate the building. Over 70 percent of the ground level is dedicated to lush gardens, swimming pools, and outdoor amenities. The bridges also house communal spaces, including a rooftop pool and shaded gardens, blending indoor and outdoor living.

Sky habitat singapore / safdie architects

Located in Bishan, a suburban residential area of Singapore, Sky Habitat is a 38-story residential complex that explores the balance of high-density living with humanistic principles of community, landscape, gardens, and daylight. The building’s design diverges from the typical single-tower approach by presenting a community-based solution through a three-dimensional matrix of residences. This matrix incorporates private terraces, balconies, and communal gardens, integrating landscape elements into every level while maintaining a porous skyline.

Sky habitat residential development / safdie architects

The complex’s stepped form, reminiscent of ancient hillside developments, offers multiple sun orientations, natural ventilation, and expansive views—all achieved without sacrificing planning or structural efficiency. Sky Habitat aims to counter the trend in land-scarce cities where high-density buildings often result in small living spaces, limited amenities, and restricted access to outdoor areas. Instead, it offers a wide range of amenities, including playgrounds, gardens, and communal spaces for gatherings.

Three sky gardens connect the two stepped towers, creating elevated streets, gardens, and terraces that allow breezes and daylight to penetrate deep into the building. The stepped geometry ensures that each residence has multiple orientations and private outdoor spaces, contributing to a more humane and intricate urban fabric. More than one-third of the units are positioned along these stepped edges, providing access to penthouse-like exterior roof garden terraces. Above a sunken parking podium, over 70 percent of the ground level is dedicated to lush gardens, outdoor event spaces, a tennis court, and walking paths.

The north tower flares out at its base, creating additional terraces that extend to the ground and enclosing a 15-story atrium that merges with these outdoor areas.

The bridges connecting the towers house communal spaces, ensuring all amenities are accessible to residents of both towers and reinforcing the concept of a vertical neighborhood. The garden bridge at level 14 serves as a contemplative area with water elements and seating, shaded by Bucida canopy trees. Indoor kitchens and rain-protected lounge spaces are situated next to the bridge, making it a practical extension of these amenities.

The rooftop bridge features a 40-meter lap pool that stretches across its entire length, offering breezy vantage points with unobstructed views to the east and west.

The points where the bridges connect to the towers are designed as semi-enclosed communal spaces.

The landscape design incorporates a variety of tropical plantings arranged into shaded gardens and water garden spaces. The building includes two large swimming pools: a 50-meter lap pool surrounded by palm trees, with adjacent fitness spaces and lounge areas, and a leisure pool with a shaded ‘palm island’ for children. Reflecting pools extend below the towers, seamlessly blending interior and exterior spaces. In addition to the shade provided by the building and tree plantings, the gardens offer outdoor kitchens and barbecue areas.