Sentosa Sensoryscape / Serie Architects + Multiply Architects

Architects: Multiply Architects, Serie Architects
Area: 13089 m²
Year: 2024
Photographs: Finbarr Fallon / Sentosa Development Corporation
Landscape Architect: Coen Design International
Lighting Designer: Lighting Planners Associates Singapore
Structural Engineer: AECOM
MEP Engineer: AECOM
Greenmark Consultant: Building System and Diagnostics Pte Ltd (BSD)
Traffic Consultants: BECA
Structural Concept: AKT
Executive Architect: Axis Architects & Planners
Client: Sentosa Development Corporation
Safety: PH Consulting Pte Ltd
Signage: Acacia Design Consultants Pte Ltd
Schematic Design: AKT
Country: Singapore

Sentosa Sensoryscape, designed by Serie Architects and Multiply Architects, is a 350-meter multi-sensory walkway on Sentosa Island, Singapore, forming the first phase of a masterplan to transform Sentosa and Pulau Brani into a major leisure and tourism hub. Built along a steep ridgeline, the universally accessible corridor connects Resorts World Sentosa to Sentosa’s beaches, ensuring seamless navigation for all visitors. The design integrates hammock-like seating structures and woven basket-like pavilions, offering distinct sensory experiences while maintaining architectural cohesion. Interwoven diagrid structures allow light, nature, and views to permeate, while digital light art and augmented reality transform the spaces at night. The ‘Glow Garden’ features illuminated stalks forming a lighted promenade leading to the beach and Beach Station’s entry plaza.

Sentosa sensoryscape / serie architects + multiply architects

The Sentosa Sensoryscape is a 350-meter multi-sensory walkway on Sentosa Island, Singapore. As the first phase of a long-term masterplan aimed at transforming Sentosa and Pulau Brani into a major leisure and tourism destination, this walkway will connect Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) in the north to Sentosa’s beaches in the south. Situated along a steep and narrow ridgeline, the project is designed as a step-free, universally accessible corridor, ensuring that visitors of all abilities can move comfortably between RWS and the beachfront.

Christopher Lee, Principal of Serie Architects, describes Sentosa Sensoryscape as “an ecological walk punctuated by six unique sensory gardens.” Serving as both a connector and an attraction, the design features a two-tiered walkway, with the upper level supported by hammock-like structures that function as seating areas, adding a playful rhythm to the experience. The six sensory gardens are designed to highlight the site’s ecological diversity during both day and night. Among these, three woven basket-like pavilions offer distinct sensory experiences, each with a unique structural expression while maintaining a cohesive architectural identity.

Each sensory garden is designed for direct access from the lower walkway, presenting a unique structural challenge. To address this, the design incorporates interwoven strands forming a basket-like structure with dilated openings. Since the diagrid and its infill elements are self-similar but not identical, a parametric design was implemented. The lightweight and slender diagrid structures allow natural light, views, and greenery to filter through the space. At night, the gardens transform into surreal ridge and reef-like environments, enhanced by digital light art and augmented reality, creating an immersive visual experience.

‘Tactile Trellis’ features a large vessel structure composed of petal-like precast concrete elements. The material composition, incorporating a delicate mix of textures and aggregates, complements the diverse plant species within the garden. Seating of various sizes allows visitors to rest among the plants, while the concrete surfaces of the vessel act as a canvas for projections and an interactive light display at night. ‘Scented Sphere’ consists of concentric stalks and buds that suspend fragrant flowers, creating an immersive olfactory experience. The structure is a grid shell made of four woven steel strips, forming the stalk and bud, while the plant species are carefully selected and arranged to maintain a consistent fragrance throughout the year.

‘Symphony Streams’ showcases a polyphonic water fountain composed of over 200 acoustic water pails, where cascading water flows from pail to pail, producing a rhythmic waterfall effect with varying pitches. At the base of the structure, a circular ring-shaped pool invites visitors to interact with the flowing water. ‘Glow Garden’ is a plaza surrounded by towering illuminated stalk structures, with buds at the tips that form a glowing promenade at night, guiding visitors from Sensoryscape to the beach. At Beach Station, these stalks frame a striking entry plaza, creating a dramatic arrival experience for visitors.