The Interlace, a series of apartment buildings in Singapore designed by OMA/Ole Scheeran, has been named World Building of the Year. The winner was announced at the World Architecture Festival in Singapore.

 

The Interlace consists of separate apartment buildings that are stacked to create terraces and gardens. When the project was announced as a category winner on Wednesday, judges said they selected it for its “radical and alternative approach” to contemporary living in a tropical environment.

 

The Interlace is one of the most ambitious residential developments in Singapore’s history, generating an intricate network of living and social spaces intertwined with the natural environment. Instead of following the default typology of housing in the region – clusters of isolated towers – the vertical is turned horizontal, with 31 apartment blocks, each six stories tall and 70 meters long. Stacked in hexagonal arrangements around eight large-scale open permeable courtyards, the scheme creates a network of internal and external environments that create a multitude of shared and private outdoor spaces on multiple levels.

The Interlace succeeds The Chapel community centre in Vietnam by a21 studio, which earned the distinction in 2014.

The World Architecture Festival 2015 brought together over 2,000 architects and designers to the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore for 3 days of presentations, debates and celebration. The festival’s most prestigious prize, the renowned World Building of the Year was announced at the annual gala dinner and has this year been awarded to Ole Scheeren of OMA for the Interlace in Singapore.

The World Architecture Festival 2016 will be held in Berlin during this month of November.