Due to the unique character of Singapore’s urbanism &#; both very dense and verdant &#; BIG pursued the design challenge as a vertical exploration of tropical urbanism, reinforcing Singapore’s reputation as a garden city. The building’s recognizable exterior façade consists of vertical elements that are pulled apart to allow glimpses into the green oases blooming from the base, core and rooftop. A dynamic interplay of orthogonal lines and lush greenery presents itself in the contrasting textures of steel and glass, interweaved with tropical vegetation.

Double height spaces create a visual connection between the different programs. The structural approach consists of concrete slabs and timber framing supporting a roof that is draping across the site in peaks and valleys. The landscape around the building provides two larger open entry plazas and a series of outdoor studios spilling out from inside, creating a gradient between softscape and hardscape around the site.

The plan identifies four thematic areas to position Oslo Science City as a leading center for innovation, knowledge-based value creation and sustainable solutions based on existing and future activities: Health and Life Sciences, incl. Norway’s largest Life Sciences building for research and teaching to be completed by and an expansion of Oslo Cancer Cluster. Climate, Energy and Environment, establishing a campus and a power center for research and innovation between the country&#;s leading research institute SINTEF, The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI), the Norwegian Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) and the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) amongst others. Digitalization and Computational Science, fostering collaborations between organizations such as the Department of Informatics (IFI) at the University of Oslo, The Norwegian Computing Center (NR), NORA – Norwegian Artificial Intelligence Research Consortium, which explores artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics, and many others; and Democracy and Inclusion where new knowledge will be developed about the threats and solutions to strengthen democracy, the role of democratic institutions in a time of technological disruption, increased economic inequality and anti-democratic forces.

The building’s tallest corner is lifted up to m in order to maximize the inflow of natural daylight as well as views towards Gärdet and the Frihamnen port for most of its units. The modules cascade down to the building’s lowest profile at just m, gradually extending the wooden development into the park. &Park appears like a gentle hillside, seamlessly blending into the nature around it.

The building’s structure is designed as a stack of two volumes, or rectangle ‘blocks’ &#; two per floor &#; with each pair rotated degrees from the floor below. On the interior, each individual volume is expressed as a rectangular wood-clad truss on the long edges, and as a floor-to-ceiling glass facade on the shorter sides. The continual rotation of each floor creates a sky-lit, central atrium at the heart of the building that provides direct views into classrooms and research spaces from all levels.