Singapore Pavilion, Expo 2020, Dubai

The Singapore Pavilion at the 2020 World EXPO in Dubai integrated landscaping into its design, showing that the built environment does not need to displace nature. With its theme of ‘Nature, Nurture, Future’, the Pavilion encapsulated Singapore’s story of overcoming its physical limitations as a small island city-state and adapting itself to become a liveable and biophilic city of the future.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) led Singapore’s participation in EXPO 2020 Dubai, coordinating and collaborating with partners from the public and private sectors to realise the Singapore Pavilion.

Located in the EXPO’s Sustainability District, the Pavilion created an oasis of lush trees, verdant shrubs and vibrant orchids in the Arabian desert. This oasis was a self-sufficient ecosystem, powered entirely by photo-voltaic panels to achieve net-zero energy and water consumption during the six months of operation with management of energy and desalination of ground water.

The Singapore Pavilion occupied a 1,550 square-metre site within the Sustainability District of the 4.38 square-kilometre EXPO 2020 site in Dubai South.

The Singapore Pavilion was designed by Singapore’s WOHA Architects with Ramboll and ASG Engineering Consultants providing the structural engineering support.

The superstructure is conceived as a bold expression of the base architecture. Three cone-like elements are arranged linearly along the centreline of the site to invite visitors in. The three cones are capped at the top with the marketplace floor, which is reached via a series of ramps and walkways through the cones at mid-height level where the exhibits are found. A dramatic tree-top experience is created as you walk through the ramps and walkways throughout the pavilion before continuing to ascend and emerge into the marketplace level via a coiled spiral within Cone 1.

The creative vision for the Singapore Pavilion was that of a dense, multi-layered three-dimensional greening space – a city that is set in a garden.

The project was one of six projects awarded the President*s Design Award 2023 Design of the Year for making a significant difference through one or more of four impact areas: enabling economic transformation; raising quality of life; advancing Singapore brand, culture and community; and making ground-breaking achievements in design. The Singapore Pavilion also won a Gold Award presented to the best pavilions at EXPO2020.