SCDA × NTU COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH

After a series of discussions in Singapore, SCDA Lab will be embarking on a Research × Build collaboration with the Nanyang Technological Institute (NTU) School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, SMAE. With the goal of further developing the architecture of off-grid spaces and dwellings for living, various possible collaborative research opportunities were shared, which will pair SCDA’s design and construction expertise with NTU’s technological and research capability to realize built prototypes in the coming year:

Sustainable, Zero Energy building

Experimenting with the modularity and portability of small-scale dwelling units, and developing intelligent Model Predictive Control (MPC) to achieve energy efficiency and occupant comfort.

Passive Cooling and Ventilation

To develop in-house Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis capability, explore cutting edge materials and technology for deployment in the immediate future, including passive radiative cooling of building facades, and zero-energy cooling systems, and CFD Analysis of Macro- and Micro environments for natural ventilation.

3D-Printed Construction

Investigation into the scale, materiality and ease of implementation of 3d-printed technologies for construction and building use.

Construction Robotics

To explore the available technologies, and test the scales of operation of Robot-integrated building design.

SOORI is sister company to SCDA and specializes in the development and management of hotels and residences across the world. In development presently is The Tenda, an ecologically empathetic hotel that empowers travelers with new ways of thinking and creates responsible and meaningful experiences. The diverse palette of projects and developments across the world fronted by SCDA and SOORI provides a testbed for prototypes and technologies necessary for the SCDA × NTU collaboration that could be consequently applied to real projects and architectures.

This collaboration aims to catalyze the development of leading-edge technologies, or new industry sectors in Singapore; create the potential to scale up, or to cut across different industry clusters; and to generate economic and health-related impact in a time period of three to five years. Without a doubt, there is huge potential to create novel products and services, with the possibility of shaping public policies and practices to impact lives and create new niche industries and subsequently, jobs.