A green infrastructure approach repositions the role of nature in the city from optional amenity and attractive scenery to a prized and essential supplier of ecosystem services and a platform for more vibrant communities. Thus we come face to face with a new breed of high-performance landscapes that combine ecological realities and urban infrastructural needs, forming a dynamic network of interdependent systems that animates a city. Henderson Waves is an excellent example of multifunctionality, the integration and interaction of different functions or activities on the same piece of land for efficiency and sustainability, which makes sense in land-scarce Singapore.
It has proven to be a source of valuable community benefits, from recreation and providing shade and shelter to connecting separate existing spaces, demonstrating the importance of the natural environment in decisions about land use planning.
Offering panoramic views of the city, harbor and Southern Islands, it is a good bird-watching point and especially popular with joggers, couples, families with children and photographers. It has become a landmark with which residents identify, as they have developed a relationship with the bridge. They have found a space to call their own where they can conduct activities that lead to improved health and wellbeing — relaxing on the timber seats hidden in the ribbed alcoves, enjoying the greenery, strolling on the deck, taking in the evening ambient LED lighting and crossing between Mount Faber Park and Telok Blangah Hill Park.
Based on a highly accurate mathematical model, its form is a reflection of the structure. RSP explains that the bridge is a folded three-dimensional surface created with one simple mathematical equation, which determines the form of the bridge and inflects it in all three dimensions to the extent that the surface bridge bends, undulates and ascends based on the equation.
In the process, it also deforms to provide adequate egress, sloping, shelter and scenic viewing to the south and with minimum structural column footprints to the existing rich biodiversity landscape. Every line of the mathematical surface becomes either a solid frame engineered in steel or a sloping timber board to tread or sit on and enjoy the moment. Henderson Waves was designed to blend into the surrounding landscape and to connect existing pathways and parks for natural and continuous access from both hills.
