The structures are intended for the Marina Bay South Park, which in turn is one of the three parts of the green complex "Gardens by the Bay" with an area of 90 hectares, which has been under construction since 2007.
Since Singapore has a tropical monsoon climate, greenhouses are needed for cool-loving plants. In one of the "greenhouses" (dimensions 183 mx 130 mx 38 m), conditions will be created corresponding to the Mediterranean spring - that is, a cool and dry microclimate. In the other (dimensions 123 mx 95 mx 58 m) - an environment identical to the so-called. foggy forests, humid mountain forests of a tropical climate, where it always rains or there is a thick fog, and at night the temperature drops to 0. A 40-meter artificial mountain with the highest "interior" waterfall in the world will be built in this greenhouse.
The first challenge for the authors of the project was the problem of isolating glass and steel greenhouses from the environment - along with providing access to light. It was decided to use double glazing, and the inner surface of its outer layer was coated with a low emissivity: as a result, 65% of the light and only 35% of the sun's heat gets inside. An automatic shading system is also used, which unfolds triangular "sails" of non-woven material around the buildings.
The second challenge was to obtain in an environmentally friendly way a huge amount of fresh cool air, which is necessary to maintain the desired temperature in greenhouses. For this, a liquid desiccant will be used, absorbing excess moisture from the air and thereby eliminating the need to replace it. Then, water will be evaporated from the outside of the resulting mixture, and the scavenger will be ready for use again. The heat for the evaporation process will be provided by a biomass boiler with a capacity of 7.2 megawatts; he will also supply the greenhouses with electricity. It will be fueled by wood waste (about 5,000 tons per month), remaining after the maintenance of 3 million trees in parks and on the streets of Singapore.
The evaporated moisture will be lifted up the hoods inside six 30-meter "supertrees" of concrete and steel, located next to the greenhouses. Their trunks will support ferns, orchids and climbing plants. Another 12 similar structures will appear nearby; on their “crowns” made of steel mesh, solar collectors will be installed to heat water (it is needed to evaporate the drying agent), rainwater collection devices and solar panels. They will also maintain a bridge for visitors, and the tallest "tree" of all (55 m) will place a cafe on its top.
