Bayfront Pavilion: A Masterpiece of Computational Design

Thomas Schroepfer's AAL Team Transforms Public Spaces with Environmental and Structural Optimisation

Thomas Schroepfer drew inspiration for the Pavilion from the environmentally comfortable and visually beautiful experience of walking under the foliage of lush trees in the tropics. This idea was translated into a design with a clear mathematical logic that was determined by extensive environmental simulations and structural optimisations. The analyses and their application to a detailed computational model led to an optimum solution for the structural form and pattern of the Pavilion, minimising material usage and the embodied carbon footprint.

The Bayfront Pavilion, also known as The Future of Us Pavilion, follows the tradition of architectural structures that evoke a dialogue with nature. Its intricate form, made of a perforated skin, blends fluidly with the adjacent environments. The Pavilion incorporates 11,000 unique perforated aluminium panels, 12040 bolts, 11188 plates, and 4620 elements for the main structure. The shell that has a thickness of 20 centimetres spans about 50 metres and covers an area of about 2000 square metres.

Integration between digital and construction technologies, along with building processes, allowed for the rapid production of a large number of individual elements that make up the complex freeform structure of the Pavilion. Its primary structure is made from steel, while the inner and outer skin of the shell consist of triangular aluminium panels of varying size and perforation, fabricated with laser cutting machines.

Originally built to house The Future of Us, the fiftieth anniversary capstone event of Singapore, and completed for its current purpose in 2019, the project has become a permanent landmark in Gardens by the Bay. It continues to serve as a public space and venue for community and cultural events. The Pavilion's design is based on ideas beautifully translated into a contemporary aesthetic and functional form that is determined by thorough environmental analyses. An enthralling vision for a garden of the future is thus encapsulated.

The project faced several challenges, including the need for an optimum solution for the structural form and pattern of the project. This was achieved with an algorithm based on triangulation, which allowed each panel to be filled as required by the assigned environmental performance up to a level that is almost solid. The use of advanced design and fabrication methods throughout the project allowed for the prefabrication of most of its parts and the efficient, cost-effective, and accurate construction of its geometrically complex form.

The Bayfront Pavilion was awarded Platinum in A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award in 2021. This award recognises world-class, exceptional, and highly innovative designs that showcase unmatched professionalism, genius, and contribute to societal wellbeing. It is awarded to the defining aesthetics of an era, advancing the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology, exhibiting transcendent excellence and making the world a better place.