Mirror, mirror, who’s the greenest-looking hotel of them all?
Above, The Pan Pacific Orchard Singapore. Left, the lobby
By Raini Hamdi, 5 June 2023
Architects WOHA envisioned the Pan Pacific Orchard Singapore as “a new prototype for high-rise tropical hospitality.”
After nearly eight years since its design inception, the product appears a model for luxury hotels in high-density cities where limited land could crimp efforts to create green habitats and/or an urban resort environment.
The building is eye-catching, and makes sustainability look appealing, a factor other hotels may want to take a leaf from.
Developed by the UOL Group, parent of Pan Pacific Hotels Group (PPHG), the amount of greenery is double the land area as trees and foliage hug the 23-story, 347-room building within and without.
The hotel has 14,000 sqm of foliage, water features and energy-saving measures including rainwater collection, solar panel technology and a bio-digester system, said a media release.
Its gross floor area is about 19,700 sqm, according to WOHA.
Tropical oasis
To overcome a limited site area and break down the scale, the design stacks four different stratas, explained WOHA, a firm based in Singapore, on its website.
The first, Forest Terrace, creates a dramatic entrance with its water plaza and cascades, edged by forest trees. It is set between Claymore Road and Claymore Drive. Mosella, a restaurant serving Mediterranean cuisine with a Peruvian twist, is located here.
Next is the Beach Terrace, offering guests a tropical oasis with meandering sandy beachfront and palm groves around an emerald lagoon, set against Orchard Road.
The third, Garden Terrace, is orientated towards the quiet residential estate of Claymore Hill. The terrace showcases a manicured garden, complete with verandah, lawn, fountains and garden. It houses the 130-seat Pacific Club Lounge and a destination bar for champagne lovers called Florette.
The fourth, Cloud Terrace, on the 18th floor, comprises a 420-seat ballroom and event lawn, surrounded by thin mirror pools and filigree planting, washed by natural light filtering through the PV roof canopy.
“The interiors are designed to reinforce the experience of each strata, offering a unique boutique-scale hotel experience. Huge living green columns with creepers visually connect the four stratas, juxtaposing against the stacked massing and lending the urban hotel a [resort] touch,” said WOHA.
Green sisters
WOHA also designed PPHG’s Parkroyal Collection Pickering in the citystate, which it said is a study of how greenery can not only be conserved in a built-up high-rise city, but multiplied in an architecturally striking, integrated and sustainable way. The hotel was completed in 2013.
More recently, in December 2020, PPHG opened the Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay, turning the former Marina Mandarin Singapore into “Singapore’s first garden-in-a-hotel.” The property has more than 2,400 plants, trees, shrubs and ground-covers from more than 60 varieties of flora spread across 1,400 sqm of space. Eco-friendly practices are applied at all these hotels.
But the latest involves the chain’s highest-tier brand, Pan Pacific. Said PPHG’s CEO, Choe Peng Sum, “With the launch of Pan Pacific Orchard, beautifully designed by WOHA, Pan Pacific Hotels Group is making our mark in Singapore’s luxury hospitality segment.” He added that “sincere service” and “graceful luxury” are the hallmarks of the chain’s luxury promise.
Marcel NA Holman, the hotel’s pre-opening general manager and the group’s vice president operations, China, Indonesia and Japan, said, “Pan Pacific Orchard is a new landmark for Singapore’s iconic Orchard Road and a showcase of our brand’s commitment to graceful luxury. Our passionate team is ready to deliver our signature sincere service and create memorable experiences to delight our guests.”
Opening rates start at $340 (S$460) excluding taxes.