Roger and Stephen in Singapore: Gardens by the Bay

Thursday, 5 July 2012

Gardens by the Bay

Last Friday saw the opening of Gardens by the Bay South which is part of Singapore's new billion dollar Gardens by the Bay. Built on 101 hectares of reclaimed land, the gardens comprise of three areas - Bay East, Bay South and Bay Central. Bay East is also open and Bay Central is still being developed.
The Government hopes the gardens will become iconic like London's Hyde Park and NewYork's Central Park. The Gardens are located next to Marina Bay and can be accessed by train, bus and taxi or by a walkways from the Marina Sands complex.

Gardens By The Bay South is the largest of the three gardens and occupies 54 ha.The gardens consist of 2 conservatories - one a cool - dry climate and the other a cool -moist climate. These conservatories house over 226,000 plants.
Throughout the gardens are 18 Supertrees that are structures that have vertical gardens up the stems and the tops of the Supertrees house solar panels to harvest electricity for the gardens.The Supertrees are also connected by an aerial walkway. One of the Supertrees is also going to house a restaurant that will open latter this year.
The gardens are also themed and the themes include - Heritage Gardens and The World of Plants. Heritage Gardens celebrate the the history and culture of Singapore and include an Indian, Malay, Chinese and Colonial gardens.
The World of plants showcases the World of Palms, Secret Life of Trees, Fruits and Flowers, Discovery Gardens and the Web of Life.
Two large lakes also feature in the garden and they act as a filtration system for the runoff water from the gardens before the water is filtered back into the Marina Reservoir.