3 new housing locations to be green havens

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3 new housing locations to be green havens

Published on Sep 10, 2014 1:05 AM

By Yeo Sam Jo


THE first public housing projects in the upcoming Tampines North, Bidadari and Punggol Northshore areas are set to feature a range of green initiatives.

Aside from heavily landscaped facilities such as roof gardens, the Build-To-Order projects will boast technologically advanced and eco-friendly features such as air-pressure waste systems.

"Intelligent" carpark monitoring systems will also be installed at the four pioneer precincts in Punggol Northshore.

These automatic systems reserve space for residents by adjusting the number of parking spaces available to visitors, depending on the time of day.

The roofs of these seafront blocks of flats, which face the Johor Strait, will be designed to allow installations of solar panels.

Common areas will have sensors that can reduce energy usage by dimming the lights when human traffic is low.

More than 3,000 units in blocks as high as 26 storeys will be launched by the Housing Board next year in Punggol Northshore.

Among other amenities will be a shopping centre, a two-storey walkway connecting the nearby Samudera LRT station to the waterfront, and a dragonfly pond in the middle of the area.

At the first housing precinct in Bidadari, which will also be launched next year, residents in more than 1,000 units can look forward to walkways flanked by greenery, shops and eating houses. They will also get views of a man-made lake and a new park from blocks as tall as 18 storeys.

Those living in the first Tampines North precinct will have a park as an entrance, with resting pavilions shaped like sand piles, drawing inspiration from the area's history of sand quarries.

More than 1,500 units, in blocks spanning 14 to 16 storeys, will be launched in November this year. Every block will come with a "living room" where residents can mingle amid landscaped greenery on the ground floor.

Bridges in Bidadari and Tampines North will connect garden decks and different blocks across roads.

All the new precincts will also come with air-pressure or pneumatic waste systems to reduce the manpower and trucks needed for refuse collection.

Property analysts believe each of these locations will be popular for different reasons.

"Bidadari has been touted to be the next Bishan. It's near to town and is considered city-fringe housing," said ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim. "Tampines North is close to the Tampines regional centre, so it will enjoy the amenities of a mature estate."

Ms Nicole Tan, 23, who is unemployed and plans to apply for a Tampines North flat with her boyfriend, said: "It's a five- minute drive from Tampines Avenue 1, where my parents live. It will be so convenient to visit them."

PropNex Realty chief executive Mohamed Ismail Gafoor said that Punggol Northshore will be a hit with those looking for a waterfront lifestyle and activities.

"It will probably be the cheapest waterfront housing you can get," said Mr Lim, adding that the distance from the city centre will be less of a concern. "Those who buy flats in Punggol see it as a self-contained town. It will be bustling like Tampines in years to come."

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Published September 10, 2014

HDB details plans for three new housing districts

They are Punggol Northshore, and first precincts in Bidadari and Tampines North

By lee meixian

[email protected] @LeeMeixianBT


THE Housing and Development Board (HDB) on Tuesday unveiled detailed plans for the first housing projects in Bidadari and Tampines North, as well as for Punggol Northshore - one of seven new waterfront housing districts in Punggol.

Punggol's Northshore District will be the next one to be developed after the Matilda District. It will offer about 6,000 new flats, with the first project slated to be launched in 2015.

New technologies will be employed to make the district "smart and sustainable". In fact, Northshore will be the first district to test-bed smart technologies in public housing.

It will feature intelligent car parks (which automatically increase the number of available lots during non-peak hours for visitors, as residents with season parking tickets are out in the day), smart lighting (lighting with sensors which will be reduced in common areas with little or no human traffic detected), and smart waste management (whose sensors will monitor waste disposal patterns before the data is analysed to optimise the deployment of resources needed for waste collection).

The smart waste management system will also be set up in the first housing precincts in Bidadari and Tampines North.

The Northshore District will also have varied building heights to capitalise on the sea views and a seafront commercial centre. Its blocks will also be installed with solar ready roofs.

HDB's first public housing project in Bidadari will be in the Alkaff neighbourhood, and will be launched in 2015. It will feature community malls, garden courtyards, a verandah for recreational and community events, roof gardens and community terraces atop the multi-storey car parks and selected residential blocks.

As for Tampines North, the Park West District will be the first to be developed, comprising 1,500 flats. It will be launched in November this year. In fact, the four housing districts in Tampines North will be designed around a "leaf" concept, like an extension or "green shoot" of Tampines Town, each with its own comprehensive network of green spaces, HDB said.