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The community mall
WHAT can be done if fewer HDB residents these days use their void decks?
Take void decks to the people, that's what - by making them more relevant to their way of living. To achieve this, the Housing Board has created a 'community mall' around a common pedestrian spine that links Buangkok MRT station and surrounding shops to the nearby housing estate.
The outdoor mall also contains a small amphitheatre and a children's playground, and is flanked on the ground floor of the apartment blocks by two rows of education centres.
The lack of space beneath the apartment blocks is made up for by the communal space created along the busy pedestrian route.
The idea behind the design is that residents on their way home from work, or waiting to pick their children up from the kindergartens, will find it a more convenient place to meet and relax with friends and neighbours.
The lack of shelter is a problem, though.
On sunny days, it is almost impossible to sit comfortably in the mall unless you arrive in the early morning or late evening.
Gardens in the sky
IT'S a long way down to ground level when you live on the 40th floor.
And, as apartment blocks get taller, housing planners are trying different ways to entice residents out of their homes and into communal space.
Mid-level sky gardens are a possible solution.
Blocks 79A to 79E, Toa Payoh, for example, are linked at the 12th storey by a 240m-long garden.
Tables and benches are scattered throughout the garden, and there are lots of nooks and corners for a quiet read or chat.
The garden is a world away from the hubbub of the Toa Payoh Central shops, and the garden has become a hit with students.
During one Straits Times visit on a weekday evening, every table was taken up by students, huddled over books and laptops, or plugged into their personal stereos.
Yusof Ishak Secondary student Jelina Rosli, 15, who was relaxing during a break with friends, gave the sky garden the thumbs up.
'The view is nice,' she says. 'Also, there are not that many people here - it's very crowded on the ground floor.'
Who needs the airport when you can study in Toa Payoh?
The environmental deck
LAND costs a lot more than it used to, so these days housing planners often have to do more with less.
Take a look at Punggol and Sengkang and you will see that the newer flats are now stacked on top of carparks which are partially underground. The roofs of these carparks double as the void decks of the apartment blocks.
And in Edgefield Plains, the lushly landscaped carpark roofs gently slope down to ground level outside the estate.
This 'environmental deck' allows residents to walk from the bus stop to their home without dodging cars parked in the basement.
There is not much free space under the apartment block any more, but you can sit at the elevated void deck and take in the view of the garden just outside.
This article was first published in The Straits Times.
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