Solving Large-Scale Nature Integration Challenges: Multi-System Greening at Punggol Digital District

Punggol Digital District (PDD) is a 50-hectare integrated business park designed to support Singapore’s growing digital economy, bringing together industries such as cybersecurity, smart technologies, and advanced manufacturing within a highly connected environment. But look beyond the digital infrastructure, and you’ll see a district where greenery plays a fundamental role in shaping the built environment.

GWS Living Art was appointed as the Green Infrastructure Specialist for the project, delivering a comprehensive network of green roofs, vertical greenery, and living facade systems across both PDD and the adjacent Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) campus.

This marks one of our most ambitious and technically diverse installations yet, involving over 1,800 m² of integrated green infrastructure and marking the company’s first large-scale deployment of in-house fabricated structural systems.

Scope of Work: Building Upwards

GWS Living Art delivered a full spectrum of nature-based solutions across the development through the integration of three primary systems:

• – GaiaMat Green Roof System (1,200 m²)
  Installed across sky gardens, linkway roofs, and elevated landscape areas throughout PDD and the SIT campus.
• – GaiaWall Vertical Green System (308 m²)
  Installed across key building facades to provide continuous vegetated surfaces with minimal maintenance requirements.
• – Custom Climber Mesh System (300 m²)
  Distributed across 22 indoor and outdoor zones to form living facades and transitional green spaces.

Beyond the greening systems themselves, GWS Living Art undertook the design, engineering, fabrication, and installation of supporting structural elements. Approximately 180 tonnes of structural steelwork were designed and fabricated in-house to support green roof assemblies and custom mesh systems.

This expansion into integrated metalworks allowed us to bridge the gap between heavy structural engineering and delicate horticultural design.

Objectives: Growing for Biodiversity and Ecology of Punggol

Despite its role as a high-tech innovation district, Punggol Digital District was guided by a strong sustainability agenda that emphasised ecological integration and long-term environmental performance.

A key objective was to seamlessly incorporate green infrastructure into a dense built environment, integrating greenery into roofs, linkways, and building facades without compromising structural performance or accessibility. The project also sought to support biodiversity and ecological function through naturalistic planting strategies that create habitat value and ecological continuity with the surrounding Punggol landscape.

Given the scale of the development, systems were designed with long-term maintainability in mind, prioritising durability, accessibility, and operational efficiency through automated irrigation and robust structural assemblies. All greening systems were carefully developed to align with the architectural intent of the project while ensuring technical reliability and sustained environmental performance.

Project Highlights

Engineered Green Roof Systems for Singapore’s Climate

All green roof installations were delivered using our GaiaMat system, supported by purpose-built steel structures designed specifically for vegetated assemblies.

Unlike conventional roofing solutions, flat-finished structural assemblies were engineered to integrate seamlessly with the architectural design while supporting saturated substrate loads under tropical rainfall conditions.

The GaiaMat system provides a multi-layered assembly capable of retaining up to 25.8 L/m² of water, contributing to distributed stormwater management and reducing peak runoff.

The system also demonstrated adaptability through its use in triangular planter configurations at the SIT campus, where GaiaMat was reconfigured to suit non-standard geometries without compromising plant performance.

Intentional Designed Living Facades and Vertical Greenery for Low Maintenance

GaiaWall installations achieved dense vegetative coverage through carefully selected epiphytic species arranged in layered planting compositions.

Wave-like planting patterns created visual rhythm across the facade while maintaining a naturalistic appearance aligned with the district’s architectural vision.

Maintenance requirements have remained low following establishment, validating the system’s operational efficiency.

Custom Climber Mesh Systems for Optimised Plant Development

Custom climber mesh installations created a distributed network of living facades across 22 indoor and outdoor zones.

The mesh systems extend between 4 and 7 metres in height and were designed with optimized aperture sizing and material selection to support effective plant attachment and canopy development.

Intermediate planting platforms were incorporated into taller installations to improve maintenance accessibility and planting density.

A light grey finish was specified to reduce solar heat absorption and improve plant microclimatic conditions.

In-House Fabrication Capabilities

Punggol Digital District marked GWS Living Art’s first major deployment of in-house fabricated structural systems.

Approximately 180 tonnes of steelwork were designed, manufactured, and installed to support green roof structures and climber mesh assemblies.

This integration of structural engineering with horticultural expertise expands on GWS Living Art’s technical capabilities and enables precise alignment between architectural intent and green infrastructure performance.

Lessons from PDD: Engineering at scale

Building at this scale is a constant learning process between us and our client partners. These experiences provided valuable insights that continue to inform our approach to large-scale green infrastructure.

Sealing the Gaps

Integrating 308m² of GaiaWall meant navigating the delicate balance between structural anchors and waterproofing. We didn’t just bolt things on, we re-engineered the interface to ensure a leak-proof finish that lasts for decades.

The Indoor-Outdoor Performance Gap

Certain climbing species showed reduced growth at lower elevations where light availability was limited despite the use of supplementary grow lighting. Outdoor installations demonstrated more consistent coverage across all elevations. These findings highlighted the importance of species selection and lighting design in enclosed environments.

The Challenge of Indoor Air

Without the natural “wash” of Singapore’s rainfall, we observed dust building up on the leaves of our indoor climbers. This fine layer acted like a filter, reducing photosynthetic efficiency and slowing the plants’ growth.

This has been a key takeaway in building with and around nature: in high-traffic enclosed spaces, nature needs a helping hand. In this case, in the form of automated misting systems to keep the foliage clean and breathing easy.

Scaling Nature-Based Solutions Across an Entire Innovation District

Punggol Digital District is a major milestone for GWS Living Art, proving that nature and high-tech industry can thrive together. By delivering 1,200 m² of GaiaMat green roofs, 308 m² of GaiaWall, and 300 m² of climber mesh, we have created a cohesive, living network across the PDD and SIT campus.

This project also marked a pivotal expansion for us: integrating in-house metal fabrication and structural engineering to deliver architecturally seamless, purpose-built greening solutions. The technical insights gained at PDD now serve as our blueprint for future projects, demonstrating that even the densest urban environments can support biodiversity and long-term sustainability.

If you’d like to learn more about our approach to green engineering and nature-based solutions, get in touch with us at hello@gwslivingart.com.