Serie Architects and Multiply Architects have built a design school in Singapore that is net-zero and sustainable, with breezy open-air learning spaces.
The School of Design & Environment 4 (SDE4) claims to be the first new-build net-zero energy building in Singapore.  The architects described it as "a prototype of sustainable design" that combined its net-zero target with "a revalidated grammar of tropical architecture."

SDE4 provides more than 1,500 square metres of design studio space, along with an open plaza, various public spaces, workshops, research centres, a cafe and a library.
London-based Serie Architects and locally based Multiply Architects won an international competition in 2013 to design the facility, which is part of a wider redevelopment of the university's campus on Clementi Road near the southern coastline of Singapore.
The 8,500-square-metre, six-storey building for the School of Design and Environment was developed together with together with Singapore government-owned infrastructure and urban development consultancy Surbana Jurong.
Its green design is intended to reflect the school's remit to promote design, sustainability and education in southeast Asia.

A range of flexible teaching spaces promotes a variety of uses, while enhanced interaction with the rest of the campus is promoted by an open architecture that creates visual and spatial connections with the outdoors.
"One of our ambitions when we started the pro...