This is a residential high-rise in the tropics - with a difference. Instead of relying on mechanical systems for climate control, it borrows low energy strategies from vernacular housing. The traditional monsoon window, a horizontal opening that lets in the breeze but not the rain, is incorporated into the design of a 28-storey block to address the challenges of a tropical climate. Orientation, internal planning, overhangs, cross-ventilation, shading and perforation are all reapplied here in a contemporary manner.

The sometimes conflicting requirements of site, climate, technology, building regulations, developer and users were all taken into account and incorporated into a set of strategic guidelines that were used to develop the design at all levels. A modular system regulates all the architectural dimensioning, from floor-to-floor heights down to the smallest details. And instead of treating the occupants as identical consumers, the design allows for variation in both the plan and the facade, expressing individuality through recombining different arrangements of overhangs, monsoon windows and screens giving a strong variety to the units and the facade.

Within the constraints of a developer-driven brief, the building establishes a distinctive urban presence while providing privacy and comfort to the people who inhabit it.