The School of Design and Environment 4 (SDE4) is an inventive educational piece of architecture developed by the School of Design and Environment at the National University of Singapore, the institutional organization that promotes design, sustainability, and education in South East Asia. SDE4 is the first new-build net-zero energy building in Singapore and it is designed as a 8,588 square-meter, six-story, multi-disciplinary space by Serie + Multiply Architects with Surbana Jurong. Located on a hillock along Clementi Road near the southern coastline of Singapore, SDE4 is a new addition to the Design & Environment precinct and it is part of a larger campus redevelopment. The climate-responsive building includes more than 1,500 square meters of design studio space, a 500 square-meter open plaza; a wide variety of public and social spaces; workshops and research centers; a new cafe and a library.

SDE4 upholds key tenets of tropical design in its climate-responsive architectural form and spatial layout optimized for natural ventilation interspersed with thermal buffers/social spaces and landscaped balconies. A large overhanging roof hosts more than 1200 photovoltaic (PV) panels to harness solar energy to meet the energy demands of the building.

 ◆ NUS School of Design & Environment / Serie Architects + Multiply Architects + Surbana Jurong