Client: National University of Singapore
Architect: Design Architect: Erik L'Heureux FAIA with Campus Innovations Group, NUS.
Architect of Record: CPG Consultants
Façade Consultant: There was no facade consultant, facade was done by Design Architect
Façade Contractor: Bond Build Pte Ltd
Erik L’Heureux, FAIA
Professor of Architecture, Head of the Department of Architecture, Monash University
Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore
Bertrand Lasternas
Associate Director, Engineering and Technology (Sustainability Strategy Unit), University Campus Infrastructure, National University of Singapore
The Deep Veil: The Architecture of a High-Performance Equatorial Façade
The adaptive reuse of SDE1 and SDE3 at the National University of Singapore—collectively the Equatorial School of Architecture—advances a façade strategy that redefines building envelopes for equatorial performance including netzero energy operations (Figure 1). Where the conventional curtain wall is sealed and mechanically dependent, this project introduces a seven-metre-thick façade system—termed the Deep Veil—that operates simultaneously as shading device, daylighting infrastructure, maintenance access, and pedagogical surface calibrated to its urban equatorial context.
Façade Geometry and Composition
The Deep Veil projects seven metres in plan, establishing a multilayered buffer between interior and exterior. Its geometry comprises four integrated layers:
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Exterior Fireproof Veil – Rotated horizontal members of champagne-gold aluminum provide solar and glare control while permitting filtered views. The orientation of fins modulates glare from low-angle east-west sun and generates a shimmering effect that changes under shifting daylight conditions. Porosity is graduated: the upper levels are more opaque to reduce solar incidence, while lower levels are more open to frame views of the adjacent jungle canopy. This eliminates the need for internal blinds, ensuring outward views remain unobstructed. (Figure 2)
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Specular Light Shelf System – Integrated reflective light shelves, coupled with white-painted ceilings, drive daylight up to 12 metres into the interior floor plate minimizing the need for artificial illumination. (Figure 3)
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Maintenance and Fire Access Catwalks – A continuous linear accessway is concealed within the façade depth, incorporating integrated fire sprinklers and maintenance catwalks. These are structurally independent yet tied back to the existing frame, ensuring safety compliance without visual disruption.
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Operable High-Performance Glazing – The inner façade comprises double-glazed low-e units (U-value: 1.6 W/m²K; SC: 0.30) mounted in sliding assemblies. These enable daytime sealing for hybrid cooling and nighttime natural cross-ventilation.
Structural integration of the new envelope accounts for existing foundation constraints. As the original 1970s pile caps and reinforced concrete slabs could not support additional dead load, lightweight aluminum and mild steel framing were selected over heavier or combustible alternatives. (Figure 4)
Daylighting and Glare Performance
Extensive simulation and prototyping informed the façade design. Using CIE Overcast Sky conditions, daylight factors were modeled to maintain 1.0% DF (≈300 lux) for 5–6 hours daily. Glare probability simulations confirmed a target of <25% under operational conditions. 1:1 mockup assemblies validated simulation data and informed adjustments to fin orientation and reflectance.
These optimizations eliminated internal blinds while maintaining outward visibility, creating studios with uniform daylight distribution and low glare—conditions rarely achieved in equatorial curtain wall typologies or requiring extensive internal shading which negatively impacts view and natural ventilation.
Energy and Comfort Systems Integration
The façade operates in tandem with a hybrid comfort system designed with Transsolar. Cooling is set to 27°C with 100% fresh air supply. Ceiling fans generate elevated air speeds (0.6–0.8 m/s), extending the comfort range beyond conventional temperate standards.
By eliminating ductwork and ceiling plenums required for mechanical air-conditioning, 5.6 metres of vertical height was reclaimed across four floors. This additional air volume allows ceiling fans to perform efficiently while delivering significant architectural spatial gains.
Measured Energy Use Intensity (EUI) is 43 kWh/m²/year, placing the buildings among the lowest energy consumers on campus. A rooftop photovoltaic system offsets annual consumption, pushing the project into net-positive energy production.
Embodied Carbon and Lifecycle Assessment
A cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Assessment (A1–C4) calculated the façade’s contribution within an overall embodied carbon figure of 185 kgCO₂eq/m²—approximately 25% that of new construction in Singapore. Although the façade’s aluminum components account for 45% of the renovation’s embodied carbon, their recyclability dramatically improves lifecycle performance. Factoring in aluminum reuse and on-site PV offsets, façade-related embodied carbon achieves neutrality in approximately four years.
Performance as Pedagogy
Unlike curtain walls that conceal energy and structural logic, the Deep Veil makes performance legible. Chromatically, champagne-gold aluminum highlights new additions against grey 1970s concrete frames, while teak and orange accents register contemporary insertions. This layering narrates carbon accounting in material form: conservation of the old, addition of the new, and transformation of the whole. (Figure 5)
More critically, the façade functions as an atmospheric and experiential system. Rather than offering a sealed experience, it stages gradients of climate—from shaded terraces and ventilated verandahs to daylit studios—through which occupants move daily. In so doing, the deep veil teaches climate literacy through direct inhabitation, situating architectural performance within both environmental and pedagogical registers.
Conclusion
The Deep Veil demonstrates that equatorial façades need not replicate temperate envelops dependent on fossil energy. Instead, through precise integration of shading, daylighting, ventilation, and lifecycle strategies, an equatorial façade can deliver low energy intensity, low embodied carbon, and high spatial and pedagogical performance. As such, it constitutes not simply a building envelope but a replicable model for designing façade systems in a warming equatorial world.
Figure 1: 1976’s original Faculty of Architecture building with fossil fuel symbols: heavy mechanical screens, air conditioning and temperate landscaping.
Figure 2: The deep veil western facing envelope reduces glare and filters the intensity of the afternoon equatorial sun while mirroring its golden hue.
Figure 3: A 7.0m deep envelope façade that drives daylight through light shelves and mitigates solar radiation and glare.
Figure 4: The faceted canopy screen picks up the filigree of the adjacent tree canopy.
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Figure 5: Deep Veil façade in a monsoon storm with a golden color contrasting to the jungle context.
Figure 6: A meeting room portal peers out of the equatorial foliage and green wall to the entry drop off beyond.