GAD Editorial · Published · · English study · Chinese summary · Study dated 2026-10-02
Stacking several uses on one site changes more than a skyline. It determines which activities become neighbours, which routes are shared and where access must become more selective. A section can reveal these relationships more clearly than a list of programmes. Kampung Admiralty, Singapore's School of the Arts and Beijing's Linked Hybrid provide three ways to examine how vertical organisation supports contact while preserving the different requirements of each use.
Kampung Admiralty: proximity around daily needs
WOHA describes Kampung Admiralty as an integrated development combining public facilities and services on a compact site beside a railway station. Its principal layers include a community plaza, medical facilities, a roof-level community park and homes for seniors. The design makes co-location a central architectural move: activities normally dispersed across separate plots are placed in a connected arrangement. WOHA project account.
HDB's project account adds operationally useful detail, identifying eldercare, childcare, healthcare and wellness facilities, together with universal-design features. These facts explain the programme's intended convenience; they do not independently measure the quality of every resident's experience. GAD's reading is to follow an everyday journey between home, an appointment and a place to sit. Where does a change of level help bring services together, and where could it add effort? HDB project description.
School of the Arts: civic presence with a protected school
The School of the Arts combines specialist education with performance venues in a dense central-city setting. WOHA's account places auditoriums, informal performance areas and street-facing activity within the lower part of the building. Academic blocks and outdoor learning or break-out spaces belong to a more protected school environment above. The relationship allows a public cultural institution and an everyday educational setting to coexist without requiring identical access rules. WOHA project account.
This is an important comparison with a fully public plaza. Visual connection can allow the school to participate in urban life while movement remains controlled. In a drawing, distinguish where people can see one another from where they can actually cross between spaces. A shared architectural identity can accommodate those differences.
Linked Hybrid: more than one connecting level
Steven Holl Architects presents Linked Hybrid as a pedestrian-oriented development with ground-level passages and another network of connections high among the towers. Its documented skybridges contain several shared functions, while different roof spaces have different public or private roles. The project proposes a three-dimensional network rather than concentrating every encounter at the street. The architect frames openness and social interaction as design ambitions; current access and realised patterns of use require separate evidence. Architect's account.
Draw the route and its permissions
GAD's comparison method is to colour a section by user group, then mark entrances, vertical circulation and shared destinations. Check whether two adjacent uses genuinely have a convenient connection. Add the management boundary: who may enter, at what times, and with what assistance? These questions keep social aspirations connected to physical and operational choices.
Read Kampung Admiralty, the School of the Arts and Linked Hybrid through that combined lens. The comparison does not rank their social success. It identifies the evidence needed to understand how each arrangement works for the people expected to share it.