Sales Launch November 2020 BTO - Bishan Ridges

disclaimer: ​​
1. Readers are advised to use information available here as study guide only and use it at your own risk. 
2. Please note that changes/ update based on updated information will be made from time to time, readers are advised to check on this page regularly.
3. Analysis was done based on available data at the time of this review being published. ​

Bishan Ridges is considered one of the rare gems in well developed area like Bishan. This development will be the last of the 3 developments planned within Bishan town vicinity within the 2019 Master Plan. The next development would be the land next to Bradell Road. We suspect Bishan Ridges is designed by HDB’s own Building Research Institute (BRI) as there was no tender information for this development except accredited checker.

Points to ponder
​1. This development consists of building blocks as high as 39 levels, 1 level shy of being classified as super high rise, which entail stringent requirements like refuge floor (https://www.scdf.gov.sg/docs/default-source/scdf-library/fssd-downloads/ltc-lim-lk-super-highrise-requirements.pdf).  

2. MRT Bishan depot is right across the Kallang River. Homeowners will need to manage their expectation in terms of view as well as potential noise from the MRT depot.

​3. Currently there are 2 super residential blocks - Sky Vue and Sky Habitat, both developed by Capitaland lining up the 'heart' of Bishan town. 2 more plots of land classified as commercial land could be very well being developed as mixed development with malls and private residential blocks. Homeowners who are looking to pay for 'view' should manage their expectations as future development may affect their investment.   

4. The refuse collection system will be the conventional system whereby refuse truck going from block to block to collect the refuse.

1. Heat have been a sticky issue in Singapore due to its locality and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future due to climate change as well as rapid urban development and redevelopment activities. So much so that the National Research Foundation of Singapore (NRF) (https://www.ura.gov.sg/Corporate/Resources/Ideas-and-Trends/Beat-the-heat) have funded  ‘Cooling Singapore’ initiative, which consist of multi-institutional initiative led by Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC), NUS, SMART and TUM CREATE to look into ways to reduce heat in Singapore since 2017 (https://www.coolingsingapore.sg/). Please take note of the word ‘reduce’ and ‘avoid’. Recently (June 2020), Cooling Singapore has released their findings on ‘Urban Heat Vulnerability Analysis for Singapore’ which also clearly indicates which town in Singapore is currently well ‘heated’! (https://www.research-collection.ethz.ch/handle/20.500.11850/419689)
 
“The UHV index (Urban Heat Vulnerability) is used to measure the effects of physical exposure, demographic sensitivity and socio-economic adjustment parameters. ... The findings help to define areas where heat mitigation measures are needed most, in order to ensure the protection of the population.” – Cooling Singapore 

2. The best way to reduce heat intake has always been trying to minimise the exposure in the first place. In Singapore, we try to avoid heat intake from the west sun (afternoon sun) at all cost due to Singapore being located along the equator, which mean closer to the sun than any other part on Earth. Since Earth rotate at an angle of 23.5 degrees at its axis, North and South facing buildings will have direct west sun exposure as well, the difference is when and how much. Please watch the video here to have a better understanding of the above.  
 
3. For this development, our preliminary assessment of the west sun impact (2pm-4pm) shown that up to 50% of the stacks here will avoid the west sun impact. Therefore, we give a score of 2 out of total 4 for this attribute.

1. The Sun is 147.84 million km away from Earth, that’s more than 3,689 times the circumference of the Earth. The Sun is too far away for us to control its impact. The radius of the Sun is 109x the radius of the Earth. The size of the Sun should speak volume about the difference (if any) in terms of heat intake. On the other hand, wind is closer to home as it happens on Earth. We can either take advantage of it or lose it, we can’t control it. In Singapore, we enjoy prevailing wind during the monsoon season with wind speed of 6-10 km/h. (NEA-weatherwise Singapore). Knowing when and which direction the prevailing wind happens may help to mitigate the heat impact due to west sun exposure.
 
2. There’s 1 in 16 chances of having the luxury of facing the prevailing wind, which happens 20% of the days in a year (based on MSS’s wind data recorded at Changi station from 2014-2017). The next best option would be 3 in 16 chances of facing the prevailing wind, which happens at least 10% in a year (excluding the above). Mechanical ventilation like air-conditioning can never replace natural ventilation as mechanical mean is mainly contained (meaning the same air will circulate in the same room), while natural ventilation allows air changes between external (outdoor) and internal (indoor) spaces.
 
3. For this development, our preliminary assessment of prevailing wind exposure shown that 80% of the stacks here will enjoy major prevailing wind exposure which happen more than 180 days in a year. Therefore, we give a score of 4 out of total 4 for this attribute.

1. The Viewing angle is 1 of the 3 attributes which can be determined by the planner or architect who design the development. One can either maximise the viewing vantage or the land yield. Both are mutually exclusive as higher land yield will lead to more building blocks or taller building blocks which will affect the units viewing angle.
 
2. The viewing angle took into account the human eye’s coverage as well as the distance one can see things and identify objects at around 1m height objectively. This attribute will filter situation where the building frontal distance, maybe spacious enough, but the viewing corridor have been greatly reduced due to narrower coverage (reason like the placement of buildings in front which adversely reduced the maximum view).  
 
3. For this development, our preliminary assessment for viewing angle shown that only a moderate 44% of the units here (more than 18 storey) will enjoy a good viewing angle. Therefore, we give a score of 2 out of total 4 for this attribute. For units which is below 18 storeys, the viewing angle is better at 77%. Therefore, we give a score of 4 out of 4. Please note that we have omitted stacks with good viewing angles and building distance, but looking towards road, monsoon drain, etc. which is not desirable.

1. The noise exposure is the 2 of the 3 attributes which can be determined by the planner or architect who design the development. The planner can plan the town by segregating the land use base on activity, reduce roads, etc. While architect can create buffer to block the adverse effect of noise or use creative way to reduce the surrounding noise impact. As a homeowner, you can make a better judgement by knowing the distance from a potential noise source and how the noise impact will reduce with distance.
 
2. The understanding of noise disturbance in Singapore is still lacking though it’s a prevailing issue in recent years especially in the housing estate. NEA has since identified the 3 main noise disturbance sources as Vehicular noise, Construction noise and Industrial noise. On top of these 3 major noise disturbance sources, we have further identified minor noise disturbance source such as social, mechanical, vehicular (minor), religious, educational, etc.
 
3. For this development, our preliminary assessment for noise disturbance shown a high 7 point. Therefore, we give a score of 1 out of total 4 for this attribute. We assign 3 points for each major noise source and 1 point for each minor noise source.

1. The building distance is the 3rd attributes which can be determined by the planner or architect who design the development. The planner and architect will need to make a judgement call about how to balance the yield as well as ensuring a good building distance between the building blocks. Please note that a good building distance does not translate to a good viewing angle.
 
2. In 2010, URA introduced an industry guide to control the building length to prevent ‘wall-like’ developments. This guideline is mainly to control the distance between the side of 2 buildings rather than the distance between 2 buildings facing each other to break a ‘wall-like’ building blocks. HDB does have an internal guideline to dictate the distance between building facing each other, but it’s not a regulation. 
 
3. For this development, our preliminary assessment of building distance shown that up to 80% of the stacks here will enjoy a good building distance (based on units lower than 18 storey). Therefore, we give a score of 4 out of total 4 for this attribute. For units above 18 storeys, only 60% will enjoy a good building distance. Therefore, we give a score of 3 out of 4. Please note that we don’t make any omission on specific reasons like facing the road, etc. for this attribute.

We rate this development with an overall score of 14 out of 20 for units lower than 18 storeys while units above 18 storeys managed a score of 12 out of 20.

Our scoring scale

​Sun, Wind, View, Distance
0 - 25%      > 1 pt
26 - 50%   > 2 pt
51 - 75%     > 3 pt
76 - 100% > 4 pt

​Noise (Major noise source > 3 pt; Minor noise source > 1 pt)
> 7 pt      > 1pt
4 - 6 pt   > 2pt
1 - 3 pt     > 3pt
0 pt         > 4pt

1. Next, we will post our written analysis for selected stacks at Bishan Towers (Aug 2020 BTO). This written analysis will cover the sun, wind, viewing angle, noise and distance attributes for each of the analysed stacks.

2. For homeowners who have selected their unit, you can refer to our analysis to ascertain if you have made the right decision. Should you need to verify our data, you are welcome to join us in our weekly meet the homeowner session where we will show you the model itself and how we build, then analyse it.

3. We will add the surrounding development site plan to reflect the actual site condition.

4. We will do a price analysis of Bishan Towers. Once the pricing for Bishan Ridges release, we will make comparisons between the 2.

​Bookmark this page for more updates. 

BARTLEY BEACON | BISHAN RIDGES |
GARDEN COURT@TENGAH |
​GARDEN TERRACE@TENGAH |
PARKVIEW@BIDADARI | SUN SAILS |
TAMPINES GREENEMERALD |

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