Garden Bloom @ Tengah (May 2021 Build-To-Order)

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

Garden Bloom@Tengah is the 11th development being launched within the Tengah new town since the 1st launch back in November 2018. Garden Bloom@Tengah is also the 5th development being launched within the Garden District. Currently, only The Market Place (town centre), Brickland and Forest Hill District have not seen any launches yet. These 3 districts supposed to have more premium products with higher price point (base on township development methodology).
 
A development with a landscape deck technically is costlier to be build compare to a development with a typical standalone MSCP (multi storey car park). A landscape deck design will release more ‘ground space’ (though it’s an elevated artificial ground) since space not taken up by a car park building. This will directly allow more breathing space between building blocks. 

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1. The common believes (yes, believe! Since home buyers don’t have access to data) is that the Sales of Balance Flats prices will forever go up. Is that true? No, it’s not. We have seen prices being reduced in the subsequent Sales of Balance Flats for certain developments at different town. This includes 1 development at Bukit Batok (next to Tengah) which we assume was priced at a higher price point to test the impending introduction of new Tengah township. In short, it failed, and price came down.
 
2. They (the property industry) always tell you location, location, location… or anything which will get the property off their book. Since Tengah first launch back in November 2018, a 5-rm price has barely increased, only up to S$13,800 in 2 and half years and a 4-rm room at S$7,900. The same can’t be said about Tampines North though both are at a similar price point. For example, Tampines Green Weave (launched in May 2015), a 5-rm price has increased by S$25,900 during the first introduction into SBF back in November 2016. After 3 years, price increases to S$31,000. So, it seems like the buzz may not translate to actual price appreciation yet. 

3. The differences between psf price and quantum price. Shown here are 2 charts depicting the price differences of 5-rm (different levels) for the 4 Garden District launched thus far. The standard bearer is the 113sqm unit type since the rest (114sqm, 116sqm and 117sqm) are lesser in numbers, therefore, won’t affect the pricing movement too much. When you break the data into different levels, you will notice an interesting pattern emerged.
 
a. How to take advantage of this pattern?
b. Should you buy a unit with larger areas but same psf?
c. Should you buy a unit with lower psf but not at a higher level?
d. Will a higher level unit promise a better return? (Hint: you are no better than the rest since the skyline is flat due to building height restriction)

If you are keen to know how to have an upper hand in the BTO system, do join us when we arrange our limited sharing session in coming weeks. We will share the timing of our sharing session via our Telegram channel. Please click on icon here to connect.

1. Heat have been a sticky issue in Singapore due to its locality and will continue to be the same or worst in the foreseeable future due to climate change as well as rapid urbanisation and redevelopment activities. 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/). Back in June 2020, Cooling Singapore released their findings on ‘Urban Heat Vulnerability Analysis for Singapore’ which clearly indicates which town in Singapore is more vulnerable to heat impact.
(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 is by minimising the direct exposure. In Singapore, we try to avoid heat intake from the west sun (afternoon sun) due to Singapore being located along the equator, which mean closer to the sun than other part of Earth. Since Earth rotate at a slanted 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 often. Please watch the video here to have a better understanding of the above.

​3. For this development, our preliminary assessment for the west sun impact (2pm-4pm) shown that up to 90% of the stacks here will have west sun impact. At this point, most of you would have been stunned by this claim. Since the earth is tilted at a 23.5-degree gradient, a North or South facing unit will have exposure to (west) sun too. The difference is the numbers of months exposed to west sun varies based on time and the amount received.
 
a. Question, why would you place a solar panel on the façade if it’s doesn’t receive sufficient sunlight? As shown in the attached image for another Tengah project. The point is, you need to have enough intensity to generate the amount of electricity deemed sustainable to adopt this solution. In short, the façade area (not perpendicularly facing the sun) also received high intensity sunlight, which comes with the heat component other than the roof top.

b. Heat transfer through all materials. Shaded or reduced direct sun exposure on the window doesn’t mean that you will not get heat into your unit (because the wall will have exposure and heat will transfer into indoor spaces). Then again, sun shade (as shown in the image by the developer) is not the ultimate solution to resolve the west sun impact all together since the earth is tilted, rotating on its axis and orbit the sun whole year round, thus the constant changes in sun angle.
 
Even though the number of months exposed will not be as detrimental as facing direct west, you still can’t escape the heat impact during the ‘exposed’ months. Therefore, we give a score of 1 out of total 4 for this attribute.

"We engaged Hausanalyst to help us with our 4-room flat selection at Tengah. We chose to engage Hausanalyst because he was able to provide additional information through his digital twin model of the BTO project. 

It added new perspectives that you wouldn't be able to observe just from the site plan itself from HDB. We were able to analyze things like sun direction (throughout the year), wind simulation and even the view from the stack and unit.

He also includes noise analysis of the stacks to inform us of the potential pitfalls for different stacks.

Throughout the process, Hausanalyst was highly professional and he provided us with insights as an architect which most first timers wouldn't know about. He was also very open to sharing his knowledge with us.

I am glad that we chose to engage Hausanalyst to help us select the best unit that fits our needs. We would highly recommend him to other first-time homeowners."

Mr. Si Jie and Ms. Joey | data scientist | Tengah GardenCourt 4-rm 2021 ​

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 a specific prevailing wind direction, 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 for prevailing wind exposure shown that 55% of the stacks here will enjoy prevailing wind exposure which happen at best 70 days in a year. Therefore, we give a score of 3 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 during the planning stage. They can either maximise the number of units with good viewing angle or just design to maximise the allowable number of units without consideration for good viewing angle. 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 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 at least 52% of the stacks here will enjoy a good viewing angle (50m for stacks at and lower than 18 storey and 100m for stacks above 18 storey). Therefore, we give a score of 3 out of total 4 for this attribute. 

1. The noise exposure is the 2 of the 3 attributes which can be determined by the planner or architect during the planning stage. The planner can plan the town by segregating the land use base on activity, reduce roads, etc., while the 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 at least 2 major 3 minor noise disturbance will affect this development. 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 during the planning stage. The planner and architect will need to make a judgement call about how to balance the yield (number of units) 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 for building distance shown that up to 63% of the stacks here will enjoy a good building distance (50m for stacks at and lower than 18 storey and 100m for stacks above 18 storey). Therefore, we give a score of 3 out of total 4 for this attribute.

We rate this development with an overall score of 11 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

GARDEN BLOOM@TENGAH | MACPHERSON WEAVE | 
​TELOK BLANGAH BEACON | WOODGROVE ASCENT ​

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