Fuse the two and we have an architectural genius who uses nature’s tranquillity to transform basic structures into towering green sanctuaries. Deborah Joy Peter hops onsite helmet-ready to deconstruct the maker’s premise of the sky being the limit.

Defined most of all by his architectural dexterity, Jason Pomeroy is a conceptualist with a critical eye where the design of buildings is concerned. Yet, the professor is no ordinary engineer. By now an author of at least three industry-specific books and host of two seasons of Channel NewsAsia’s City Time Traveller, the mover and shaker is a well-traversed draftsman who dreams up winning layouts even before the initial artist impression makes it from plot to paper.

MAKING ‘HISTOREY’

In fact, his immersion in the field qualifies as ultra-unique in a manner that renders his creations both structurally sound and environmentally-friendly. An ideator with a particularly intense fascination towards edifices of the sky-rise variety and the tenacity to match, his penchant for construction is almost poetic. The architect suggests it is entirely possible that his love of green architecture was born in his parents’ garden in England.

Creatively inspired even as a boy, he remembers once upon a time, raising from the ground up, wigwams which were strewn together using branches, sticks, and leaves from the bushes and blankets from mum’s cupboard. “My interest was cemented during later visits to London, when my father took me to Sir Christopher Wren’s St. Paul’s Cathedral. The lofty interior and domed structure simply took my breath away. From then on, I was hooked,” the founding principal of Singapore-based sustainable design firm, Pomeroy Studio, explains.

Tall order

During his foundation years at the Canterbury School of Architecture in the United Kingdom, captured by the way each utilised what little space they had for the benefit of their inhabitants through skygardens and other communal spaces, his curiosity over high-rise cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore took root. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until the turn of his masters at the University of Cambridge that his attention to sky-rise greenery and the role of skycourts and skygardens deepened.

In his words, green architecture pays respect to the natural environment by harnessing the sun, wind, and rain in a way that reduces energy, water consumption, and stress on the environment. However, established in 2012, Pomeroy Studio’s approach travels further by drawing from the essence of history, culture, and tradition to create ‘built environments’ that positively impact people’s lives. A good example is a previous project dubbed the Idea House, which is Asia’s first carbon-zero prototype home.

Renewable technology

Beyond just solar panelled roofs, modern advancements such as photovoltaic cells and water harvesting influenced the aforementioned invention, which is modelled after the ancient Malay kampong house. “Built before the advent of electricity, the kampong house was designed to maximise natural light and ventilation while being expandable to accommodate a family of 3 to 5 as well as sensitive to its surroundings. Drawing inspiration from this traditional vernacular architecture of South East Asia, we reinterpreted it for the 21st century.”

The above cultivates an atmosphere conducive to a dweller’s needs while remaining considerate of the place. Thus, cities planned along sustainable lines lessen inequality with energy and building costs reduced, enabling citizens of lower economic means to live closer to the city centre and their places of work. “I hope the determination to preserve ancient culture and tradition is maintained and the kind of sustainable built environments I advocate and can be found in Singapore is replicated in other Asian cities including Kuala Lumpur.”

GREEN BLUEPRINT

Meanwhile, from getting his feet wet in Venice to visiting ancient shrines in Kyoto, getting lost in the valleys of Bhutan, and marvelling at the Singapore skyline, Pomeroy’s journey has taken him as far as the regions of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Be it as a visiting professor at the Universita IUAV di Venezia or television personality cracking the code behind landscapes through City Time Traveller, his architectural development is ever-evolving while influenced by the countries he explores and people he meets.

“It is pleasing to see many of the lessons articulated in my book, The Skycourt and Skygarden: Greening the Urban Habitat, implemented in the city-state, whilst my foray into zero carbon housing which was similarly published in Idea House: Future Tropical Living Today has been a template for many of our low and zero energy design projects,” the designer tells Essenze, whilst continuing to make his mark as a best-in-class architect worldwide.

巧妙的融合，利用大自然的宁谧优美，让基本结构转变成参天绿色保护区。在此解析Jason Pomeroy这位生态建筑师的绿意架构奇迹。

这名教授绝非一般工程师，Jason   Pomeroy灵巧的建筑思绪、独到的眼光格调，也缔造生态建筑特色概念。身为特定行业书籍作者和亚洲新闻频道“城市时间旅人”节目两季的主持人,这名极具号召力的梦想建筑架构者，肆意将情节串联并跃然于设计图纸上。

创造历史
作为沉浸在这个领域并超越独特的存在，其作品在结构上展现对环境友好方式，他的偏好带有诗情画意，擅长于多样摩天楼建筑的坚韧与魅力糅合的构思。而他对于生态建筑的热爱萌生于他双亲在英国的花园。

灵感的启蒙是当他还是男孩时候，记得有一次，用从灌木丛中拾到的树枝、树叶等搭建简易的帐篷支架，而覆盖的毯子取自母亲的柜子。“那年在伦敦，我父亲带我到圣保罗大教堂，崇高装潢和圆顶结构，轻易攫夺我的呼吸，从那时起，我就深深着迷。”这名在新加坡创立永续建筑设计公司 – Pomeroy工作室的建筑师说着他的心路旅程。

艰巨任务
他在英国坎特伯​​雷学校开展建筑教育，对于狭小公共空间的建筑设计拥有强大好奇和专研心理，这也是他后来选择在高层与密集的城市如香港和新加坡扎根的原因。直至他在剑桥大学研读硕士课程，重点关注高空摩天楼的绿化，还有空中阁楼与空中庭院的作用不断深化。

如他所言，生态建筑通过利用太阳与风，降低能源和水的消耗，强调尊重和爱护自然环境。Pomeroy工作室在2012年设立，并且进一步从历史，文化与传统视角打造“生态环境”，这项对于人们生活本质产生积极影响的规划推进顺畅，最佳例子是之前的Idea House项目计划，这是亚洲首个无碳的原型屋。

再生能源
不仅仅是太阳能嵌板的屋顶，现代的科技，比如光伏电池和回收水池有关设计的影响，这是仿效古老马来甘榜房屋为蓝本。

“甘榜房子在内置电源供应之前，以最大化自然采光和通风方式，并且扩展容纳适应3至5人的家庭，体现对周边环境的敏锐性。我们在东南亚这个传统民间建筑中汲取灵感，在21世纪重新赋予诠释。“以上措施利于居民需求，并且显得更体贴入围。因此，沿着可持续发展的路线规划城市，降低能源和建筑成本的不平衡现况，从而减少人们在靠近市中心或工作范围生活的经济成本。

他希望维护古老文化和传统，并保持可持续建筑环境。他认为，这些可以运用在新加坡或其他亚洲城市，包括在吉隆坡实行。

绿色蓝图
同时，他的旅行脚步也踏足威尼斯、京都的古老神社和迷失在不丹的山谷，然后在新加坡的天际线惊叹。他的足迹遍布欧洲，中东和亚洲地区，无论是作为威尼斯建筑大学的客座教授或为城市时间旅人电视节目取景，他的建筑构思是不断扩散发展，探讨那些所见的国家和人民面临的影响。

“高兴地发现许多在我书中阐述的理念，
《空中阁楼与空中庭院：绿化城市生态》已经实现，而我的无碳建筑概念，也同样发表在《创意之屋：今日的未来热带生活》，已经有很多我们的低碳和零能源设计项目的模板。“这名敢于实践的建筑设计师告诉Essenze，会努力在全球推动他的标志性绿化建筑。