Greening architecture

PATRICK Bellew - or his firm Atelier Ten - may not quite be household names here but their projects in Singapore stand among the city's most iconic landmarks: Esplanade, Gardens by the Bay, and Jewel Changi Airport.

Like many other businesses, the London-headquartered architectural and engineering practice had been drawn to set up shop in Singapore for its top-notch infrastructure. In November 2020, the firm was acquired by Singapore's Surbana Jurong Group. And with sustainability now a big play in the region and beyond, Mr Bellew, founding director of Atelier Ten, sees even greater opportunities as the firm - now part of a group that's involved in over 7,000 built environment projects around the world at any time - looks to inject sustainable elements into key pieces of infrastructure.

Speaking with The Business Times, Mr Bellew, 61, a Chartered Building Services Engineer, recalls how he founded Atelier Ten in 1990 in a bid to follow his "great interest" in integrating environmental sustainability and architecture. Three decades on, he says his vision for the design consultancy remains the same as when it first began as a fledgling London practice.