Participation

INDA Site Presentation Kampung Admiralty

~ Urban-Hydro-Logics

In March 2019, Pedro Santa, Senior Associate at Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl, brought visitors from Chulalongkorn University’s INDA program to Kampung Admiralty. During the site visit and walkthrough presentation, Pedro explained the project’s performance landscape, ecology, and water management concepts. Kampung Admiralty is an award-winning project (by WOHA Architects) that received the Building of the Year Award in 2018 at the World Architecture Festival. Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl is the Landscape Architect and ABC Waters specialist of the project. In 2013, Pedro Santa participated in the concept stage of Kampung Admiralty, developing stormwater management concepts and strategies of ABC Waters Features integrated into WOHA’s building design.

Photos by PJ Santa on day of site visit, March 2019.

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Blue-Green Lead for Punggol Digital District

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Starting Q3 2017, Pedro Santa was appointed at Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl as the Project Manager for the blue-green infrastructure consultancy for Punggol Digital District. Working in partnership with diverse project consultants and WOHA Architects (the Qualified Professional, Architect, Masterplanner, and Lead Consultant of the Project), Pedro Santa fostered innovative strategies which incorporate building-integrated landscape systems, nature-based solutions, ABC Waters engineering procedures, and urban design principles, to form a 21st Century Industrial Estate, that cultivates education, technology, environment, and innovation. Project Credits: JTC | WOHA Architects | Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl | Diverse Consultants

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Your Building is the River

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The Urban Hydrologics approach considers all urban surfaces as an interconnected network that receives, captures, detains, and conveys rainwater from the top of roofscapes and façade surfaces down to the ground level and ultimately to downstream waterways and river corridors. This reinterpretation and redefinition of the city as not a series of objects but of a series of surfaces defines the Urban Hydrologics approach. Each surface has a role to play in managing rainwater on it’s way to rivers and streams – giving light to the phrase – “your building is the river” UHS, 2015. This idea concept was articulated by Pedro Santa during explanations of the Urban Hydrologics approach to diverse contacts in tropical cities.

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State of the Climate – Author-Collaborator

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In 2011-2012, Pedro Santa served as a collaborating author in “Puerto Rico’s State of the Climate 2010-2013 – Assessing Puerto Rico’s Social-Ecological Vulnerabilities in a Changing Climate”. He supported the PRCCC by providing content on water resources and climate change impacts to surface water, groundwater, and subsurface water resources, with accompanying island scale maps of PR. The text provided outlined the extent of PR’s island-wide water resources and how they would be impacted through sea-level rise, rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, the increase of heavy storms events, coastal erosion, and environmental degradation.

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Presenter at PUB Center for Water Excellence

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In 2013, Pedro Santa presented the Seminar Course on Constructed Wetlands: Design, Construction, and Maintenance of Cleansing Biotopes, as part of the Singapore ABC Waters Programme. The Certification Program of Active, Beautiful, and Clean Waters Professionals, was instituted in Singapore to increase industry knowledge, competencies, the proliferation of ABC Waters Features, and water-sensitive urban design tools. The Elective Module EU2 had two courses presented by colleagues of Atelier Dreiseit Asia, where Pedro Santa presented the constructed wetlands/cleansing biotope portion of the course at the PUB WaterHub Academy Center for Water Excellence.

Prof. Tony Wong CRC Water Sensitive Cities

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In February 2013, Pedro Santa met Professor Tony Wong at Singapore’s Waterhub Academy Center for Water Excellence. Professor Tony Wong is the chief executive of the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities. Tony is internationally recognized for his research and practice in sustainable urban water management, particularly Water Sensitive Urban Design. He has also been an important intellectual and technical contributor to the formation, establishment, and roll-out of the ABC Waters Programme in Singapore. Meeting Prof Tony Wong at the PUB Waterhub has been an excellent opportunity to connect and be in contact for future collaborations.

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Urban Hydrologics Thematic Lecture

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In May 2012, Pedro Santa presented the first Urban Hydrologics thematic lecture at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. The presentation covered the principles, concepts, and technical strategies needed to develop Water Sensitive Urban Design Masterplans and climate-resilient urban regions, focusing on transdisciplinary designs, blue-green infrastructure configuration examples, and implementation alternatives for nature-based solutions in tropical cities. The Lecture was hosted by the INDA Design Program of Chulalongkorn University.

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In Conversation: Beatley, Newman, Dreiseitl

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In February 2012, Pedro Santa shared a stimulating conversation with formative influences: Timothy Beatley, Peter Newman, and Herbert Dreiseitl. The meeting took place at the newly built Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, and it was a fascinating discussion and meeting of the minds. The conversation also covered how decentralized water-sensitive urban design maximizes co-benefits for society, economy, and ecology.

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Meeting Herbert Dreiseitl

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On March 4th, 2011, Pedro Santa met Herbert Dreiseitl for the first time. We discussed a diversity of subjects related to water in cities, from large river scales and riversheds to small building-integrated LID features. The common denominators and compatibility were evident from this first meeting, and we established a foundation for continuing discussion of ideas to expand water-sensitive cities. Herbert Dreiseitl is the Founder, CEO, and Office Director of Atelier Dreiseitl, a company with diverse companies located in Germany, the USA, China, and Singapore. I was delighted to meet a formative professional and intellectual influence in the space of stormwater management, landscape, and water-sensitive urban design practice. I am looking forward to additional meetings and the possibility of professional work collaboration with Herbert Dreiseitl.

A Pantropical WSUD Stormwater Company

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Urban Hydrologics aims to become the world’s first Pantropical Blue-Green Infrastructure consultancy services firm registered both in SE Asia and the Caribbean Tropics. In his interdisciplinary research at Harvard University, Pedro learned that Singapore is a leading nation in water cycle management, stormwater, and blue-green solutions. For these reasons, Pedro is exploring opportunities to relocate to the City State to acquire advanced strategic and implementation knowledge on nature-based solutions for urban resilience. Participating in the emerging Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters Programme (ABC Waters, launched in 2006) will provide vital knowledge on how to design, plan, and implement water-sensitive urban design features (WSUD) in the tropical climate context. These unique skills will be essential to foster climate-resilient cities, and Pedro looks to develop a pantropical business model for Urban Hydrologics — a technology and consultancy services firm that provides climate adaptation solutions to tropical cities worldwide.

Map of Urban Hydrologics Target Market and Headquarters — SE Asia (SG) + Caribbean Tropics (PR)

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