Singapore - Gardens by the Bay

Covering 250 acres, the Gardens by the Bay is a principal element of Singapore's plans to move from being the Garden City to being a City in a Garden. The largest part, of 130 acres, is called Bay South Garden, designed by Grant Associates, of the UK and Singapore, and opened in 2012. The gardens promise much, but a visit to the free Singapore Botanic Gardens, and a 'local' trip to the Bicentennial Conservatory, within Adelaide's Botanic Garden, will delight much more - no tackiness in either.

There are two giant cooled conservatories, the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest, both designed by Wilkinson Eyre, of London. The former, 125 feet tall and covering three acres, is the largest column-free glasshouse in the world. The engineering is stunning, but the fantastic collection of plants from semi-arid regions is rather ruined by the welter of plastic and concrete tat that someone has seen fit to place amidst it.

The Cloud Forest is smaller, at two acres, but taller, to accommodate the 138 feet tall 'Cloud Mountain', richly dressed with epiphytes and bromeliads, and from which drops a 115 feet tall waterfall. The biome emulates the cool, moist environment of tropical mountain regions. The effect is impressive, but behind the scenes, visible upon taking the lift to the top, the whole looks like nothing so much as a multi-storey car park. The suspended path, which gradually returns one to ground level, provides a great view of the planting, but the displays are spoiled by absurdities such as Lego pitcher plants.

The relentless references to addressing climate change are rather undermined by the Brobdingnagian use of concrete and steel, and the worldwide shipping of millions of plant specimens. Of real note are the 18 steel Supertrees of the Gardens, a dozen of which form Supertrees Grove within Bay South Garden. Between 82 and 160 feet tall, and sheathed with tens of thousands of individual plants, these vent hot air, and cool circulating water, for the domes. The engineering was by Atelier One, the planting by Atelier Ten, both of the UK.