News

URA Challenge for the Urban and Built Environment (CUBE) 2025

12 February 2026

Hwa Chong Geography students won the Outstanding Award at the URA CUBE 2025 Workshop, proposing a bold redesign to naturalise Bukit Timah Canal and integrate nature into urban life.

This article has been migrated from an earlier version of the site and may display formatting inconsistencies.

Between 24–28 Nov 2025, our Hwa Chong Geography students immersed themselves in the URA CUBE Workshop at the URA Centre and rose to the top with the Outstanding Award!

Congratulations:

Lin Rui, Avril (25A15), Team Leader
Teng Zhao En, Cheryl (25A15)
Pan Ziying (25S77)
Teo Jie Jun Jayden (25S6K), Assistant Team Leader
Eion Chan Jen Sen (25S6K)

Organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, this five-day workshop challenged pre-university students to reimagine publicly accessible open spaces near their schools, balancing sustainability with real urban demands.

Under a tight timeline and rigorous critique sessions with architects, planners and academics, the team conceptualised, designed and built a 3D model of their proposal, navigating complex trade-offs, spirited debates and real-world constraints along the way.

Inspired by the Colugo, their proposal envisioned naturalising the Bukit Timah Canal and shifting the vehicular traffic along Bukit Timah Road underground, allowing nature to be better integrated into daily lives of local residents and users of the space while reducing the urban heat island effect.

Rendered park design with curved wooden decks beside a stream, shade canopies, lush trees, and people relaxing and cycling.

A large group of people doing aerobics on an outdoor wooden deck with curved canopy structures and trees.

Architectural rendering of a park with white canopy structures, a curved bridge over a stream, and people walking among trees.

Their ability to interweave ecological sensitivity with bold urban redesign reflects the very best of Hwa Chong’s problem-solving spirit.

Five young people wearing matching yellow patterned t-shirts stand together on an indoor balcony with city buildings behind them.

Eight students pose holding a scale architectural model and a map labeled Proposed Naturalisation of Bukit Timah Canal.

Five young people in matching yellow t-shirts pose playfully on an outdoor terrace with city buildings behind them.