Students raise $60k to keep birds from crashing into NTU building

Varsity to chip in another $60k for stickers to make glass surfaces visible to birds

- Ang Qing

After nearly two decades, a dazzling Nanyang Technological University building will finally get a facelift to make it safe for birds.

Momentum for the makeover began on Oct 20, when the student-led initiative Project Avigate launched a fundraiser online to fix the building housing the School of Art, Design and Media (ADM) at NTU.

Responding to queries, a spokesman for the school told The Straits Times on Dec 9 that the campaign raised $60,000 — double the target set by the university.

This covers half the project’s cost - estimated at $120,000 - with NTU providing the remaining amount needed to retrofit the building, which has won awards for environmental friendliness.

Since the four-storey building’s completion in 2006, its large glass surfaces and funnel-like shape have frequently injured or killed birds, Project Avigate has found.

The same highly reflective glass panels of the building that helped it save energy have become a hazard for birds, which could not discern its windows from the surrounding landscape.

Once birds hit the building, they often fall into the building’s water features and drown.

Those fortunate enough to survive the impact then find it difficult to escape the enclosed building.

Over the past three seasons, when birds migrate across the world, the project’s daily monitoring sessions have logged 122 collisions involving 22 bird species.

The funds will go towards installing stickers on the more dangerous windows - about a quarter of the building’s glass panels - to make the surface visible to birds.

The hefty cost was previously attributed to a lack of commercially available options in the region, the need for additional equipment to install stickers on large buildings and weather-related factors.