Why The Marina Bay Sands?
Obviously, the main attraction of the Marina Bay Sands at first glance is the truly gigantic skypark that sits on top of its 3 towers. This 340 meter long boat like structure has many astonishing features including the observation deck and the 146 meter vanishing edge swimming pool that flows over the edge at 191 meters above ground level. Luckily I have been on the Marina Bay Sands Skypark and it is nothing short of amazing. The views from the observation deck of the city are matched only by the view from across the bay looking back towards the towers. The cantilevered observation deck to the left of the towers is unprecedented in its size and can be properly admired from across the marina. It is almost unnerving to look at jutting out 67 meters over the edge into the Singapore skyline.
The incredible architecture does not stop at the skypark however. The three towers on which it sits imposed equally challenging architectural problems themselves. From the side the towers can be seen to be made of two bodies designed to lean on each other, a front and back as seen in the images. These slope at such inclines that the towers could have quite easily crumpled under their own weight. The front and back of the towers do not connect with each other until the 23rd floor meaning the great sloping structures would be unsupported until they reached that height. Only then would the front and back of the towers literally “lean” on each other or support. During the construction to the 23rd floor temporary steel brackets were used to support the steeply sloping backs of the towers. As well as this, temporary tension cables inside the walls were added to the towers however these soon became a permanent addition to the strength of the building.
Me, on the Skypark of the Marina Bay Sands.