Project Title: Marina Bay
Location: Singapore
Built, Unbuilt or Under Construction: Built
Firm: PWP Landscape Architecture
Firm Website: www.pwpla.com
Project Team Members:
PWP Landscape Architecture
Safdie Architects

Project Description:  Landscape occupies nearly 30 acres at Marina Bay Sands, 75 percent of which is public space and almost all of which is on structure. The half-mile-long Waterfront Promenade features a triple allee of Roystonia palms interspersed with informal groupings of large canopy trees—Khaya, Peltophorum, and Alstonia—a design that provides both scale and much-needed shade in the Singapore heat. Permeable pavement systems collect surface drainage and reduce runoff.

One of the most remarkable spaces, the 2.5 acre Skypark, spans the roofs of the three hotel towers at the 57th story and offers views of downtown Singapore and the Singapore Bay as well as the ports and the Singapore Strait. This surprising garden in the sky features an infinity edge swimming pool, lushly planted garden rooms with mature trees, a public viewing deck which offers 270 degree views, two restaurants, and a night club.

In addition to the Promenade and the Skypark, the project also includes a public rooftop promenade, a 1000-meter-long landscaped bridge, a public, tropical garden at the base of the hotel, and a public streetscape which will inform all future streetscape design in the surrounding area. In order to achieve a landscape both in scale with the architecture and impactful on opening day, PWP conceived of an early tree-procurement strategy as well as a temporary-nursery plan that permitted plants to be sourced overseas from many locales, transported into Singapore, and grown near the site for over a year prior to installation. This effort also facilitated a quick installation of the large quantities of mature trees with a high success rate.

Image Credits: Peter Walker Partners.