Apple Marina Bay Sands Singapore store design, Foster + Partners Southeast Asia building photos
Apple Marina Bay Sands
post updated 29 November 2024
Design: Foster + Partners
Address: 2 Bayfront Avenue, B2-06, Singapore, 018972
Location: Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
Apple Marina Bay Sands – a new gemstone on the Singapore waterfront and a celebration of light
Photos by Finbarr Fallon unless otheriwse noted.
17 Sep 2020
Apple Marina Bay Sands Singapore Building
Recently opened to the public, Apple Marina Bay Sands creates a new distinctive presence on Singapore Bay. The 30-metre-diameter structure is a fully glazed dome with a black glass base, complementing the sister pavilions through its scale and materiality.
The design is the result of a close collaboration between Apple’s design teams and the integrated engineering and design team at Foster + Partners.
David Summerfield, Foster + Partners said, “Apple Marina Bay Sands is all about the delicate interplay between transparency and shade. The structure dissolves the boundary between the inside and outside, creating a minimal platform that floats gently in the water, looking out over the bay and the spectacular Singapore skyline.”
Structurally, the dome acts as a hybrid steel and glass shell, where the grid of steel sections support the weight of the glass and shading, and the curved structural glass panels restrain the steel elements laterally and stiffen the overall form against lateral loads. Integrated solar shading devices keep the interior cool.
Each of the 114 panels of glass is carefully selected to meet glazing indices as prescribed by BCA Green Mark, Singapore’s own sustainability rating system.
Each of the multifunctional concentric light sunshade rings reduce in size as they progress towards the top of the building, providing acoustic absorption for the store.
More importantly, they diffuse and reflect daylight to the baffle above, creating a magical effect and dematerialising the structure.
At the top a semi-opaque oculus provides a dramatic shaft of light that travels through the space, reminiscent of the famous Pantheon in Rome.
Stefan Behling, Foster + Partners said, “The dome appears ephemeral. The effect is very calming, and the changing intensity and colour of the light is mesmerising. It is not only a celebration of Apple’s incredible products, but a celebration of light.”
The garden city ideal of Singapore flows from the promenade into the interior spaces, with ten trees placed along the perimeter providing additional shading and soft shadows through the foliage. Set within leather-topped planters, they also provide comfortable places to sit and enjoy the ambiance of the store and the fantastic views of the marina.
The store can be entered through The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands via a beautifully curved stone entrance, flanked by Apple’s signature Avenue display on either side of a 45-metre long and 7.6-metre wide space.
This leads directly to a set of dramatic escalators that take visitors on a “kaleidoscopic” journey to the heart of the spectacular domed space.
This contrasting transition from the heart of the retail centre to the Apple dome offers the customer a dramatic and exhilarating experience. It culminates with spectacular views across the bay and towards the city.
During the day, the dome reflects the colours of the surrounding water and sky, while in the evening the subtle interior lighting provides a warm glow and enhances everyone’s experience of Singapore’s spectacular skyline.
Photographs: Finbarr Fallon and Fabian Ong
Apple Marina Bay Sands Singapore Building images / information received 170920 from Foster + Partners
Location: 2 Bayfront Avenue, B2-06, Singapore, 018972, Southeast Asia.
Singapore Waterfront Architecture
New Architecture in Singapore
Marina One Singapore
Design: Ingenhoven Architects
image © ingenhoven architects / photo : HG Esch
Marina One in Singapore
Marina Bay Financial Center towers
Design: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
photograph : Tim Griffith
Marina Bay Financial Center Singapore
Marina Bay Sands – ArtScience Museum
Design: Safdie Architects
photo © Andrew McRae
Marina Bay Sands Singapore Building
Gardens by the Bay Conservatories Supertrees
Design: Grant Associates with Wilkinson Eyre Architects
photograph : Darren Soh
Gardens by the Bay Singapore – Supertrees
Jubilee Bridge in Singapore Marina Bay
Gardens by the Bay Conservatories Singapore
Marina Bay Financial Center Singapore Building
Architecture in Singapore
Singapore Architectural Designs – chronological list
Raffles Hotel Singapore Restoration, 1 Beach Road
Design: Aedas
image courtesy of architecture office
Raffles Hotel
Founders Memorial
Design: Cox Architecture
image courtesy of architects office
Founders Memorial
Singapore Architecture Walking Tours by e-architect
Singapore Architects Offices : Practice Listings
Apple Stores Retail Designs in Asia
Key Apple Store Designs in Asia added on e-architect – selection below:
Apple Orchard Road, Singapore
Architects: Foster + Partners
photo from architects
Apple Orchard Road in Singapore
Apple Sanlitun Store, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China
Architects: Foster + Partners
Apple Sanlitun Store Beijing
Apple Central World, Ratchaprasong, Bangkok, Thailand, Southeast Asia
Design: Foster + Partners with Architects 49 Ltd.
Apple Central World Bangkok Store
Comments / photos for the Apple Marina Bay Sands Singapore Building – Southeast Asian Architecture Design by Foster + Partners architects office based in London, England, United Kingdom page welcome.