Few buildings of the twenty-first century have become as instantly recognisable as Marina Bay Sands. Three tall hotel towers stand side by side on the waterfront of Marina Bay in Singapore, and across their tops sits a long platform that looks like a ship balanced on the roofs — the SkyPark — with an infinity pool along its edge. Designed by the architect Moshe Safdie and opened in 2010, it was built as an integrated resort: a hotel, a convention and exhibition centre, a shopping mall, theatres, restaurants, a casino and a museum, all on reclaimed land facing the city's financial district.
For Indian homeowners, developers and students the building is worth studying not because anyone in India will build a 55-storey triple tower with a park on top, but because it is a vivid lesson in how bold ideas become buildable. Indian projects increasingly want rooftop pools, cantilevered balconies and decks, sky lounges between towers, and dramatic podium-and-tower forms. The commonest problems with these features in India — leaking terrace pools, sagging cantilevers, cracked joints between blocks — come from treating them as decoration rather than engineering.
This article stays with facts that are widely published and well established, and describes the rest qualitatively. It explains the overall concept, the three towers and their unusual leaning legs, the SkyPark and its cantilever, the rooftop pool, how such a structure is built in stages, and the practical lessons for terraces, pools, cantilevers and tower blocks in Indian buildings, with dimensions and loads in the units Indian codes use.
The project in brief
Singapore decided in the mid-2000s to allow two integrated resorts — large mixed developments combining hotels, conventions, entertainment and gaming — as part of a strategy to boost tourism. Marina Bay Sands, developed by the American company Las Vegas Sands, was one of them; the other is on Sentosa island. The Marina Bay site sits on land reclaimed from the sea, at the edge of the bay opposite the central business district and next to the area that became Gardens by the Bay. The brief was enormous: a hotel of roughly 2,500 rooms, a convention centre, retail, theatres, a casino and a museum, all on a site that would be seen from across the water and from the city's towers.
Moshe Safdie was already famous for Habitat 67 in Montreal — a stacked housing complex of precast concrete modules built for Expo 67 — and for large cultural and public buildings around the world. His response at Marina Bay was to separate the programme into three layers: a low, sprawling podium along the waterfront containing the convention centre, mall, theatres and casino; three hotel towers rising above it; and a single linking element at the top, the SkyPark, which turns three towers into one composition. A separate lotus-like building at the water's edge, the ArtScience Museum, completes the ensemble.
| Fact | Widely published description | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Architect | Moshe Safdie (Safdie Architects) | Also designer of Habitat 67, Montreal |
| Developer and operator | Las Vegas Sands | One of Singapore's two integrated resorts |
| Opened | 2010, in phases | Hotel, SkyPark and other parts opened through the year |
| Hotel towers | Three towers of 55 storeys each | Roughly 2,500 hotel rooms in total |
| SkyPark | A long deck spanning all three tower tops | Cantilevers well beyond the northern tower |
| Rooftop pool | Infinity-edge pool on the SkyPark | Among the most photographed pools in the world |
| Podium | Convention and exhibition centre, shops, theatres, casino | Low-rise base along the waterfront |
| Site | Reclaimed land at Marina Bay, Singapore | Next to Gardens by the Bay |
Dimensions quoted in popular sources vary slightly, so this article treats them as approximate: the SkyPark is commonly described as roughly 340 m long, its cantilever beyond the last tower as about 65 m, the towers as a little under 200 m tall, and the pool as roughly 150 m long. These figures are enough to understand the engineering logic; anyone needing exact values should refer to the project's official and engineering publications.
The concept: podium, towers and a park in the sky
The composition is easy to read from a distance, which is part of its success. The podium hugs the ground and the waterfront, with large column-free halls for conventions and exhibitions, a long shopping arcade and public promenades. The three towers rise from it in a row, each slightly curved in elevation and splayed at the base, so that from the bay they look like three pairs of playing cards leaning against each other. On top, the SkyPark ties them together and extends beyond the northern tower like the prow of a ship.
Each element answers part of the brief. Splitting the hotel into three slender towers rather than one massive slab keeps views open from the city towards the sea and gives more rooms a view of the bay or the city. The gaps between towers allow wind and light through the composition. The SkyPark turns the roofs — normally service areas full of tanks and plant — into the building's most public space, with gardens, restaurants, an observation deck and the pool. It is a strong example of a principle every designer can use: the roof is a fifth facade, and often the most valuable one.
The towers: two legs that lean together
Seen from the side, each tower is not a single slab but two legs: one rises more or less vertically, while the other curves and leans towards it, so that the two meet partway up the building and continue together to the top. This gives the towers their splayed, card-like silhouette and opens a large triangular atrium at the base of each tower between the legs. It is beautiful, but it creates a structural challenge that every leaning element creates, whether it is a 50 m tower leg or a 3 m sloping column in an Indian villa porch.
In principle, a leaning element carries vertical load along its slope, and the slope means part of that load turns into a sideways push. Until the leaning leg is connected to the vertical one, that push has nowhere to go except into the leg itself and its foundations, which therefore need to resist bending and horizontal thrust; during construction, temporary measures are generally needed to keep such a leg stable and on line. Once the two legs are joined, the floors and the connecting structure act together — the horizontal push from the leaning leg is balanced by tension and compression through the floor plates and the joint — and the combined tower behaves as one stiffer unit. The detailed design of how this was achieved at Marina Bay is documented in the engineers' own publications; the general lesson is that any inclined structure needs its horizontal forces resolved by a deliberate path, not left to chance.
The SkyPark: one deck on three moving towers
The SkyPark is the boldest part of the project. It sits on top of three separate towers, bridges the gaps between them, and projects far beyond the northern tower as a cantilever — a structure fixed at one end and free at the other. Each of these conditions brings its own engineering problem.
The first is movement. Tall buildings are not perfectly rigid: they sway slightly in wind, shorten slowly under load as concrete creeps and shrinks, and expand and contract with temperature. Three separate towers will not move identically. A rigid deck fixed firmly to all three would be forced to bend and crack as the towers moved relative to each other. The answer used in long bridges and in large buildings everywhere is to divide the structure with movement joints and to support spans on bearings that allow controlled sliding or rotation; at Marina Bay the SkyPark was designed to accommodate the relative movement of the towers below it, including in the sections where it spans between them.
The second is the cantilever. A cantilever's weight and any load on its tip create a large bending moment at the support, which grows with the square of the length for a uniform load. A long cantilever needs great depth or strength at the root, careful control of deflection so that the tip does not droop, and attention to vibration so that people walking or wind gusts do not make it bounce perceptibly. Steel box structures are well suited because they are light for their strength and stiffness; the SkyPark's steel structure was fabricated in large sections and lifted into place at roof level using hydraulic strand jacks, a method widely used for heavy lifts on bridges and long-span roofs.
The third is the pool. Water is heavy — about 1,000 kg per cubic metre — and a swimming pool on a roof is one of the heaviest things a building can carry. It also sloshes, leaks if its waterproofing fails, and, in an infinity design, needs an overflow edge and a catch channel that must stay perfectly level for the water to spill evenly. On a structure that moves, the pool also has to tolerate those movements without cracking. Published descriptions of the project note that the pool was divided into sections with movement provisions and adjustable supports so that it could be kept level and watertight as the towers settle and move — a sophisticated solution to a problem that small rooftop pools in India face on a smaller scale.
| Challenge | Why it is difficult | General engineering answer | Indian-scale equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three towers moving differently | Wind, settlement, creep and temperature differ between towers | Movement joints and bearings that allow controlled sliding | Expansion joint between two blocks of a housing society |
| Long cantilever | Bending moment and deflection grow rapidly with length | Deep, stiff steel structure; deflection and vibration checks | Cantilever balcony, sit-out or canopy |
| Pool on a roof | Heavy water load, leakage, sloshing | Designed slab, robust waterproofing, sections with movement provisions | Terrace plunge pool on a bungalow or apartment |
| Infinity edge on a moving deck | Overflow edge must stay level to millimetres | Adjustable supports, catch channel and balancing tank | Villa infinity pool on fill or a slope |
| Building at height | Cranes, wind and safety at 200 m | Prefabricate in sections, lift with strand jacks | Precast or steel elements lifted, not cast at height |
| Wind on a tall, thin composition | Sway, comfort and cladding pressures | Wind studies, stiff cores, careful facade design | IS 875 Part 3 wind design for high-rise towers |
What a rooftop pool really weighs — and what Indian roofs are designed for
The single most useful number for an Indian homeowner dreaming of a terrace pool is this: one metre of water weighs about 1,000 kg on every square metre, which is roughly 10 kN/m². For comparison, IS 875 (Part 2), the Indian code for imposed loads, gives typical design imposed loads of around 2.0 kN/m² for residential floors and around 1.5 kN/m² for accessible flat roofs. In other words, a 1.2 m deep plunge pool places on its slab about six to eight times the imposed load the roof was probably designed for — before adding the weight of the pool shell, the screed, the tiles, the wet deck and the people in the water.
| Item on a roof slab | Approximate load | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Accessible flat roof, typical design imposed load | ≈ 1.5 kN/m² | IS 875 (Part 2), residential roofs — check the actual design |
| Residential floor, typical design imposed load | ≈ 2.0 kN/m² | IS 875 (Part 2) |
| Water, 300 mm deep (reflecting pool) | ≈ 3 kN/m² | 1,000 kg/m³ × 0.3 m × g |
| Water, 1.2 m deep (plunge pool) | ≈ 12 kN/m² | 1,000 kg/m³ × 1.2 m × g |
| Water, 1.4 m deep | ≈ 14 kN/m² | 1,000 kg/m³ × 1.4 m × g |
| RCC pool shell 200 mm thick | ≈ 5 kN/m² | Reinforced concrete about 25 kN/m³ |
| Soil for a roof garden, 450 mm saturated | ≈ 8–9 kN/m² | Saturated soil roughly 18–20 kN/m³ |
This is why rooftop pools and heavy roof gardens in India must be planned with the structural engineer from the beginning, ideally before the building is designed. On an existing building, a pool can only be added if a qualified structural engineer has checked the slab, beams, columns and foundations for the new loads — and in apartment buildings, if the society and the local authority permit it. Lighter options exist: shallow reflecting pools, spa tubs positioned over columns or beams, and prefabricated pools designed with the structure. Marina Bay's pool was part of the structural concept from the start; that is the lesson.
Building at height: sequence, prefabrication and lifting
Large projects like Marina Bay Sands are built in a carefully planned sequence. The foundations and basement come first, which on reclaimed land means deep foundations reaching competent strata below the fill. The podium and towers rise in parallel. Heavy elements that would be dangerous or slow to build at height — such as the SkyPark steel structure — are fabricated in large sections, assembled as far as possible at lower level, and then lifted into position, often by strand jacks mounted on the structure itself. Once the steel is in place and connected, the deck, landscaping, pool and finishes follow.
This logic scales down. In Indian construction, the most reliable way to build complex elements at height is the same: make as much as possible on the ground or in a factory, then lift and fix. Precast staircases, steel canopies, prefabricated pool shells, factory-made modular kitchens and wardrobes, and GFRC or aluminium facade panels all follow this principle. Cast-in-situ work at height, especially for cantilevers and terraces, needs proper propping, a full curing period and a structural engineer's sign-off before the props are removed.
| Stage | What happens | Indian equivalent lesson |
|---|---|---|
| Foundations | Deep foundations through reclaimed fill to firm strata | Soil investigation before design; piles where fill or soft soil exists |
| Podium and towers | Concrete structure rises, cores first | Plan service shafts and cores early; do not cut them later |
| Steel fabrication | SkyPark built in large sections off-site and at low level | Fabricate steel and precast elements in a yard, not on the roof |
| Strand-jack lifting | Sections lifted to roof level and connected | Lift with proper cranes and rigging plans; never improvise |
| Deck, pool and landscape | Waterproofing, pool, planting and finishes | Test waterproofing by flooding before tiling |
| Commissioning | Systems tested, movement and levels checked | Snag lists and level checks before handover |
Lessons for Indian buildings and interiors
Most Indian projects will never need strand jacks, but the thinking behind Marina Bay Sands transfers directly. Treat the roof as a usable space and design it as such from the start: loads, waterproofing, drainage, access, guard rails and shade. Respect movement: expansion joints between building blocks and in long terraces must be carried through finishes, not tiled over. Respect cantilevers: a balcony or canopy that projects more than about 1.2–1.5 m, or carries planters, a jacuzzi or heavy stone, needs specific structural design, and its back-span and anchorage matter as much as the projection. Prefabricate where possible. And design heavy wet features — pools, water bodies, roof gardens — as structure, not decoration.
There is also a design lesson for interiors. The building's power comes from a small number of clear moves: podium, towers, SkyPark. Indian homes often fail by doing too many things at once — several ceiling levels, multiple claddings, competing feature walls. Choosing one strong idea and supporting it properly, as Safdie's team did with the SkyPark, produces a more memorable result than accumulating features. Aaditya Interior applies the same thinking at the scale of a living room or a hotel lobby: one hero element, engineered properly, with everything else quiet.
Rules borrowed from Marina Bay Sands
- Decide at concept stage if the roof will carry people, pools or gardens — and design the structure for it.
- Remember the weight of water: about 10 kN/m² for every metre of depth.
- Never add a pool, water tank or heavy garden to an existing roof without a structural engineer's check and approvals.
- Carry expansion joints through every finish layer; never tile over them.
- Treat cantilevers beyond about 1.2–1.5 m, or carrying heavy loads, as engineered elements with proper anchorage.
- Resolve the sideways push of every sloping column or raking beam with a deliberate tie or support.
- Prefabricate complex elements on the ground and lift them; minimise casting at height.
- Flood-test terrace waterproofing for at least 24–48 hours before laying tiles.
- Use one strong design idea and support it properly rather than many weak ones.
Frequently asked questions
Who designed Marina Bay Sands?
The architect was Moshe Safdie of Safdie Architects, who is also known for Habitat 67 in Montreal. The project was developed by Las Vegas Sands.
How many floors does Marina Bay Sands have?
Each of the three hotel towers has 55 storeys. The SkyPark sits across the tops of all three towers.
How does the SkyPark stay on top of three towers?
It is a steel structure supported on the three towers, with provisions that allow the towers to move slightly relative to each other in wind and over time, and a long section that cantilevers beyond the northern tower. The steel was fabricated in sections and lifted into place with hydraulic strand jacks.
Can I build an infinity pool on my terrace in India?
Possibly, but only if a structural engineer confirms that the slab, beams, columns and foundations can carry the extra load — a 1.2 m deep pool adds about 12 kN/m² of water alone — and the building society and local authority permit it. It also needs specialist waterproofing, a catch channel and balancing tank, and safety barriers.
When did Marina Bay Sands open?
It opened in 2010, with different parts of the complex opening in phases through the year.
Sources & standards
- Safdie Architects — official project description of Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
- Marina Bay Sands — official information on the hotel, SkyPark and integrated resort
- Arup — published project information on the structural engineering of Marina Bay Sands
- Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority — Marina Bay planning and the integrated resort programme
- Bureau of Indian Standards — IS 875 (Part 2) imposed loads and IS 875 (Part 3) wind loads; IS 456 (plain and reinforced concrete)
- Bureau of Indian Standards — National Building Code of India 2016, Part 6 (structural design) and Part 3 (general building requirements)
- Habitat 67, Montreal — widely documented project by Moshe Safdie for Expo 67
