Apple Marina Bay Sands / Foster + Partners

Curated by Paula Pintos
RETAIL, RETAIL INTERIORS • SINGAPORE
Architects : Foster + Partners
Year : 2020
Photographs: Finbarr Fallon, Fabian Ong
Manufacturers : Terrazzo & Marble

Textual content description offered by the architects. Apple Marina Bay Sands creates a brand new distinctive presence on Singapore Bay. The 30-metre-diameter structure is a totally glazed dome with a black glass base, complementing the sister pavilions by way of its scale and materiality. The design is the results of an in depth collaboration between Apple’s design groups and the built-in engineering and design staff at Foster + Companions.

David Summerfield, Foster + Companions mentioned, “Apple Marina Bay Sands is all in regards to the delicate interaction between transparency and shade. The structure dissolves the boundary between the within and out of doors, making a minimal platform that floats gently within the water, searching over the bay and the spectacular Singapore skyline.”

Structurally, the dome acts as a hybrid metal and glass shell, the place the grid of metal sections assist the burden of the glass and shading, and the curved structural glass panels restrain the metal components laterally and stiffen the general kind towards lateral hundreds. Built-in photo voltaic shading units hold the inside cool. Every of the 114 panels of glass is fastidiously chosen to satisfy glazing indices as prescribed by BCA Inexperienced Mark, Singapore’s personal sustainability score system.

Every of the multifunctional concentric gentle sunshade rings cut back in measurement as they progress in direction of the highest of the building, offering acoustic absorption for the shop. Extra importantly, they diffuse and replicate daylight to the baffle above, making a magical impact and dematerialising the structure. On the high a semi-opaque oculus supplies a dramatic shaft of sunshine that travels by way of the area, paying homage to the well-known Pantheon in Rome.

Stefan Behling, Foster + Companions mentioned, “The dome seems ephemeral. The impact could be very calming, and the altering depth and color of the sunshine is mesmerising. It isn’t solely a celebration of Apple’s unbelievable merchandise, however a celebration of sunshine.”

The backyard metropolis superb of Singapore flows from the promenade into the inside areas, with ten bushes positioned alongside the perimeter offering extra shading and mushy shadows by way of the foliage. Set inside leather-topped planters, additionally they present comfy locations to sit down and benefit from the ambiance of the shop and the unbelievable views of the marina

The shop will be entered by way of The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands by way of a superbly curved stone entrance, flanked by Apple’s signature Avenue show on both aspect of a 45-metre lengthy and seven.6-metre large area. This leads on to a set of dramatic escalators that take guests on a “kaleidoscopic” journey to the center of the spectacular domed area. This contrasting transition from the center of the retail centre to the Apple dome presents the shopper a dramatic and exhilarating expertise. It culminates with spectacular views throughout the bay and in direction of the town. In the course of the day, the dome displays the colors of the encircling water and sky, whereas within the night the refined inside lighting supplies a heat glow and enhances everybody’s expertise of Singapore’s spectacular skyline.

Robinson Adey