Singapore Buildings With a Ship on Top: Marina Bay Sands Explained

For decades, the skyline of Singapore was defined by the standard, albeit impressive, glass-and-steel towers of a global financial hub. But in 2010, the narrative of the city’s architecture changed forever. A structure appeared that defied the conventional laws of symmetry and gravity: three massive skyscrapers connected at the summit by a colossal, 340-meter-long platform that looks exactly like a ship floating 200 meters in the sky.

This is Marina Bay Sands (MBS). While many locals and tourists simply refer to it as “the building with the ship on top,” its existence is a masterclass in radical engineering and urban planning. To understand how a “ship” ended up stranded 57 stories above the Singapore Strait, we have to look at the vision of its creator and the physics that keep it standing.

The Visionary Behind the Ship

The story of Marina Bay Sands begins with Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie. When commissioned to design an integrated resort that would define Singapore’s new downtown, Safdie didn’t want a single monolithic block. He drew inspiration from a deck of cards.

The three towers are not straight vertical lines; they are sloped. Each tower consists of two “legs”—one straight and one curved—that lean against each other. This creates a dramatic, hollow “atrium” at the base of the towers. However, the true challenge was the crown: the Sands SkyPark.

Safdie’s vision was to create a “public park in the sky,” a way to provide green space and leisure in a city where land is the most precious commodity. The “ship” shape was the most aerodynamic and structurally sound way to connect three independent towers while allowing for a massive cantilever—the longest of its kind in the world.

Engineering the SkyPark: A Feat of Physics

The “ship” on top is officially known as the Sands SkyPark. It is longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall and spans across the three towers, with a breathtaking 67-meter cantilever hanging off the edge of Tower 3.

But how do you place a 7,000-tonne structure across three separate buildings? The primary challenge was movement.

Skyscrapers are designed to sway in the wind. However, three separate towers sway at different frequencies and in different directions. If the ship were bolted rigidly to all three, the swaying of the buildings would tear the ship apart. To solve this, engineers installed expansion joints between the segments of the SkyPark.

The ship is essentially “floating” on the towers. There are massive bearing plates that allow the buildings to move independently underneath the SkyPark while the ship remains a stable, unified platform.

The Infinity Pool: Water at the Edge of the World

The most famous feature of the ship is undoubtedly the Infinity Pool. Spanning 150 meters, it is the world’s largest rooftop infinity pool. From the water, it appears as though the surface spills directly into the Singapore skyline.

Maintaining a pool of this size at such a height requires extraordinary engineering. Because the towers sway, the water in the pool would naturally “slosh” like water in a bathtub. To prevent this, engineers built the pool in three separate stainless-steel shells, each resting on its own tower segment. Flexible joints connect these shells, allowing them to move without leaking a single drop of water.

Fun Fact: The pool holds roughly 1.4 million liters of water. To prevent the weight of the water from crushing the structure, the SkyPark utilizes a series of hydraulic jacks that can be adjusted to keep the pool perfectly level even as the towers settle into the ground over time.

More Than Just a View: What’s Inside the Ship?

While the pool is reserved for hotel guests, the SkyPark is a multi-functional “vessel” that serves several purposes:

• The Observation Deck: Located on the “bow” of the ship (the cantilevered section), it offers 360-degree views of the Gardens by the Bay and the bustling shipping lanes of the Singapore Strait.

• Lush Gardens: The park is home to 250 species of trees and 650 species of plants, creating a literal “jungle in the clouds.”

• Fine Dining: Several world-class restaurants sit atop the ship, allowing diners to eat while suspended hundreds of feet in the air.

The Impact on Singapore’s Narrative

Marina Bay Sands did more than just provide hotel rooms; it shifted Singapore’s identity from a “stopover city” to a “destination city.” Before the ship landed on the skyline, the Marina Bay area was largely reclaimed land with little character. Today, it is the most photographed spot in Southeast Asia.

The building serves as a permanent anchor for the city’s tourism. It sits at the heart of a larger ecosystem that includes the ArtScience Museum (the “lotus-shaped” building at its feet) and the Gardens by the Bay (the “super-trees” behind it). Together, they tell a narrative of a city that lives in harmony with technology and nature.

Architectural Statistics at a Glance

The Verdict: Is It Just a Gimmick?

Critics initially called the “ship” a flamboyant gimmick, a piece of “Architainment” designed to attract gamblers to the casino below. However, over a decade later, Marina Bay Sands has proven to be a masterpiece of functional design.

It solved the problem of how to create high-density luxury without sacrificing the “open” feeling of a park. It pushed the boundaries of what steel and concrete can do when faced with the unpredictable forces of nature. Most importantly, it gave Singapore an unmistakable silhouette that can be recognized from anywhere in the world.

The “ship on top” isn’t just an ornament; it is the ultimate symbol of a nation that refuses to be limited by the horizon.