Marina Bay: The Latest Architecture and News

SO-IL, in partnership with Detroit’s Library Street Collective, has revealed the design for a new arts campus in the Stanton Yards marina on the Detroit River. The office is leading the adaptive reuse of four existing pre-war industrial buildings at Stanton Yards with the aim of creating a campus for arts organizations, creative retail, artist studios, and independent hospitality ventures along the waterfront. The master plan for the 13-acre site is led by design firm OSD (Office of Strategy + Design), a development that strives to transform the now-disused waterfront area into a 'dynamic cultural amenity' with over 80,000 square feet of commercial and creative space, 85 boat slips, and programmed waterfront parks. The project aims to expand upon the program of Detroit's Little Village, a diverse arts neighborhood recognized for its cultural and artistic scene.

Marina Bay Sands has unveiled plans for a significant expansion project to be designed by Safdie Architects, led by Moshe Safdie, the architect of the existing structure. Featuring a luxury hotel and a 15,000-seat entertainment arena, the new intervention signals a new development phase in the evolution of the iconic landmark in Singapore. Anticipated to commence construction by July 2025, the project is slated for completion by July 2029, promising an array of new amenities and facilities for visitors to enjoy.

Zaha Hadid Architects have released images of their design for the world’s first hydrogen refueling infrastructure for recreational boating. Continuing ZHA’s experience in maritime designs, the stations are to be installed in 25 Italian marinas and ports. Launched by NatPower H, the stations will begin to be implemented in the summer of 2024, with plans to expand to over 100 locations throughout the Mediterranean Sea in the next six years.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has revealed the design of 8 Shenton Way, a 305 meters-high tower. Once completed it would become not only Singapore's Tallest Building but one of Asia's most sustainable skyscrapers. The mixed-use tower takes cues from bamboo forests to create an indoor-outdoor vertical community with public spaces, offices, retail, a hotel, and residences. In partnership with DCA Architects, the project is scheduled for completion in 2028 and will become the newest landmark on the Singapore skyline, along with Marina Bay and CapitaSpring Tower.

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The landscape architects of Gustafson Porter has shared with us their newest project in the center of Singapore's business district: Marina One. The massive mixed-use scheme is said to be "one of the first" to "integrate soft landscape into the fabric of the building," carving a public "Green Heart" in between the development's four towers - two residential and two commercial high-rises designed by Ingenhoven Architects and A61.

"The ‘Green Heart’ at the center of the Marina South towers evokes a rice paddy field, terraced into steep hillsides and made arable for the cultivation of rice, an essential crop of the East Asia," says Gustafson Porter. "Visitors and inhabitants ascend skywards from the Green Heart into Strata Terraces, a Cloud Garden, Green Screens and Rooftop Gardens that allude to the changing environments and habitats that one might experience whilst climbing a mountain."

The RIBA Lubetkin Prize, awarded annually to the architects of the best new building outside the European Union, was won this year by Wilkinson Eyre and Grant Associates for Cooled Conservatories, Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. The prize, which was also awarded to Wilkinson Eyre in 2012 for the Guangzhou International Finance Centre, is now in its 13th year.

Upon announcing the news, RIBA President Stephen Hodder stated: