Singapore Skyline includes SkyPark

I was in Singapore for a City Development Conference (paid for conference organisers Marcus Evans) a year and a half ago, and this building was not there. Looks a bit like a ship in the air. Needed exploring. Let alone all the other buildings around it. This development is called the Marina Sands development...

You walk along the waterfront to get to it. You can see a motorway extends up to it. It's a bridge actually. To the right beyond that yellow shaded temporary fencing you can see the arcs of an extraordinary walking bridge...

This is inside that bridge, walking across. It's made superbly of stainless steel. The Helix. For all the world like a DNA molecule. Some of the bridge is sheltered from the weather - by plastic sheathing. Other parts are open. And in the background this strange new building rears into the sky...

This is the view looking up from the ground. It's about 55 or 60 stories high. You can make out the word "Park" - that's the last few characters of what it's called: SkyPark...

Inside seems to be vast areas of empty space. Cavernous roof spaces. Artwork and sculpture and strange shapes for services like air conditioning. Places to sit and have a meal or a coffee. Part of it is a hotel. When I went there was a queue of about 50 to have a look up the top. Cost $20.00. I was delighted to discover I qualified for a senior citizen discount! First time that's happened to me.

Here's the view from the top, looking back in the direction of that motorway shot. To the right you can see Singapore's equivalent of the London Eye. To the left, looking down, you can see the Helix walking Bridge. And that green seating area you can see by the waterfront on the left are the seats facing the theatre where the kids are rehearsing for the Youth Olympics (another blog in this Singapore series).

And bugger me if there isn't a park up here. With decent sized trees and people walking about minding their own business as if it was the most normal thing in the world. But the best is yet to come...

Yep. A swimming pool with a view to die for - or possibly to die from! This is set aside for Hotel residents, but people like me could wander and wonder. Imagination.

There's not many places like this in the world. Probably just as well really. Fun though. Iconic I guess - this building. Spectacular...

Proof that I was there. Roll on the next international all expenses paid conference. And I learned a lot about Affordable Housing too.