d+a | Issue 121 • 2021

/ HOSPITALITY / 78 INSTEAD OF DEMOLISHING THE PARKROYAL COLLECTION MARINA BAY AND REBUILDING IT, FDAT CONCEPTUALISED THE HOTEL TO WELCOME THE OUTDOORS IN. GARDEN IN A HOTEL WORDS EMMA XU / PHOTOGRAPHY DARREN SOH, ANDY LIEW, PAN PACIFIC HOTELS GROUP F ormerly known as Marina Mandarin, PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay’s iconic building with its soaring, 21-storey atrium was originally designed by neo-futurist American architect John Portman in 1985, who single-handedly founded the atria hotel typology. Tasked to redesign the hotel, Donovan Soon, Director of FDAT, felt it was necessary to keep its iconic structure. “The decision to retain the building felt right on many fronts, economically as well as ecologically,” says Soon. “The pandemic has hit the hospitality industry very badly, therefore we were very conscious of how we spent the budget. “Instead of changing everything, we were very selective and intervened in selected locations for maximum guest impact. “Our challenge was to craft a new hospitality experience within this framework, and it seemed very natural to insert gardens and greenery into this urban-scaled space — in essence, turning our garden city outside in.” No stranger to the PARKROYAL COLLECTION, Soon had previously led the team working on the PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering when he was still with WOHA, which designed the project. 01. Visitors are greeted by a soaring 13m vertical landscape, flanked by raised planters that create a panoramic 180-degree forest.