The 'Surfboard', that flat-looking top running across the three hotel towers of Marina Bay Sands integrated resort, is set to open for public viewing next week. Life! got an early sneak peek and the word is 'Wow'.

The SkyPark, as it is officially called, offers a breathtaking, panoramic city-sea vista from a public observation deck.

Admission to Singapore's latest sky-high thriller gives plenty of metres for the money. It is $20, $14 and $17 for adults, children and senior citizens, respectively.

That is cheaper than the Singapore Flyer, which it overlooks. A 30-minute ride in one of the Flyer's air-conditioned pod-like capsules is $29.50, $20.65 and $23.60 for adults, children and senior citizens, respectively.

For SkyPark's $20 or so, you gaze across a huge pool - yes, there is a swimming pool, the highest in the country - to a seamless view that seems to stretch forever.

In places, you can even go right up to the edge, which gives the effect that you could simply step off the 'Surfboard' and into the sea.

However, be aware that the eye-popping structure sits atop the towers at a dizzying height of 200m. This makes it the fourth tallest building after One Raffles Place, UOB Plaza and Republic Plaza that all stand at 280m.

By day, soak in a sight that stretches from the financial district's shiny towers to the pre-war shophouses in Bras Basah to a bird's eye view of the new botanical garden on the Marina Bay seafront, to Malaysia as well as the Indonesian islands of Bintan and Batam.

At sunset, the view changes to a spectacular city skyline lit up against the night.

The SkyPark, which opens next Thursday, is a sprawling 1.2ha lifestyle venue the size of two football fields and which takes about 20 minutes to stroll from one end to another. It houses restaurants, bars, a public observation deck and a pool for hotel guests only - which fittingly is an infinity one, giving the illusion of merging with the horizon.

However, only the observation deck and pool of this tropical resort-in-the-sky are opening next week.

Four food and beverage venues, such as the upscale The Sky On 57 restaurant run by celebrity chef Justin Quek, Marina Bay Club and a restaurant-bar, are expected to be ready by the third quarter of this year. Some food kiosks will be open at the observation deck next week.

Tickets to the observation deck will go on sale soon on Marina Bay Sands website. There will be 500 exclusive first-day tickets priced at $20 each, which will come with a special commemorative cap, Sands announced yesterday.

The SkyPark, which costs $150 million to build, is an architectural spectacle.

Singaporeans who have been watching the progress of the resort's construction will be surprised to know that the 'Surfboard' is actually curved like a boomerang when you are on it and viewing it from one end to the other.

Another surprise: Visitors need not worry about the effect of wind at that high altitude. They are unlikely to feel any swaying motion on the SkyPark, says Mr Brendon McNiven, the design leader of Arup, the design and engineering company of the resort.

He says: 'The motion is quite slow and dampers contained in the belly of the SkyPark have been provided to suppress any motion that does occur.'

The SkyPark is the tallest building in the Marina Bay area and it towers over the 165m-tall Singapore Flyer, the world's tallest observation wheel.

But even as its opening is set to cause a stir, Singapore's buildings keep hitting new heights.

Next month, another rooftop hangout is set to make jaws drop. The 282m-tall 1-Altitude sports and lifestyle venue at One Raffles Place will open, taking the number of skyscraper hangouts in town to nearly 20.

It will be Singapore's tallest rooftop hangout and will include a bar, fine-dining restaurant and a facility where golfers can play indoors, thanks to simulated computer games.

Despite the competition, Sands' chief executive officer Thomas Arasi is confident the SkyPark will be a hit among Singaporeans and tourists.

He told Life! during a guided tour of the SkyPark on Wednesday: 'The SkyPark is set like a stage before the city and the waterfront. There is nothing quite like it in Singapore. When you are up at the SkyPark, you feel as if you are sitting on a cloud overlooking everything around you.'

The observation deck, which juts out over the hotel towers, is rimmed by a 2m-high glass barrier and visitors can get right up to the edge.

Designed like a tropical resort, the Skypark features stone walkways lined with palm trees and timber decks around jacuzzi tubs and the infinity pool, designed by pool specialists in the United States. It was shipped to Singapore in pieces.

It was a challenge to bridge a mass of water across three separate towers. A Marina Bay Sands spokesman says: 'The pool was built in stainless steel before we tiled the surface. We also have a jacking system that allows engineers to ensure that the pool stays level at all times, even as buildings settle over time.'

The food and beverage outlets, currently being built, are located on terraces along the 'Surfboard', each providing a different view of the city and seafront.

Mr Arasi says: 'The SkyPark is a city on its own that is set against a dramatic backdrop of Singapore, offering visitors a unique dining and bar experience.'

Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Reprinted with permission.