Ssangyong builds new landmark hotel in Singapore

Ssangyong Engineering and Construction has just completed what is said is a new architectural icon in terms of technology and aesthetics.

The Korean builder constructed the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore that involves highly sophisticated technologies and engineering methods -- in just two years. The hotel, which is expected to become a new landmark on par with the Opera House in Sydney, opened its doors for the first time to the public on Wednesday.

The opening ceremony on June 23 in Singapore was attended by many distinguished guests including Kim Suk-joon, the chairman of Ssangyong E & C, Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp. and the developer of the Marina Bay Sands, Oh Joon, the Korean Ambassador to Singapore, as well as some 1,200 reporters from all over the world.

The hotel, designed by Moshe Shafdie, a world-renowned U.S. architect famous for his complex and modern designs, has three 55-story buildings with three stories underground. It houses 2,511 rooms, covering an area of 302,171 square meters, which is roughly twice the area of 63 building in Yeouido, Seoul, the company explained.

Calling it a modern version of the Tower of Pisa in Italy, the Korean builder has been constructing the hotel, part of an integrated $3.5 billion resort complex. The complex -- consisting of a hotel, convention center, shopping mall and a casino on 570,000 square meters of land -- was planned by the Singaporean government to secure new tourism growth.

The hotel involves highly innovative and sophisticated technologies. The project was the "most difficult project to carry out in the whole world," many said.

The hotel, which is designed to serve as a gateway to Singapore, is characterized by the concave shape of each building.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel, a modern version of the Tower of Pisa, was opened to the public in Singapore on Wednesday. Ssangyong

"We succeeded in completing the construction of the project just in 27 months, far less than the suggested period of 48 months," Ahn Kook-jin, a Ssangyong official who spearheaded the project in Singapore, said.

"Even though many worried that the project could be done only in our dreams, Ssangyong has proved its world-class construction capability and technological know-how by completing the project," he added.

The most daunting challenge was to link the concaved east leg with the west leg of the building at the 23rd floor successfully. The Korean builder applied the post-tension method that is mainly used in constructing bridges to construct a building inclined at 52 degrees at its highest, which is nearly 10 times more inclined than the Leaning Tower of Pisa at 5.5 degrees.

During construction, three iron structures were temporarily put in place with the severest inclination beside the post-tension method. Through this, the quantity of temporary work for the main work was reduced by a great deal so that the work could be executed without interference from structures.

Ssangyong E & C then used trusses to solve the bending problem caused by vertical load transfer to the two legs of each building. It also built a new floor every three or four days and completed the framework in only 18 months.

Ssangyong E & C's success in winning the project despite its relatively high $686 million bid could be attributed to the fact that the company came up with post-tensioning technology and others for the leaning structure and the ideas that allowed a reduction in the time required for the construction period.

"For that reason, the bid for the construction project garnered much attention from construction designers and construction companies around the world," the company said.

The project is the largest single overseas construction project Korean companies have ever won, it added.

Ssangyong also completed the Sands SkyPark, which is twice as large as a soccer field (12,000 square meters), that connects the 55th floors of the three towers. The 340-meter-long SkyPark will house swimming pools, observation decks, gardens, restaurants, spas, and walking trails.

The SkyPark is expected to be a leading tourist spot.

Night view of Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore Ssangyong

The Korean builder has won a number of overseas contracts, particularly in Singapore.

Ssangyong is currently participating in the new Marina Coastal Expressway project operated by the Land Transport Authority in the Southeast Asian city-state. The five-lane expressway opens in 2020. It could cost the Singaporean government about $40 billion. The project is so massive that work had to be separated into six portions, Ssangyong said.

The expressway will link the new downtown to the western and north-eastern suburbs of Singapore. Ssangyong E & C is in charge of design and construction of a 0.56 kilometer-long underground expressway and a 0.44 kilometer entry road. It will receive 820 million won for building each meter of the road, an official of the company said.

The builder also plans to expand business to India, Indonesia and Abu Dhabi.

It has opened a local office in Abu Dhabi in the UAE and is expecting to win projects from the Middle Eastern government which plans to inject billions of dollars to develop the country.

By Cho Chung-un ( christory@heraldm.com)