Snapshot: Inspired by the sea

By Sigrid Tornquist

At the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, FTL Design Engineering Studio and Peter Marino Architect designed an innovative solar shade system for the Louis Vuitton “Island Maison.” The project is located in a floating “Crystal Pavilion” designed by Safdie Architects, an asymmetric building with irregularly angled facades, sited one degree north of the equator.

The project’s location presented a number of design challenges for FTL, chief of which was to control an over-abundance of tropical sun. An asymmetric steel-framed glass building with irregularly angled facades, the Crystal Pavilion receives sun through all its facades. The result is a solar shading concept of continuous linear white bands that provide shade and UV protection for the products and serve as the backdrop for the interior build-out.

Sigrid Tornquist is a freelance author and editor based in St. Paul, Minn. She is also the associate editor of InTents magazine, a publication of the Industrial Fabrics Association International.