In addition to being one of the busiest ports and financial centers in the world, Singapore is known for its bustling Marina Bay Sands, an entertainment district that is home to the ArtScience Museum; Gardens by the Bay—a green space spanning approximately 250 acres; interim event space for theater and carnivals Promontory@Marina Bay; and the Marina Bay Sands resort, where new eatery Adrift is serving up artisanal cuisine with an East-meets-West appeal.
The brainchild of restaurateur David Myers, Adrift is the culmination of his extensive travels from California to southeast Asia—Myers’ wanderlust informs everything from the menu to the design. To make his dream a reality, he turned to Singapore-based Blueplate Studios—the Wilson Associates studio specializing in F&B design—to conceptualize the 4,000-square-foot restaurant. The space, however, was curated entirely by Myers.
“The request was to design a ‘new look’ restaurant to complement the chef’s aesthetics and style, while championing the lounge experience and artistry of the cocktail,” says Stephan Brutti, associate design director of Blueplate Studios. “Our process starts with deconstructing the design brief to investigate the common threads and create a narrative that breathes new life into the dining experience.”
A request Myers made of Blueplate from the outset was to design Adrift as a sculptural centerpiece within the Marina Bay Sands atrium. The edifice unfolds from a wrapped wood-and-copper façade, with the glow from its dimly illuminated criss-cross relief playing off the atrium’s surrounding earth-toned marble tiling.
The challenge, says Brutti, was “creating an enclosure that promotes an energetic, yet intimate cocktail experience and also holds its own, architecturally, within the hotel’s larger-than-life atrium.”
Blueplate designers used a pre-existing green wall outside the restaurant as a backdrop. To parallel the surrounding elements, they crafted a garden parlor with hanging timber benches and floral accents. Grained timber made of black reclaimed American barn wood mirrors the benches and encases the show kitchen.
“That wood is a multilayered ode to David’s origins and culinary style, which brings an earthy, cozy vibe into the space,” Brutti explains. “Myers is known as the gypsy chef. He has this wanderlust spirit that we wanted to capture in the space, and we did it through layering materials, exploring textures, and mixing incongruent materials to create an urban elegance.”
Setting Adrift apart is the attention to detail and unusual quirks. The private dining room, enhanced with objets d’art and vintage photographs, is home to a surrealist library, while the main dining hall features expanded mesh woven into metal screens fused in concrete. The central bar was designed to evoke nostalgia and act as a showpiece highlighting the restaurant’s artisanal cocktails.
To achieve a vintage Ginza style, the designers used diffused lighting, glowing liquor bottles, leather barstools, antiqued metal screens, concrete, and charred timber accents. “We wanted the bar to evoke a speakeasy feel with our choice of materials constructing an elegant, interesting form that was truly a stage for the art of the cocktail,” says Brutti. “It’s our job as designers to help create that magnetism—the mystic that lures people inside.”
