Therme Singapore Breaks Ground on S$1 Billion Wellness Facility in Marina South, Opening in 2030

European thermal bath operator Therme Group broke ground on Friday (Jun 19) on its first project in Asia, a S$1 billion development at Marina South that will be Singapore’s first dedicated wellness attraction and Asia’s first “large-scale thermal wellness destination.” Due to open in 2030, the facility will span over 720,000 square feet, or about nine football fields, across seven levels, with more than 20 pools and water attractions, as well as over 70 wellness treatment rooms.

Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, who spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony held at the IMBA Theatre within Gardens by the Bay, noted that Therme Singapore will strengthen the country’s position as a hub for tourism, wellness and urban innovation in Asia. With the global wellness economy reaching US$6.8 trillion in 2024 and expected to hit US$9.8 trillion by 2029, Singapore is “responding to this shift,” said Fu, who is also Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations.

At full capacity, the new facility will be able to accommodate two million visitors annually, with half expected to be international visitors. Therme Group is also establishing its regional headquarters in Singapore to oversee projects across Asia. The facility is expected to create about 400 jobs in areas such as construction, engineering, facilities management, operations and hospitality.

Occupying the four-hectare waterfront Marina South Coastal site next to Marina Barrage and Gardens by the Bay, the facility will have three zones: Play, Relax and Restore. The family-oriented Play zone will feature 18 waterslides with a combined length of about 1.8 km, a wave pool, indoor and outdoor recreational pools, and relaxation spaces.

The landscaped Relax zone will have relaxation pools, mineral pools and lounging spaces. The Restore zone will focus on wellness and treatment, with sauna and steam rooms, massages and cold plunge pools. The site will also have about 86,000 square feet of F&B offerings.

Indoor air temperatures will be controlled at about 30 degrees Celsius, and pool temperatures set at about 32 deg C to maintain a “stable tropical indoor environment.” More than 200,000 plants, including orchids and palms, will fill the space. The facility sits within a new four-hectare coastal park, which will be free for public access and connects with Marina Barrage. Designed by DP Architects in collaboration with Therme Group’s in-house architects, the development is being built in partnership with Kajima Overseas Asia (Singapore).

Therme Singapore’s journey began almost 10 years ago, said former minister Mah Bow Tan, who is chairman of Therme Group Asia and Therme Singapore. He recalled that founder and CEO Robert Hanea had proposed a large-scale wellness destination in Marina Bay, and after initially declining, Mah visited Therme’s facilities and became convinced.

Mah laid out three things that Therme Singapore must get right: it must be beautiful and iconic, it must be inclusive in pricing, programming and design, and it must be distinctively Singaporean. “It must be distinctively Singaporean, not just another successful concept imported from overseas,” he said.

Therme Group focuses on opening facilities in cities and is headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, where its flagship facility is located. Other developments are under way in Manchester, Frankfurt, Toronto, Washington DC, Dallas, South Korea and Dubai. To support workforce development, Therme Singapore signed a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Technical Education and Republic Polytechnic for skills development, innovation projects, internships and employment pathways for graduates.