Inside the Westworld universe, Singapore city still exists in the year 2058. In season three, androids walk calmly on the streets and live inside its futuristic buildings like humans do nowadays.
But the avant-garde architecture of Singapore was also used to recreate other parts of the world in this dystopian science fiction such as a future version of the city of Los Angeles.
STADIUM MRT SUBWAY STATION: Los Angeles metro station on the show.
Season three introduces us to Caleb, a war veteran who works in construction but has a side job involved in some criminal activities.
In episode one, we see him taking the metro to attend a meeting at night. In real life the character of Caleb is not in California but in the Stadium MRT Subway Station where the scene was filmed in Singapore.
This subway station serves the Singapore Sports Hub, which has an a indoor sports hall with a 55,000 capacity.
Clearly, something went very well because the Stadium MRT Station was awarded the “Design Of The Year” of the President’s Design Award in 2010, the same year it opened.
ATLAS BAR: Maeve and Serac meeting.
“If you really wanted to impress me you’d have taken me to Paris.” This is what Maeve (the android) tells Serac (the richest man in the world) when they meet in Singapore.
In the show, this encounter happens in the year 2058 in a lush Art Deco bar right in the city centre. In reality, this bar actually exists and it is called Atlas Bar.
Let us tell you that once you set a foot inside the Atlas Bar you’re not longer in Singapore, but rather in Paris in the 20’s.
If you pay a visit to this grand lobby and bar you’ll have a similar experience to Maeve and maybe you too will have to ask someone to remind you that you’re still in Singapore, and not inside a simulation.
LASALLE COLLEGE OF THE ARTS: Caleb's job interview.
In episode one of season three, Caleb has a job interview in a gigantic building which looks like a huge glass twisted metal cage.
In the show, this building is supposed to be in Los Angeles but once again the actor playing Caleb (Aaron Paul) didn’t film this scene anywhere in California. Instead, the filming team travelled to Singapore, specifically to Lasalle College of the Arts in the Rochor neighborhood (McNally Street).
Inside this particular Lasalle College campus there are a total of 7 buildings interconnected by clear bridges in the air. Exactly the futuristic design that Westworld needed to make its universe come alive!
ORCHARD ROAD: Los Angeles science fiction road.
There are several moments in season three where we can see Caleb and Maeve walking (separately, not together) along a busy street in “Los Angeles”. A wide boulevard always lit by thousands of lights coming out from the stores at both sides of the road.
This boulevard is non other than the famous Orchard Road in Singapore (which passes off once more as a futuristic version of Los Angeles).
Orchard Road is an upscale shopping area in the Central Area of Singapore and a tourist attraction with 2.5 km of stores, restaurants and bars to stop by.
Why don’t you visit Orchard (as it’s colloquially known) at night like Maeve and Caleb did? This way you’ll be able to admire the unintentional light show it offers when the sun goes down!
CHINATOWN FOOD STREET: Los Ángeles food market in the show.
In the walking scene with Maeve we referred to in the previous filming location, the android goes from Orchard Road to Chinatown in just a few seconds. This is totally unrealistic because these two spots in Singapore are 4.5 km from one another. (But this is not reality, this is a TV show where Maeve is not a human but an android)
Once in Chinatown, Maeve strolls down 41 Smith St. which plays its part as a food market in the city of Los Angeles. However, this address was really known as the most famous asian street food in Singapore.
Yes, we’re talking in past tense because all the restaurants and food stalls closed at the beginning of 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, after more than 20 years being a major tourist attraction in Singapore.
PARKROYAL COLLECTION PICKERING HOTEL: Dolores' simulation.
The Parkroyal Collection Pickering is located only 10 minutes away from Chinatown. This is a luxury hotel which its distinctive bird cage cabanas and infinity pool made an appearance in season three.
The spectacular hotel terrace is the setting of a simulation programmed by the android Dolores. In the scene, she is threatening a Delos employee (the company that owns the parks where the androids were being kept in previous seasons).
But the Parkroyal Collection Pickerin appears in yet another scene from season three. This is the location where Dolores and Charlotte meet in episode three and this time we get to see a complete shot of the hotel exterior so we can admire the its impressive hanging gardens.
However, the scenes that take places inside were filmed in another hotel with a much more minimalist decoration than the one the Parkroyal Collection Pickerin has on display.
As a curious note, although the interior of this hotel does not really appear on the screen, the actors from Westworld were very familiarized with it. This is the place the crew stayed in while filming the show in Singapore. Do you want to stay here too? Click on the ‘Accommodation’ button, search its name and voilà! Book your holidays quickly!
MARINA ONE: Incite Inc. company building in the show.
Incite Inc, the company that in the show owns the world’s most advance AI, had to be recreated at an avant-garde building that matched the futuristic work that takes place in it.
The locations chosen by the Westworld team was the exclusive condo, office and retail complex of Marina One. It is located between Marina Bay and the CBD and has some of the most luxurious apartments in the world.
Marina One opened in 2018 with two residential towers and two office towers and a retail podium fulled of greenery named ‘The Heart’. A revolutionary complex that is now a symbol of Singapore.
NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE: A bank in Los Angeles in the show.
In episode four of season three, Caleb and Dolores visit a prestigious bank in Los Angeles with a task in mind: taking all the money out from the account of the founder of Incite Inc. The company that invented the world’s most advanced AI.
The building we see on the screen is the National Gallery Singapore. A public institution and museum that can be found in the Civic District of the city.
There isn’t any private fortune kept within its walls like it occurs in the show, but it is on display the world’s largest public collection of Southeast Asian art.
More than 9,000 pieces of art that you too can admire wandering the same corridors and rooms Caleb and Dolores walk through.
If you travel to Singapore, join the tours we recommend by clicking on the ‘Activities’ button and explore the National Gallery!
HELIX BRIDGE: A bridge in Los Angeles in the show.
Caleb is talking on the phone in an episode of season three while walking along the streets of Los Angeles.
This takes place any given night in the year 2018 and one of the places Caleb walks calmly by is a huge bridge with thousands of LED lights leading the way. This futuristic bridge is non other than the Helix Bridge, the largest bridge in Singapore.
The 280 metres long pedestrian bridge connects Marina Bay with Marina South. And its eye catching design is inspired by the shape of a double stranded DNA molecule.
You too can admire its bright beauty by joining a night tour by the Singapore River. Go to the ‘Activities’ section to know all the details!
