1-Altitude Gallery & Bar

For more than a decade 1-Altitude Gallery & Bar sat on level 63 of One Raffles Place, the tallest tower in Singapore's Raffles Place financial district. It was not just the highest bar in the city. At 282 metres, with an open-air deck ringed by a roughly five-foot glass wall, it was billed as the highest alfresco bar in the world. That claim, and the 360-degree view across the Marina and the Singapore Strait, is what put it on every rooftop list for years.

The venue has since closed, and the rooftop at One Raffles Place now trades as NOVA. We keep this page for the record and for anyone searching the old name. If you want the same view today, head to Singapore's current rooftop bars rather than this address.

1-Altitude was a multi-level destination spread across the top three floors of the tower. The nightclub Altimate sat on level 61, the Australian restaurant Stellar on level 62, and the open-air rooftop bar crowned it on level 63. The rooftop itself was uncovered, so the weather and the wind at that height were part of the experience, and a clear evening was the night to go.

The reason to ride to the 63rd floor was always the sightline rather than the cocktail menu. By day the rooftop ran as a paid viewing gallery; by night it became a bar with a DJ or band and a queue. Reviewers across Tripadvisor and rooftop guides single out the same thing again and again: an unobstructed, full-circle panorama over the central business district, the Marina, and out to the water, with very little between you and the drop.

Because the deck was completely uncovered, the weather called the shots. A clear, dry evening rewarded the trip with a horizon that ran past Marina Bay to the Strait; a wet one closed the open-air section. Most visitors timed their arrival for sunset, when the towers below switched on and the view did the work no drinks list could match.

For a current view, try CÉ LA VI in Singapore atop Marina Bay Sands, the perched Mr Stork in Singapore at Andaz, or Lantern in Singapore at the Fullerton Bay. The full set is in our guide to Singapore rooftop bars and the wider Singapore bar guide.