New malls give Orchard Road a facelift

MORE franchise food outlets and boutiques featuring high-end fashion brands have rolled in recently into the bustling

avenue of Orchard Road — a shopper's paradise, entertainment hub and food haven which already has 20 to 30 malls along the street.

On this shopper's paradise, if you start walking from Tanglin Road and continue to the very end of Orchard Road, you will find the international design houses such as Prada, Gucci, Hermés, Christian Dior, Bvlgari, Louis Vuitton, Channel, and Burberry that have made their Singapore home at Palais Renaissance, Hilton the Shopping Gallery, Wisma Atria, Paragon and Ngee Ann City.

While for books and music of all languages, genres and cultures are readily available at some of the world's famous bookstores such as Borders and Kinokuniya.

Many department stores such as Robinsons, Tangs Orchard, Takashimaya and Isetan can pamper you with clothing, home interiors, cosmetics, souvenirs and food.

Orchard Road, which was the centre of trade and home to many immigrants in the 19th century, has recently soft-launched one of its latest offerings in early July, that is Orchard Central.

Visitors from local and around the globe who flock to Orchard Road have more to see since the place was opened in the midst of dramatic turn in the global economy that started in the second half of 2008 and also the outbreak of H1N1 early this year.

Orchard Road's footfall reaches more than 200,000 a day, while Singapore expects visitor arrivals to fall to between 9 million and 9.5 million in 2009 from 10.1 million last year.

The Orchard Central located on 181 Orchard Road will be available to over 300 shop spaces in the mall with 14 floors, two of which are located in the basement levels.

Car park is available on the entire level 9 and 10, while partially on level 5 and 8.

The Orchard Central, a project worth S$700 million, is developed by Far East Organisation.

According to a statement that made available to The Brunei Times, "It is the first new mall to be completed on Orchard Road in more than ten years."

Orchard Central represents the future of shopping malls, with a facade that is transparent, active and porous, with the ability of Orchard Central to stand out and the visibility for tenants are maximised.

The outward-looking design of retail spaces, the creative interlocking of retail clusters and enhanced connectivity, brings retail efficiency to a whole new level.

For shoppers to reach one level to another there are 12 interior glass lifts and 46 escalators.

With these, visitors will have several options for speedy access to the preferred retail and dining experiences or leisurely explorations of retail clusters.

The five clusters in Orchard Central covers Food Cluster, Fashion Cluster, Pampering Cluster such as salon, skin care, reflexology and spa; The Med which offers exotic culture and heritage through Mediterranean retail and food; and Active Lifestyle Cluster that brings sport, street and fashion together.

In the food cluster there are food and beverage outlets among others Crystal Jade Hong Kong Café, Ootoya Japanese Restaurant, Garuda Padang Cuisine, Central Thai, Heaven's Loft and Ben & Jerry's.

Orchard Central's Center has its new positioning of new retail concepts, new brands, new architectural and design forms, a whole new level of connectivity and mobility, new ways of shopping and dining.

"It aims to deliver a whole new level of lifestyle shopping experience on Orchard Road," said the statement.

While walking throughout the mall, visitors can also enjoy the contemporary installation artwork worth S$9 million.

The artworks were created by famous artists from around the globe such as Hans Peter Kuhn, Matthew Ngui, Inges Idee, Yayoi Kusama, Gary Carsley, Iigo Manglano-Ovalle and Victor Tan.

Their contemporary arts range from a diverse media of sculpture, automation art, interactive digital art, light and sound installation art and multimedia art.

For instance, Orchard Central's 24-hour public rooftop garden which will be transformed into a sculpture haven showcases a specially commissioned series of 11 wire sculptures by Singaporean Victor Tan.

Also, along the 140-metre hallway of Discovery Walk on level one, Hans Peter Kuhn's light and sound installation will exist with a voluminous space overhead, adding a surprise element to a typical retail space.

The iconic 20-metre sculpture by German collective Inges Idee called Tall Girl is also showcased on the same floor.

For those who have an adventurous hobby such as rock climbing, Orchard Central offers the world's tallest Via Ferrata, an indoor climbing wall, which stands at 30 metres or five storeys.

It has been opened to the public since June 25.

Via Ferrata, Italian for 'iron way', was brought into Asia by BorderX, a company founded by climbing enthusiasts. Previously it was available only in Europe.

These new experiences combined, offered shoppers and tourists a fresh, distinctive and energetic shopping and lifestyle experience in the centre of Orchard Road.

Another mall on the other end of Orchard Central on Orchard Road that was soft-opened on July 21, was ION Orchard.

It is laid out over 640,000 square feet of nett lettable space across eight floors with 335 shops.

Levels one to four of the mall are dedicated to luxury and premium international brands, while levels B1 to B4 will offer popular and mass affluent high street labels, bridge fashion brands and lifestyle shops.

After two and a half years of construction, ION Orchard's timely opening has brought new verve and vigour into the newly upgraded Orchard Road.

The shopping mall is owned by CapitaLand Limited and Sun Hung Kai Properties.

It features retailers such as jeweler Harry Winston, renowned designers Salvatore Ferragamo, Marc Jacobs, Giorgio Armani, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, and Louis Vuitton, while more designer houses are soon to be opened such as Prada.

Visitors also will be pampered with the wide selections of food and beverage outlets in its food hall at Basement Four. It is the home to the largest variety of international cuisine, foodstuff and snacks with no less than 80 food stalls.

International franchise of coffee and tea are also available in this new mall.

Spread across different levels of the mall are a total of 27 restaurants and cafes with largest clusters on Level

Four for fine dining and Basements Two and Three for casual dining. Visitors to ION Orchard can have access to the underground MRT station via Basement Two. And with Orchard Road and Orchard Boulevard on both side, the mall is also accessible via several major bus routes to bring commuters directly to the mall.

In Singapore, most department stores and small shops are opened daily from 10am to 10pm. Check with the hotel's concierge on extended the shopping hours, especially during the festive seasons. Late night shopping on every Saturday from 9pm to 11pm at participating malls.

The Brunei Times participated in the "One City Three Festivals" event sponsored by the Singapore Tourism Board from September 17 to 20. The Brunei Times