Singapore 2011 - Orchard Central

Orchard Central is one of the latest additions on Orchard Road. Due to its narrow site, it must have been quite a challenge for the designers. I think they have done quite a creditable job. To me it is one of the more interesting shopping centres in Singapore. The rest tend to be very generic.


With a narrow site, it was not possible to introduce a large internal atrium like in most shopping malls. Instead they relied on the gap between the new development and the adjacent building to provide a vertical atrium going to almost the uppermost floor of the building. To maximize the space, they had to go high - as much as 12 storeys - which is a great challenge for any shopping centre. The floors are divided into different thematic zones each with a different visual design.


One of the main reasons I visited Orchard Central was to check out the AFC (Asian Food Channel) Shop. Sadly it was quite small and there weren't much merchandise beside the TV show tie-ins like DVDs and cookbooks.


According to most locals, Orchard Central had not done as well as the developers had hoped. Shoppers generally prefer convenience and do not like going up stairs or using lifts to access the shops. Hopefully things will change as I still think it is one of the more innovative developments in Singapore and deserve to be more successful then it is now.

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