Plaza Singapura

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mall facts and statistics
Plaza Singapura


Location	Orchard Road, Museum Planning Area, Singapore
Address
Opening date	1974
Developer	DBS Land
Management	CapitaLand
Owner	CapitaMall Trust
No. of anchor tenants	7
Total retail floor area	457,384 square feet
Parking	700 lots
No. of floors	7 floors and 2 basement floors
Website	www.plazasingapura.com.sg

Plaza Singapura (Chinese: 狮城大厦) is a contemporary shopping mall located along Orchard Road, Singapore. The mall is managed by CapitaLand and owned by CapitaMall Trust. There are retail outlets over seven floors and two basements. The mall has a 752 lot seven storey carpark at the rear of the building, and a two basement goods bay beneath it. Anchor tenants include Carrefour, Golden Village, John Little, Marks & Spencer, Best Denki, Spotlight and Yamaha. The mall is popular with families, teenagers and young adults.

[edit] History and architecture

Plaza Singapura was completed in 1974 and was designed by BEP Akitek Pte Ltd. At the time of completion, it was one of the largest malls in the island. The mall included a Yaohan department store and supermarket, a Yamaha store and a Yaohan Best (now Best Denki) as its major tenants. The mall was then managed by DBS Land which is the predecessor of CapitaLand. There were three internal courtyards and an external forecourt provided psychological relief from the noise of traffic and commercial activity outside.

It was then described by students that the building appears "lumpy" in the context and the glass fibre decorated mural at the front and two sides is quite insensitive, like some great Nonya belt. It used to house two sculptures in the building which was designed by the late renowned sculptor Ng Eng Teng, which has now been removed.

The mall did not go under any major renovations until 1997 during the Asian Financial Crisis, when it went under major retrofitting with a totally new look and the mall totally changed when it reopened in 1998. As Yaohan went bankrupt in 1997, it saw the departure of the main store. The mall's tenants changed drastically, and NTUC Fairprice American style supermarket, Liberty Market took over Yaohan in Basement 2. Daimaru occupied the whole of the fourth floor and a 53,000 sq ft. Courts superstore on floors 1, 2 and 3.

This was to change when between 2002 and 2003, when the mall once again when under a revamp with a new tenant mix. The mall had renovations in the basements, and a direct link to Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station was constructed. Travellators were also installed in the building for the convenience of shoppers. The mall has repositioned itself into a one stop family mall and a popular place for many Singaporeans.