Pondok Indah Mall

Coordinates: 6°15′56.55″S 106°47′3.47″E / 6.2657083°S 106.7842972°E / -6.2657083; 106.7842972

Pondok Indah Mall (PIM; Indonesian: Mal Pondok Indah) is a large shopping complex located in wealthy Pondok Indah suburb of South Jakarta, Indonesia. The Pondok Indah Mall, or referred to by Jakartans by its acronym: "PIM" complex: is actually two large malls, the older 3-storey PIM1 and the newer 5-storey PIM2, interconnected via a two elevated multi-storey pedestrian walkways (Skywalk North and Skywalk South) which also are tenanted by specialty shops.

In addition, PIM 1 houses two cinema complexes, one connected externally via walkway and an open-air water theme park. PIM 2 is an enclosed affair.

Mall

Pondok Indah Mall 1 or PIM Phase 1

PIM 1 was completed in 1991 in the affluent suburb of Pondok Indah (Beautiful Village) in leafy Jakarta Selatan (South Jakarta). Originally the site was a random mixture of open fields, slums, middle-class dwellings and traditional street-stall kiosks and eateries. It was a hated eyesore which generated vast amounts of litter, untreated storm water and traffic congestion. The affluent residents particularly disliked the lack of comfortable shopping facilities and the entrance to their leafy suburb "spoilt" by this unsightly, chaotic mess.
The PIM1 architect was Baltimore's Development Design Group for local developer PT Metropolitan Kencana. The constructor was Indonesia's largest and most experienced: Adhi Karya using high-quality steel from Indonesia's PT Cakra Tunggal refinery and cement from the huge Semen Gresik firm, which had recently been retooled by Germany's famous Heidelberg Cement.
It was rumoured former President Suharto personally took a very keen interest in the architecture as many of his ministers and top-level bureaucrats lived in nearby Pondok Indah and would not be appreciative of a faddish eyesore.
PIM1 was one of the first large-scale modern malls to be constructed in Jakarta, designed using American mechanical, lighting, and safety standards. It was essentially a no-costs spared effort: a model of direct-transfer of American technology into Indonesia. The 58-thousand square metre (624,080 ft²) building was tenanted by a department store, a multiplex cinema, a food court and more than 100 retail stores.

Architecture

The architectural style was understated elegant conventional mall, with flooring continually updated until its present condition of polished Indonesian marble and granite. The architecture roughly imitated Dutch colonial large-scale warehouses with extensive steel-truss interpretation of Dutch structural timber-work for an innovative illuminating central skylight (double-glazed for minimising heat transfer) and featured three airy floors of shopping with a narrow open-floor gallery (made safe via decorative fencing). The exterior featured aluminium cladding for minimal maintenance in the harsh tropical climate.
It pioneered with disabled access and efficient valet-style drop-off points. Although not immense, the store had excellent layout: all stores faced either a main mall or one of the courtyards and utilised viewing which made it possible to see each of the mall's stores from any location.
The structure was fully resilient and made extensive use of fire-safety to meet world-class standards, with an internal sewerage, waste water and water treatment facility, and ready access to fire-fighting and sprinkler water via an adjoining river- which was rehabilitated and beautified to pre-slum conditions and remains one of the few canals or waterways in urban Jakarta to be suitable for catching edible fish- and served as a model for many other projects in better economic times.

In a period of minimal competition and Indonesia's 1990s heady financial success, PIM1 was a huge financial investment which rapidly returned profit manifold through some of the highest per square metre commercial rental charges in all Jakarta, which only prestige and large-scale domestic and international franchise chains could afford. Metro Department Store was and remains the anchor (main) tenant. There are other large secondary-tier tenants, including Gramedia and Agis electronics and the internal cineplex.

It was a runaway success, so popular with expatriates and affluent locals than an internal cinema complex was added, followed by yet another larger one, which had to make use of car parking space, and some restaurants. In 1994-6 the car parking was enlarged sensitively without destroying the careful surrounding park image. In late 1996, a luxurious (for Indonesia at that time) air-conditioned mainly steel (with concrete piers) multi-storey walkway was constructed to allow customers and staff to safely cross the busy Jalan (road) Metro Pondok Indah arterial to reach overflow car parking facility on the vacant lot immediately opposite (now occupied by PIM2). Although very expensive, this was a massive improvement as the infamous and much-decried traffic congestion of the Metro Pondok Indah arterial near instantly vanished, as chauffeurs no longer had to queue to pick up or drop-off their passengers

Pondok Indah Mall 2

Mall 2 lobby

Mall 2 third floor

PIM2 was first advertised as an ambitious huge amalgamation of residential and hotel-apartment tower complex (one tower for each), office space and commercial hub. However due to the 1998 KrisMon (kris= krisis, mon= moniter= monetary), funds were unavailable to proceed.

After a change of ownership, the expansion was finally realized in 2004 with the opening of Mall 2. A controversial, contemporary design was introduced with no relation to the previous design. The pedestrian bridge was torn down to make way for the two multi-level so-called "Skywalk North" and "Skywalk South" which spanned the newly enlarged Jalan Metropolitan Pondok Indah (from 4 lanes to 6, and new 4-lane underpass) to link the two malls.

The architect was again Development Design Group for the same developer PT Metropolitan Kencana. The constructor was a subsidiary of PT Adhi Karya: Adhi Jaya, again with PT Cakra Tunggal steel and PT Semen Gresik cement. It is near identical in size, general layout and appearance to the Menlyn Park in Pretoria, South Africa.

The 57100 metre² (614619 feet²) design comprised (excluding the lowest: carpark) four levels of shopping with Sogo Department Store as anchor tenant.

Upscale designer boutiques were sited on the ground floor (ground level) such as Versace, Aigner and Hugo Boss. Food outlets are sited on the uppermost so-called "Restaurant Row" level which incidentally houses a large food court- although some small eateries and cafes exist in the "Skybridges".

The selling space of PIM2 is similar in size to that of PIM1, although the actual building is much larger. Much space is taken up by the large gallery between pedestrian walks and the oval shape of the building.

Four-storey "North Skywalk" and "South Skywalk" house approximately 30 local and international specialty lesser-known and independent boutique tenants per floor, with a staff-only conduit on the lowest storey, which provides direct access to public transport via TransJakarta shelters on the "South Skywalk"

A new cinema with four screens and luxurious VIP lounge is found on the fourth floor.

Street Gallery

PIM's new extension, Street Gallery opened in 2013. It is located south of PIM1 side. It mainly consists of food and beverages tenants.

See also

• List of shopping malls in Indonesia

References

Website: (some English, mainly Indonesian Language)

• Development Design Group:
• Archiplanet: Development Design Group:

External links

• [Official website http://www.pondokindahmall.co.id/]