New in the city

Source : Business Times – 4 Jul 2009

IT’S hard to believe, but more than 10 years have passed since a new mall opened on Orchard Road. Naturally, the stakes are high for Orchard Central, the new shopping and dining destination which opens in the Somerset precinct this week.

Long-starved of fresh and exciting options on Singapore’s prime shopping belt, locals and tourists alike are looking for something distinctly different – will the mall consistently please, or turn out to be a hit-and-miss?

On its part, Orchard Central’s developer, Far East Organization, has pulled out all the stops as far as creating uniqueness is concerned, positioning the 12-storey mall as the ‘Centre of New’.

There are new retail concepts, brands, architecture and designs, and a new approach to shopping, dining and service – all aiming to provide new experiences for the shopper, whose needs are at the centre of it all. International establishments making their debut include Japan’s Yamano beauty retailer, popular English shirt-maker, TM Lewin, well-known Japanese eatery Ootoya, and Duo Le – a Chinese restaurant specialising in cold dishes and cuisine from the Shaanxi region.

Then there’s Orchard Central’s largest F&B tenant, Heaven’s Loft – a new and unique all-day dining and dessert concept from the team behind the Ben & Jerry’s outlets in Singapore.

For easy navigation, related shops and dining outlets are grouped in clusters according to distinct lifestyle experiences. These include fashion, food, pampering, and active lifestyles.

In addition, renowned Japanese interior designer Takashi Sugimoto of Super Potato has created a visual feast using lighting, design and creative features on the dining levels along the open-air Verandah on levels 7 and 8 and the Rooftop on levels 11 and 12. Some 30 per cent of the floor space at the topmost floor on level 12 is outdoors, including a public Rooftop Garden. Incorporating indigenous plants, water features and infinity pools, the sky-high dining experience under the stars will open later this year.

Shopping and dining aside, Orchard Central is home to the world’s tallest indoor Via Ferrata climbing wall, the first-of-its-kind in Asia.

And of course, there is the much-talked about collection of contemporary artworks specially commissioned for the mall. Costing over $9 million, this is the largest permanent public commission for a single property in Singapore. With installation art – including sculpture, automation art, interactive digital art, light and sound installation art and multimedia art – integrated into the mall’s architectural and design elements, visual art is thus extremely accessible and non-threatening even to those new to the form. One can expect to see works by internationally renowned artists.

Topping off the entire experience is a pioneering concierge service that truly focuses on the shopper – service staff who will fan out from the mall’s information desk, roaming every floor to help shoppers with information, directions and even restaurant reservations.

Orchard Central is open till 11pm daily, with its Rooftop Garden and air-conditioned shopping street, Discovery Walk, accessible 24/7. Combined with its late-night dining options, it’s a panacea for those who’ve long wished for Orchard Road malls to open till late.

‘Looking at the bigger picture with our new and existing neighbours, mid-town Orchard Road presents an exciting new shopping precinct in the near future,’ says Susan Leng, Far East’s director, retail management, Retail Business Group.

Climbing an indoor wall on Orchard Road, dining at a rooftop verandah and getting assistance without having to look for the assistant – these are not the usual mall experiences. But if the newest shopping destination to open in Singapore’s beloved shopping street in over a decade succeeds in what it set out to do, then Orchard Central will indeed be the ‘Centre of New’.