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Source:
www.stb.gov.sg |
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Orchard Road Rejuvenation Kicks
Into High Gear |
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S$40 Million Infrastructural Enhancement Set to
Heighten Pedestrian Experience and Present New Lifestyle Experiences |
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Orchard Road is set to undergo a S$40
million rejuvenation that will result in a more attractive destination. |
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With the planned landscape and
infrastructural enhancements, Singapore’s premier shopping street will
have state of the art lighting highlighting its lush tree-lined
boulevard, new creative spaces for staging events and a more integrated
and engaging pedestrian mall. |
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The Orchard Road rejuvenation plans were
unveiled today ahead of a tender for the main mall enhancement
construction works, which will be called in early November 2007. |
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The announcement follows the sale of three
prime sites by the Urban Redevelopment Authority last year, targeted to
increase the number of shopping venues and diversity of retail concepts
and options to Orchard Road. |
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Apart from the development of ION Orchard,
Somerset Central and Orchard Central, older venues such as Hotel Phoenix
and Specialist’s Shopping Centre are slated for redevelopment. New
international brands like Frank Muller, Jimmy Choo, Richard Mille and
Van Cleef & Arpels as well as new initiatives such as the weekly Late
Night Shopping have injected new vibrancy to the retail scene. |
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Consistently ranked the most-visited
attraction in Singapore, Orchard Road attracts more than seven million
visitors each year, while thousands of local residents visit the area
for leisure and work each day. |
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"Orchard Road is synonymous with shopping in
Singapore, and is the venue for some of Singapore’s signature annual
leisure events such as the Great Singapore Sale, Singapore Fashion
Festival, Christmas in the Tropics light-up and Chingay Parade of
Dreams," said Ms Margaret Teo, Assistant Chief Executive (Leisure), at
the Singapore Tourism Board. |
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"For Orchard Road to become an even more
compelling lifestyle hub, we need to invest in both its infrastructure
and services. Besides introducing new concept malls and exciting
international brands to boost the retail offerings available, we need to
improve the public infrastructure to enhance the pedestrian experience
along Orchard Road. These infrastructural improvements will also open up
many more entertainment and outdoor spaces for events and activities to
create a more vibrant streetscape, thus enhancing the lifestyle
experience on Orchard Road." |
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The Orchard Road mall enhancement initiative
was driven by a inter-agency taskforce comprising agencies such as Land
Transport Authority (LTA) , National Parks Board (NParks), Singapore
Tourism Board (STB) and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). |
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The Task Force worked closely with the
design consultant team, Cox Group (Australia) in partnership with
Architects 61 (Singapore), to develop and fine-tune the design plans. |
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A Design Advisory Panel (DAP), chaired by
the Urban Redevelopment Authority was also appointed to evaluate the
concept design and guide the design development. The views of the
Orchard Road Business Association and various stakeholders of Orchard
Road were also sought before finalising the concept plan. |
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Starting at the Tanglin Road/Grange Road
intersection where Tanglin Mall is located, the infrastructural works
will continue down Orchard Road to the intersection with Buyong Road,
where Le Meridien Singapore is located. Three zones, namely the Tanglin,
Orchard and Somerset zones, have been identified and will be
characterised by the Flower, Forest and Fruit themes respectively. |
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All three zones will have enhanced road and
pedestrian mall lighting, including state-of-the-art accent lighting to
highlight Orchard Road’s mature trees and foliage and to create strong
night-time landscapes. |
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In line with the minimal and sophisticated
aesthetics of Orchard Road’s enhancement design, new coordinated street
furniture (granite benches, stainless steel-clad waste bins and
bollards) and multi-functional lamp posts with a more extensive height
and reach will be installed. |
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Three Zones, Three Themes |
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1. The Tanglin Zone, stretching from the
intersection of Tanglin Road and Grange Road to the junction of Scotts
and Paterson roads, will feature a flower theme mainly through 21 flower
totem planters located along the pedestrian mall on the southern side of
the road from Forum The Shopping Mall to Liat Towers. A typical flower
totem planter measures 3.5 metres tall and 0.9 metres in diameter, and
its blooms can be changed to reflect different seasons and festival
celebrations. |
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Working in collaboration with the National
Parks Board, the designers will enhance Tanglin gateway’s existing
tropical landscape with Frangipani trees that feature crimson flowers.
The pedestrian mall on the north side of Tanglin fronting Delfi Orchard
to International Building will also be enhanced with new paving, street
furniture and lighting. |
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2. The Orchard Zone, stretching from the
junction of Scotts and Paterson roads to the Cairnhill Road/Orchard Road
junction, will feature a forest theme, inspired by the signature Angsana
trees that frame Orchard Road. |
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Providing pockets of respite along this zone
are Urban Green Rooms, which are located between existing trees and
bordered in parts by moveable planters. These rooms can be used as shady
resting places, art and exhibition areas, mini-performance areas and
seating or viewing areas when events are staged along Orchard Road.
Stretches of the pedestrian mall fronting ION Orchard, Wisma Atria and
Meritus Mandarin Hotel will be widened to facilitate the creation of
these Urban Green Rooms. |
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Vertical glass panels that are 3.6m high and
1.5m to 1.8m wide will further enhance the new Urban Green Rooms. These
laminated, heat-strengthened glass panels will feature botanic graphics
in line with the forest theme, and will be lit at night. Together with
the surrounding tree lighting, these elements will create a strong
night-time vista along Orchard Road. |
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3. The Somerset Zone, bound by the
intersections between Cairnhill Road and Buyong Road, will feature a
fruit theme to reflect Orchard Road’s history as a nutmeg and fruit
plantation. Besides the cinnamon and nutmeg trees that will be planted
on the grass bank between Oxley Road and Buyong Road, opposite the Le
Meridien Singapore, flowering plants with orange, yellow and red blooms
will also characterise the zone. The north side of this zone will be
enhanced with new granite pavement and street furniture. |
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Mrs Sng Ngoi May, Chairman of the Orchard
Road Business Association (ORBA), welcomed this new phase in Orchard
Road's rejuvenation plan. She said, "The government’s support would be
instrumental in strengthening Orchard Road's positioning as one of the
world's premier shopping streets in the years to come. We hope this
phase of development would only be the first step to ensure Orchard Road
remains a beautiful, vibrant and pedestrian-friendly world-class
shopping street." |
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STB is working closely with relevant
agencies such as the Land Transport Authority (LTA), National Parks
Board (NParks), Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) as well as the
various stakeholders of Orchard Road to ensure the enhancement works
progress smoothly. Orchard Road's infrastructure works will be carried
out in phases to minimise disruption to businesses and the public, while
access points to buildings will be maintained at all times. |
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Preliminary works to divert underground
cables and telecommunication lines commenced in September 2007 whilst
work on the pedestrian malls will begin after Chinese New Year next year
in order to accommodate the crowds during the bumper Christmas and
Chinese New Year festive shopping periods. Works are expected to be
completed by April 2009. |
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Source:
www.stb.gov.sg Media Release 29 Oct
2007 |
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FrontPage Edition: Fri 9 November 2007
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