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VivoCity
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VivoCity (Chinese: ???) is the largest shopping mall in Singapore, located at the HarbourFront precinct .
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VivoCity (Chinese: ???) is the largest shopping mall in Singapore, located at the HarbourFront precinct . Opened on 7 October 2006, it marked the completion of the main structure by a topping-out ceremony on 18 April 2006 and was officially opened on 1 December 2006. Derived from the word vivacity, VivoCity, according to Mapletree Chairman Edmund Cheng, "evokes a lifestyle experience that is modern, stimulating and accessible to everyone, a place bubbling with energy and flowing with vitality". At the end of the first week of operations, the mall had received nearly a million visitors.
History
VivoCity was built on the site of the exhibition halls of the former World Trade Centre, now the HarbourFront Centre. VivoCity has of gross floor area and of retail space, larger than Suntec City and Ngee Ann City, the former of which was the largest prior to VivoCity's opening. It was designed by the renowned Japanese architect Toyo Ito. Mapletree Investments is the developer of the S$417 million complex.
Official opening
The shopping mall opened officially on December 1, 2006 after its soft launch on October 7 that same year. The official opening included a six minute fireworks display, a concert by American band String Theory for the general public, and a Stefanie Sun concert at the mall's amphitheatre at the Sky Park on the third floor. The guest of honour of the event was chairman of Temasek Holdings and former cabinet minister S Dhanabalan. During its first month of opening, it attracted 4.2 million visitors, equivalent to the population of Singapore, and attracted 7.28 million visitors in total before the grand opening. The String Theory concert included a giant harp with strings stretching to the third floor of the mall. The concert was held at The Promenade and lasted ten days, starting on December 1 and ending on the 10th. Barricades were put at the boardwalk blocking the front portion of the boardwalk which is facing the Keppel Harbour. CISCO auxiliary police were deployed for the opening, with the food court on the third floor and the whole Sky Park (roof garden) closed to the public for the day. Parts of the car park were closed for the invited guests as well. A giant projection screen was put at the main entrance of the mall, this screen was to show the concert of Stefanie Sun.
Countdown 2007
VivoCity served as the official venue for the live televised countdown to the new year, instead of Sentosa as per previous years. The countdown concert, held from 31 December 2006 to 1 January 2007, was held at the rooftop amphitheatre and included performances by various well-known homegrown artistes from MediaCorp Channel 5 and 8, as well as the Top 11 finalists of the 2nd season for Singapore Idol.
Countdown 2008
VivoCity served as the official venue for the live televised countdown to the new year for the second year running on 31 December 2007. The countdown concert, held from 31 December 2007 to 1 January 2008, was held at the rooftop amphitheatre and included performances by various well-known homegrown artistes from MediaCorp Channel 5 and 8, Taufik Batisah, Daren Tan Sze Wei and Deal Or No Deal babes. Prior to the actual countdown party, fans were treated to a 50-minute showcase for the solo and group winners of the talent competition "Live The Dream", as well as performances by the other finalists of that competition.
Countdown 2009
VivoCity served as the official venue for the live televised countdown to the new year, but this time it was for the artistes from Channel 8 and U instead of those from Channel 5. The countdown concert, from 31 December 2008 to 1 January 2009, was held at the rooftop amphitheatre and include performances by various well-known homegrown artistes from Channel 8 and U. It is for this reason that the Channel 5 countdown had to be held at another location, namely the Marina Bay Float.
Facilities
VivoCity's iconic architecture sets it apart from the traditional box format of many existing (and upcoming) retail developments in the region as it includes event spaces, al fresco dining by the 300 m long promenade and a large roof top amphitheatre. The Sky Park of the shopping mall is a popular place for all walks of life since its opening. The playground and the open spaces in the mall are also popular places with families and children alike in the mall. The Promeanade and the entrance area with the water features around the mall a popular place for children to play in. The shallow pool on the third floor is where many children play at besides the playground downstairs. The Sky Park also has an amphitheatre and was where the grand opening was held. It is also a place popular to view Sentosa. Despite many people wading in the pool, the management has said that it is not a wading pool but a water feature. However, the management is not going to ban children from playing there. The water in the "wading pool" is chlorinated and filtered, although a proper swimming pool drainage system is not in place. Some has raised concerns about hygiene, with the gravel at the bottom of the pool which can injure children with cuts and abrasion. The management claims to remove the gravel at the beginning of each day and are getting their architect to look into the design of the landscape around the pool which the gravel holds the soil. Some hold picnics in the mall's outdoor space as well. VivoCity's design allows it to accommodate over 300 different tenants, including many new-to-market brands and retail concepts.
The mall has Singapore's largest cinema multiplex with 15 screens and 2,293 seats by the cinematic company Golden Village, along with one of the largest cinema screens in Asia. Companies such as Toys "R" Us and Dairy Farm have their flagship outlets in VivoCity. Dairy Farm, which owns Cold Storage, Shop N Save, Giant Hypermarket, 7-Eleven and Guardian Health & Beauty takes up 3,700 square metres (1 acre) of space on Basement 2 and about 7,400 square metres on Level 1. The new hypermart, called VivoMart, is connected by its own travelator and sells gourmet food from all over the world, including the United States, Germany, Japan and Australia. The hypermarket has a Giant in basement two and level one with a Naturally Marketplace by Cold Storage on level one as well as a Guardian pharmacy on the first floor. Naturally Marketplace sells organic products and gourmet food.
There are two giant food courts — a 2,200 square metre Kopitiam Group facility in Basement 2 and another spread over 2,500 square metres run by the BreadTalk Group, which is a Food Republic food court in similar concept at its sister food court at Wisma Atria.
As one of the venues of the inaugural Singapore Biennale in 2006, several commissioned art pieces from established designers around the world were also unveiled in VivoCity. It is the only venue of the Singapore Biennale where the exhibits are permanent. An international student design contest was recently held to find a design for incorporation into the architecture of VivoCity; it received 365 submissions from various countries.
Other features include a Planet Fitness gym, spas, restaurants and dance clubs. A Tangs store is located in the building on the first and second floor, which it is the only branch other than its flagship Orchard Road store. The store will sell a number of merchandise that cannot be found at its Orchard Road store, and the management has said the aisles are wider. The management announced that a shop would open every day until its official opening on 1 December. The first Gap store in Southeast Asia opened at the mall and a number of new faces to the Singapore retail market will set up shops at the mall such as a cluster of Spanish shops, River Island and Club Marc.
The mall has a car park with a total of 4,000 lots and a loading and unloading bay. The car parks are located in basements 1 and 2 as well as from levels 2 to 7. Also, there is a coach and tour buses bay in the mall. The car parks are divided into several zones, with the mall giving free parking on the opening weekend of the mall.
The terminal of the Sentosa Express monorail is located on level 3 (next to the Food Republic food court) and is known as Sentosa Monorail Station. It was officially opened on January 15, 2007.
Linkages
Upgrading works
The mall has seen several problems since its opening in October, such as lack of signs and directions. The mall provides brochures with layout maps at their information counters. The mall has engaged an Australian agency Woodhead to improve the signs at the mall. The new signs will be named on the anchor tenants instead of generic names to serve as internal landmarks within the mall. New signs have been added to the corridors leading to elevator lobbies. All existing signs will be replaced with new ones. The toilets were wet and a toilet bowl had a seat and cover missing from a ladies toilet. Sanitary bins were also overflowing, but the floors, sinks and cubicles were in acceptable condition. The management has since started on improvement works to the toilets and the nursing room to cater to the heavy usage due to the number of shoppers. The works are being done in phases and have been completed since March 2007. Some have raised issues of the water hygiene at its water features. The management cordoned off part of the pool for maintenance work for a period of time which has since been completed. The wading pool is filtered and chlorinated on a regular basis.
Notable tenants
Basement 2
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
External links
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