Shaw Centre to undergo major revamp

SINGAPORE: Shaw Centre, a landmark building at Orchard Road, is up for a major facelift —— its first in almost three decades.

The renovations are expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2014.

After the redevelopment, the Shaw Centre retail mall will be integrated seamlessly with the adjoining Shaw House.

Shaw House’s anchor tenants include Isetan and Shaw Theatres Lido.

The new Shaw Centre will also feature a two—storey high glass retail frontage with verandahs for merchandising.

Other key changes include a new basement food court that links Shaw Centre and Shaw House, and a new 1,000—square—metre Urban Plaza built over the public concourse formerly located at Shaw House.

Shaw Brothers said the space will be used for red carpet events and product launches.

Rental rates are expected to be comparable to nearby retail spaces at the Orchard Road and Scotts Road junction, said Shaw Organisation.

Mark Shaw, Shaw Organisation’s executive vice president of operations, said: "What we’re looking to do is to attract international flagship brands to come to Shaw Centre because we’re one of the last few remaining buildings with good Orchard Road and Scotts Road frontage.

"We’re looking at a few restaurants and obviously a lot of retail clients. We hope that the new food court will also bring in a lot more traffic —— so what’re we doing is to complement that with retail tenants that attract the same sort of shopper profiles that we have in our cinemas."

Shaw Organisation’s executive vice president of film distribution, Christopher Shaw, said the proposed renovations will align Shaw Centre’s positioning and target audience with that of Shaw Theatres Lido.

"This revamp and the new tenant mix will reflect our aspiration to bring a quality experience to our patrons and allow them to have plenty to do prior to and after their movie," he added.

— CNA/al