ION Orchard

ION Orchard, formerly known as the Orchard Turn Development or Orchard Turn Site, is a shopping mall by Orchard Turn Developments Pte Ltd, a joint venture between CapitaLand and Sun Hung Kai Properties. It started operating on 21 July 2009, occupying 335 food and retail outlets. The Orchard Residences, a high-rise residential condominium, was completed in with the shopping mall under the same developer, manager and owner in 2010. It owned a 99-year leasehold with effect from 13 March 2006.

History


The Orchard Turn Development, now known as The Orchard Residences and ION Orchard after its official names were revealed on 5 February 2007 and 16 July 2007 respectively, was built on the site of the former park located directly above Orchard. The MRT Station's Exit C was closed and demolished on 15 January 2008 to make way for the ION Orchard development. A replacement for the exit, Exit E, was opened on the same day.

ION Orchard has 941700 sqft of gross floor area and 663000 sqft of retail space, larger than Ngee Ann City, but smaller than Suntec City Mall and VivoCity, the largest shopping mall in Singapore. Designed by Benoy, the Orchard Turn Development has won two EG Retail and Future Project Awards, the Best Architectural Entry and the Best Retail Development over 20,000 m², at MAPIC 2006 held in Cannes, France, in November 2006.

Facilities
Layered across the walls of ION Orchard, the Media Facade is a multi-sensory canvas media wall.

A 5600 sqft art and exhibition gallery is located on the fourth floor of the shopping mall. Called ION Art, it will combine art and commerce. An art and design programme is implemented to introduce new and multimedia art into the mall experience, promoting the best of Asian modern and contemporary art and design from established and emerging artists and designers. Under this programme, permanent and changing sculptures and media installations will be located throughout the mall with art exhibitions held throughout the year within the ION Art Gallery and other locations in the mall.

The development's observation deck, ION Sky, is located on the 55th and 56th floor of the building. With a height of 218 m above ground, it offers a panoramic view of the city. It will also have a 75000 sqft garden on its 9th floor, together with two club facilities on its 9th and 30th floors.

The mall has two subway entrances on Level 1 connecting to ION2 via Orchard. The first entrance, Exit E (facing Wheelock Place), was opened on the morning of 15 January 2008, the same day when the station's Exit C (facing Wisma Atria) was closed and slated to be demolished and subsequently completed in late 2008. Mounted on Exit E's wall were more than 90 metres of LED walls, that can be programmed with different colours and patterns on its light displays to create a certain mood, even for festive occasions. It can also be used for advertising or as an art gallery from time to time.

The mall has a walkway leading from Orchard Boulevard to Orchard MRT station. Called the Orchard Boulevard Entrance, the first LED-lit subway entrance was opened on 10 June 2008 at the MRT station, with the help of the Land Transport Authority and SMRT Corporation on the planning of the walkway. Synchronized with ION Orchard's facade and canopy, the walkway have LED panels, creating a surround experience for commuters, and a fritted glass-and-steel canopy roof, allowing natural light to filter through. The walkway will also have easy access to the basement and ground levels of the mall from the subway station's concourse level as well as the walkway connecting the subway station to Wheelock Place.

The mall will also have a car park with approximately 650 parking spots (including handicap parking), between the fourth and the eighth floors. Its over 100 media screens both inside and outside the shopping mall, including those above restroom urinals, will be managed by MediaCorp.

Tenants
With a lettable area of almost 660 000 sq ft, 400 retail outlets are expected to be open in ION Orchard. Over 90% of the mall have currently been leased with the rest of the retail space still under negotiations. To date, there are 15 flagship stores, 9 of which are duplex flagship stores, including, Topman, Topshop, Giorgio Armani, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, and Cartier. These flagship stores will take up a total of almost 50000 sqft of lettable area, or 30% of the retail area.

Four multi-label stores and several new-to-market food and dining propositions have also been confirmed, along with established food operators. There will also be a food court present at ION Orchard. A Hong Kong supermarket chain, ThreeSixty, will be making its debut in Singapore.

More than 21% of the lettable area have been used for dining purposes, with 60 out of the 125 dining outlets will be new-to-market or new concepts. There will be 28 restaurants and cafes, with a largest cluster at level 4 for fine dining and for casual dining on levels 2 and 3. Dunkin' Donuts will return to Singapore with an outlet in ION Orchard. A reputable top day spa Estheva Spa will be another tenant to move into Ion Orchard.

Singapore Airlines City Ticketing Office moved to ION Orchard on 24 July 2009. This is a shift from its original location at The Paragon and the interim location at the Atrium@Orchard.

In January 2013, Crate & Barrel opened its first Asian store in ION Orchard. The 16000 sqft duplex store is located on levels 3 and 4.