Raffles City, Singapore
Copyright © Timothy Tye.
Raffles City
Raffles City is one of Singapore's largest retail, office and hotel complexes. This massive development occupies an entire city block bounded by Stamford Road, Beach Road, Bras Basah Road and North Bridge Road. Within Raffles City is the 73-storey Swissôtel The Stamford, one of the tallest hotels in Southeast Asia, and Raffles The Plaza, a 26-storey high-end twin-block hotel. In addition, there is the 42-storey Raffles City Tower, the Raffles City Shopping Centre; and the Raffles City Convention Centre.
The Raffles City complex was designed by Ieoh Ming Pei, better known simply as I.M. Pei, the Guangzhou-born Chinese American architect also credited for the Louvre Pyramid and the Bank of China tower in Hong Kong, and whose other Singapore project includes the Gateway Building. Raffles City is located right next to the historic Raffles Hotel, on the site previously occupied by the first secondary school in Singapore, the prestigious Raffles Institution, which has since moved to Bishan in central Singapore.
Groundbreaking of Raffles City took place on 14 August 1980. During that ceremony, the late Minister of Finance of Singapore, Hon Sui Sen, articulated the purpose of Raffles City, which is, to have a developed downtown area that links the tourist and shopping belt of Orchard Road with the commercial and financial area in Shenton Way. In doing so, it will prevent the downtown area from becoming a dead town at night.
Raffles City Shopping Centre has several anchor tenants. The Dairy Farm Group operates the Jason's Market Place and Guardian pharmacy on the basement, while above, the department store Robinsons and Marks & Spencers took over the space previously occupied by the Japanese retail chain, Sogo. Also within the Raffles The Plaza is Asia's largest spa, RafflesAmrita Spa.
Raffles City is connected to another huge retail development, Suntec City, by a subterranean mall, called CityLink Mall. To bring the masses downtown, Raffles City is served by the City Hall MRT Interchange which connects the East West Line with the North South Line. By 2010, the new Circle Line will be opened, and Raffles City will be connected to it via a subterranean passageway to the Esplanade Line.
Inside Raffles City, Singapore
Copyright © Timothy Tye.
