Canberra Plaza, Singapore

Canberra Plaza is a New Generation Neighbourhood Centre (NGNC) built by the Housing & Development Board (HDB), the government agency in charge of public housing development in Singapore. It is one of the new Neighbourhood Centres (NCs) constructed by HDB in 10 years after the completion of Pioneer Mall and Punggol Plaza in 2004. CNN reported that Canberra Plaza will provide a "complete live-work-play-learn environment for residents and signifies Singapore's public housing for the future".[3][4]

Canberra Plaza
Model picture showing Canberra Plaza with Canberra MRT station
LocationSembawang, Singapore
Coordinates1°26′35.724″N 103°49′49.663″E
Address133 Canberra View, Singapore 750133
Opening date18 December 2020 (2020-12-18)
DeveloperHousing & Development Board
ManagementKnight Frank[1]
OwnerHousing & Development Board
ArchitectSAA Architects Pte. Ltd
Total retail floor area11,000 square metres (120,000 sq ft) (approximate)
No. of floors3 with 1 level basement
ParkingYes
Public transit access NS12  Canberra
117, 169/169A, 883/883B/883M[2]
WebsiteOfficial Website
External image
Artist Impression of the Canberra Plaza (Design Competition stage) Source: SAA Architects

The 3-storey shopping centre is located in the eastern end of Sembawang, Singapore as part of a mixed-use transit-oriented development. It was designed by a team led by SAA Architects. Construction started in mid-2015 and the shopping centre opened on 18 December 2020. The mall is directly linked to Canberra MRT station by a footbridge.

History

In 2004, with the completion of Pioneer Mall and Punggol Plaza, the Housing & Development Board (HDB) stopped building neighbourhood centres (NCs). This was an effort to get private sector developers to take over the construction of NCs in HDB towns.[5] Some of the private NCs that were constructed include Seletar Mall (completed in 2014 by a Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPH) and United Engineers Limited joint venture).[6]

However, this caused much inconvenience for residents that moved into the newer towns early on as private developers normally constructed NCs only when a substantial catchment for a particular NC was present so as to generate enough revenue. In an attempt to alleviate these problems, HDB resumed the construction of NCs in 2014 after a 10-year break. These new NCs (one of which is Canberra Plaza) are known as New Generation Neighbourhood Centres (NGNCs) and will each serve a neighbourhood with around 5000 to 6000 households.[5]

These NCs are called as such as they are improved versions of the past NCs. The NGNCs incorporated ideas obtained from public consultation while the older NCs do not. Each NGNC will also have a sheltered community plaza to host community events in order to foster social interaction within the community. Water features, terraces as well as “environmentally friendly” systems such as rainwater harvesting will also introduced in the NGNCs.[7] Cable News Network (CNN) further reported that Canberra Plaza will provide a "complete live-work-play-learn environment for residents and signifies Singapore's public housing for the future".[3][4]

In 2014, HDB held a competition to select the architectural team for Canberra Plaza. The design brief given was: "design a mixed development with a gross floor area of 117,000 square metres (1,260,000 sq ft)." The Plaza was to be designed with a nautical theme inspired by flowing rivers, as the site of the Plaza is situated near canals such as Sungei Simpang Kiri. In addition, since the Plaza is situated at the gateway to Sembawang Neighbourhood 1, it should also serve as a distinctive landmark for the neighbourhood. In October, a team led by SAA Architects was announced as the winner of the competition.[8][9]

One year later, in October 2015, HDB held a public exhibition on Canberra Plaza (with an architectural model of the development) at the HDB Hub (HDB Headquarters) in Toa Payoh. Thereafter, construction of the Plaza commenced and was expected to end in 2019.[10][11] The mall was officially opened on 18 December 2020.[5][12][13]

Locality

Canberra Plaza is located in the northern part of Sembawang and is part of a mixed-use transit-oriented development. Around the Plaza are new and upcoming HDB public housing developments (which forms Sembawang Neighbourhood 1), private condominiums as well as landed properties (Sembawang Springs Estate). Also in the vicinity is Yishun Industrial Park A which mainly comprises workshops of manufacturing businesses as well as automobile repair shops.[14] In addition, the Singapore subsidiaries of multinational corporations such as Murata Manufacturing and ASM Assembly Systems are located within the industrial park.[15][16] The Singapore Civil Defence Force 3rd Division Headquarters (co-located within Yishun Fire Station) and foreign migrant workers dormitories (Simpang Lodges 1 & 2) are located nearby.[17][18]

Layout

Canberra Plaza is designed with three commercial stories that have a combined gross floor area of 11,000 square metres (120,000 sq ft) The main anchor tenants include a supermarket and food courts. Other commercial units include restaurants, enrichment centres as well as clinics. A sheltered plaza for community activities and a water playground is incorporated into the design of Canberra Plaza as well. In order to improve connectivity, a portion of the ground level will be kept open for 24-hours and an sheltered elevated pedestrian footbridge will also link housing precincts (such as Eastlink II @ Canberra) across Canberra Way to Canberra Plaza. A similar footbridge will connect Canberra Plaza to Canberra MRT station which is located across Canberra Link.[12][19]

Awards
Year Award Awarding Agency Ref.
2017 BCA Green Mark Platinum Award (Category: Buildings) Building & Construction Authority of Singapore (BCA) [20][21]

References
  1. Housing & Development Board. "Shops and Offices". 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  2. "MyTransport.SG:Map". MyTransport.SG. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  3. Whiteman, Hilary. "Luxury hotel? No, public housing, Singapore-style". CNN. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  4. "Singapore's public housing for the future". CNN. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  5. "HDB builds new generation neighbourhood centres for upcoming estates". TODAYonline. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  6. "The Seletar Mall". www.theseletarmall.com. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  7. "HDB builds new generation neighbourhood centres for upcoming estates". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  8. "SAA Won Competition To Design Sembawang N1 C6 & C12 - SAA Group Architects". SAA Group Architects. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  9. "Canberra Plaza - Where2Shop". www.where2shop.sg. Archived from the original on 17 April 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  10. "HDB unveils next-gen neighbourhood centres in Punggol, Hougang and Sembawang". The Straits Times. 3 October 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  11. Janice Heng (4 October 2015). "HDB to build 4 next-gen neighbourhood centres". The Straits Times. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  12. "HDB Unveils New Generation of Neighbourhood Centres - Housing & Development Board (HDB)". www.hdb.gov.sg. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  13. "Canberra Plaza now open with A&W, Daiso, Starbucks & more". mothership.sg. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  14. "Yishun Industrial Park A". JTC Corporation. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  15. "About Murata Singapore | Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd". www.murata.com. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  16. Nailer, Jon. "ASM Assembly Systems GmbH & Co. KG - Directions to the ASM Assembly Systems locations". www.asm-smt.com. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  17. ":: Simpang Lodge 2". www.sl2dormitory.com. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  18. "3rd SCDF DIV HQ". www.scdf.gov.sg. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  19. Exhibition panel for Canberra Plaza at the exhibition(PDF), Retrieved 18 April 2018. Source: HDB
  20. Building & Construction Authority of Singapore. "GM2017.pdf" (PDF). p. 57. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  21. Building and Construction Authority. "About BCA Green Mark Scheme". Retrieved 14 April 2018.
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