Orchard Road

**Orchard Road** is a street in  the south of Singapore that has many shopping centres.

## History

Orchard Road got its name from the nutmeg, pepper and fruit orchards that used to grow on both sides of the street. It only started to develop in the twentieth century.

Flash floods occurred at the road junction with Scotts Road on 16 June 2010 after 100mm of rain fell from 8 am to 11 am that morning. This was the worst flood at the junction since 1984. Shopping malls along Orchard Road like Lucky Plaza and Liat Towers were affected by the flood. The flood caused some shopping mall and underground car parks to be under the water. Rescuers had to pull out about 70 passengers from cars and buses, as flooding closed down Orchard Road, which is lined with high-end shopping malls and tourist attractions. No one was hurt.

## Landmarks

Orchard Road has the Istana at the southern end of the road, which is the official house for the President of Singapore.

## Shopping centres

The first shop was Tangs which was founded in 1932 and got its shop at Orchard Road in the 1950s. Orchard Road also has many  well-known restaurants, coffee chains, cafés, nightclubs and hotels.

### List of shopping centres

- DFS Galleria – This shopping mall is in Scotts Road. It mainly sells luxury items such as Bottega Veneta, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Hermès, Loewe and Bvlgari.
- ION Orchard – ION Orchard opened on July 21 2009 and houses six double-storey flagship stores of close to  each, including Prada, Giorgio Armani, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Cartier and Patek Philippe. Its signature glass façade doubles up as a giant media screen as well.

- Ngee Ann City – This mall opened in 1993 and is the largest shopping mall in the Orchard Road shopping belt. It houses branded boutiques such as Vacheron Constantin, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Burberry, Loewe and Chanel as well as  the Japanese department store, Takashimaya. The mall also has Southeast Asia's second largest bookstore, Books Kinokuniya.
- Wisma Atria – Opened in 1986, it underwent renovation recently with its trademark blue facade replaced with a glass facade. There is a 900 seat food court on the 4th floor which is run by the BreadTalk Group. The mall is directly connected to Orchard station.
- Plaza Singapura – next to the Istana, the mall opened in 1974 with a now defunct Yaohan department store. It was revamped twice, in 1998 and 2003 with a new tenant mix. It houses a Golden Village cineplex, Carrefour and other shops.
- Lucky Plaza – A shopping mall that somehow became the main focal point for domestic Filipino workers to meet their friends during their off days. The place is known to be very crowded on Sundays with many shops selling products from the Philippines.
- Far East Plaza – Far East Plaza opened in 1982 with a Metro which has since closed down. Popular with students with its cheap fashion items, the plaza is also known for its cheap food outlets. The mall has since undergone renovation.

- Mandarin Gallery – inside Meritus Mandarin Singapore housing international high-end brands like Y-3, Bape and Hugo Boss.
- Orchard Central – Singapore's first and tallest vertical mall, which replaced Specialists Shopping Centre and opened on 2 July 2009.
- Orchard Point – local department store, OG, it used to have art galleries, but was closed when OG decided to take over.
- The Paragon – The Paragon is a high-end shopping mall selling branded items such as brand like Gucci which opened a flagship store here and Miu Miu, Prada, Coach and Burberry with a Metro department store and a Marks & Spencer store as well. The place also has a Toys 'R' Us and a number of restaurants. It underwent expansion around 2002, taking over the land once occupied by The Promenade.
- Tang Plaza – Tang Plaza has a homegrown department store, Tangs.
- The Centrepoint – The mall opened in 1983 and has Robinsons and Marks and Spencer as its anchor tenants. It underwent renovation and built a new extension in 2007.
- The Heeren Shops – Heeren sells items mainly for youngsters. The site was formerly a colonial building.
- Forum The Shopping Mall – Forum sells mainly branded children's clothes and accessories with a Toys "R" Us on the third floor. It also has a number of branded boutiques such as Emporio Armani and Dolce and Gabbana.
- Shaw House and Centre – Shaw House has the Isetan department store and on the fifth and sixth floors is where the Lido 8 Cineplex is, which has one of the largest cinema halls in the country. It houses Fendi, Loewe and Celine as well.
- Hilton Singapore – inside the hotel itself, the Hilton Shopping Gallery houses branded boutiques such as Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Bulgari, Lanvin, Donna Karan, Balenciaga and Dolce & Gabbana. It also include Club21, a Singapore high-end based company that sell luxurious items like Mulberry, Comme des Garçons and Dries van Noten.
- Palais Renaissance – Palais Renaissance was completed in 1993 and mainly houses upmarket branded boutiques such brand like Donna Karen and Valentino.
- Liat Towers – International names such as Audemars Piguet, Massimo Dutti, Hermès and Zara are housed in the building. The building once housed Planet Hollywood and Singapore's first McDonald's. It housed the Isetan department store at one time.
- Scotts Shopping Centre – Scotts Shopping Centre housed Singapore's first food court and above was the Ascott Singapore. It was torn down in June 2007 to make way for a new building.
- 313@Somerset – Houses Singapore's largest Forever 21 and Zara retail store and a HMV which moved from The Heeren.
- Wheelock Place – Houses the Borders bookstore, one of the largest bookstores in the country and it also has a large Marks and Spencer outlet. Formerly known as **Lane Crawford Place** which housed Lane Crawford but closed during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.

#### Mass Rapid Transit

There are three major MRT stations around Orchard Road. They are Orchard, Somerset and Dhoby Ghaut stations. These three stations are important places for commuters, locals, students and tourists who travel to the Orchard Road shopping and business district. Due to the construction of ION Orchard, the entrance of the Orchard entrance has been moved underground below the upcoming mall.

#### Buses

There are many bus services provided by SBS Transit http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/ and SMRT that go to Orchard Road. The major bus stops along Orchard Road are at:
- Delfi Orchard
- Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station
- Le Meridien Shopping Centre
- Lucky Plaza
- MacDonald House
- Opposite Meritus Mandarin Singapore
- Orchard Emerald
- Orchard Plaza
- Royal Thai Embassy, Singapore
- Tang Plaza
- YMCA

#### Taxi

Visitors can also travel to Orchard Road via taxi. There are taxi stands at Forum The Shopping Mall, all hotels, Lucky Plaza, Wisma Atria, Ngee Ann City, The Paragon, The Heeren Shops, Centrepoint Shopping Centre, next to Specialists' Shopping Centre and Plaza Singapura.

### Cars

Visitors accessing Orchard Road by road usually enter from the west via Napier Road, before exiting Orchard Road at Bras Basah Road.  Coming from the north, vehicles can enter via Bukit Timah Road and Scotts Road which leads into Orchard Road.  From the south, vehicles can enter through Orchard Boulevard and Paterson Road.

## Other websites

- Orchard Road at YourSingapore (by Singapore Tourist Board)