Do the new city malls festooned with bright lights make for a vibrant area, or one that's just too glaring?
Frankie Chee, Straits Times 12 Jul 09;
Here is a riddle for you: What flash a kaleidoscope of colours including yellow and blue, yet make some people see red all over?
Answer: The facades of the latest new malls and office buildings that light up the inner-city in a blazing display at night, drenching nearby buildings with their changing colours.
But while the displays dazzle some, they make others dizzy. Residents in nearby apartment buildings, and passers-by, say that the colours are glaring and distracting.
Tripping the light fantastic are the newly opened Orchard Central mall, the Wilkie Edge office, retail and apartment building in Selegie Road, and the Illuma mall at Bugis Junction.
The first two buildings have large panels of light-emitting diodes (LED) with colours that change, while Illuma has a facade made up of diamond-shaped lights.
And when the upcoming Ion Orchard mall's LED lights were turned on for test runs two weeks ago, it resulted in a blinding light-show at Orchard Road's busiest junction.
The bright lights, big city theme comes courtesy of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) Night Lighting Masterplan announced in 2006, which sought to light up the city, targeting the Civic District, Central Business District and Marina Bay areas.
But consultant Matt Conway, 30, whose Sunshine Plaza apartment in Bencoolen Street faces Wilkie Edge, finds its shining lights and display screen a glaring problem. He gripes: 'It shines into my apartment and it's like having a huge plasma screen TV on in your house the whole day.'
Some passers-by, too, are not bedazzled.
Teacher Nur Hayati Ahmad, 29, was concerned about the amount of energy consumed by Illuma's lights: 'I find it a waste of electricity, especially with the recent campaigns encouraging people to take care of the environment.'
Referring to the recently launched Tampines 1 mall which is drawing crowds with boutiques such as popular Japanese apparel brand Uniqlo, she says: 'Maybe we can find better ways to promote malls. Just look at Tampines 1, it draws people from even the western part of Singapore.'
The URA's guidelines dictate a maximum power usage of five watts per sq m for the lights on a building's facade. According to the urban planning agency, that is equivalent to the normal lighting for a home.
But even so, with 975 LED panels on the 129 sq m screen of Wilkie Edge and a total length of 7,300m of LED lights for Orchard Central's facade, a lot of energy is used to power the lights.
URA's group director for urban planning and design, Ms Fun Siew Leng, says: 'The question to ask is what kind of city we want. One that we can have a good time in after work, or one that's dark? There are things we want to do, but also, we have to think about how to do them with less energy.'
The URA's guidelines on night lighting are segregated into districts. Bright LED panels and display screens are allowed in the Orchard Road and Bugis areas, but the lighting in the Civic District and the Central Business District have to be more restrained.
The authority does not impose further restrictions on light design for buildings within the allowed areas.
Ms Fun adds: 'There will be buzz in the city. If you live there, you'll have to accept it because it's a mixed-use area. It's not like living in a residential area.'
However, those who see the dark side of the bright idea can take heart from the reactions of malls when asked about their lights.
A spokesman for Ion Orchard explained that the programming of the LED lights on its facade will be unveiled at a later stage and what was seen during its recent test is 'certainly not an indication of what to expect when the mall opens'.
And Ms Susan Leng, director for retail management of Far East Organization, which owns Orchard Central, said: 'We are asking for feedback on our shopping experience and will make adjustments where appropriate'.
And there are those, such as Mr Lai Soon Huat, 52, the manager of Sing Ho Hainanese Chicken Rice stall which sits opposite Wilkie Edge, who like it bright.
He says: 'It doesn't affect us. If it has more people going over there, hopefully some of its business will spill over here.'
Over at Illuma, a spokesman says: 'The current flashing text on Illuma's facade is just temporary. The real capacity of the facade shall be demonstrated during its first public demonstration soon.'
Orchard lights add to ambience
Sunday Times 19 Jul 09;
The lights on the newly created malls, Ion Orchard and Orchard Central, along Orchard Road liven up the place and add to the branding of Orchard Road as A Great Street.
Without such lights to add to the ambience, Orchard Road would be like just any other shopping street in Singapore. Lighting plays a part in creating the atmosphere of a street, as can be seen in other great shopping locations in the world like the Champs Elysees in Paris.
Surely the lights cannot please everyone, but they can help make Orchard Road an iconic shopping location, boost tourism and create a livelier shopping experience for Singaporeans who travel to the city on weekends. It all boils down to making it more worthwhile to go to Orchard Road.
The lights make shopping along Orchard Road not just a shopping experience, but an experience in itself.
Would we not rather see myriad colours surrounding us when we travel to town than lights that we can see elsewhere all over Singapore?
Joan Chang (Ms)
