In Bugis Junction, two architectural ideas converged: the establishment of a contemporary retail space within the framework of the existing city; and the creation of a retrospective urban development that looks to the future.

Erected among a network of reconstructed shop houses, Bugis Junction is an emblem of the metamorphosis of Singapore’s urban and retail landscape – transforming historical streetscapes into enclosed shopping corridors.

Conveniently situated above a Mass Rapid Transit station, Bugis Junction merges the best of both worlds: outdoor aesthetics with indoor comfort. Sixty-three reconstructed and preserved shophouses along Victoria Street, Middle Road and North Bridge Road are connected and enclosed within the glass arcade, freeing space within the internal corridors and replicate the feeling being on a streetscape. Glass roof canopies unified a block of narrow, shophouse-lined streets to integrate retail with food and beverage outlets in a single air-conditioned environment, making Bugis Junction Singapore’s first glass-covered air-conditioned mall.

The two- and three-storey structures reinforce a local identity, though historic memory is juxtaposed with large-scale, modern structures which bookend the site — a 16-storey, 400 room InterContinental Hotel, and a 15-storey office block. The result is an urban intervention that implants a 21st century network of public spaces within the city’s rooted fabric.