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".
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.
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).
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.
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
Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that clai ...
” systems such as
rainwater harvesting will also introduced in the NGNCs.
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".
In 2014, HDB held a competition to select the architectural team for Canberra Plaza. The
design brief A design brief is a document for a design project developed by a person or team (the ''designer'' or ''design team'') in consultation with the ''client/customer''. They outline the deliverables and scope of the project including any products or work ...
given was: "design a mixed development with a
gross floor area of ." 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 Sungei Simpang Kiri is a river located in eastern part of Sembawang, Singapore. The river starts near Canberra Link and discharges into the Straits of Johor.
Location
Sungei Simpang Kiri is a river located in eastern part of Sembawang. The river ...
. 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.
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 Hub is the headquarters of the Housing and Development Board. Is is located on Lorong 6 Toa Payoh in Toa Payoh, Singapore next to Toa Payoh MRT station.
History
The HDB Hub opened on 10 June 2002 as the headquarters of the Housing and Develop ...
(HDB Headquarters) in
Toa Payoh. Thereafter, construction of the Plaza commenced and was expected to end in 2019. The mall was officially opened on 18 December 2020.
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
condominium
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
s as well as
landed properties (Sembawang Springs Estate). Also in the vicinity is
Yishun
Yishun, formerly known as Nee Soon, is a residential town located in the northeastern corner of the North Region of Singapore, bordering Simpang and Sembawang to the north, Mandai to the west, the Central Water Catchment to its southwest, An ...
Industrial Park A which mainly comprises
workshops of
manufacturing businesses as well as
automobile repair shops. In addition, the Singapore
subsidiaries
A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a sa ...
of
multinational corporations such as
Murata Manufacturing and ASM Assembly Systems are located within the industrial park. 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.
Layout
Canberra Plaza is designed with three commercial stories that have a combined gross floor area of The main anchor tenants include a
supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...
and
food court
A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dinner. I ...
s. Other commercial units include
restaurant
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
s, 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 Ground level may refer to:
* Earth's surface
* Storey of a building/structure on (level with) the ground; also called the "ground floor"
* Ground Level, Australian band
* "Ground Level", a song by Stereo MCs from the album ''Connected''
See also
...
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.
PDF), Retrieved 18 April 2018. Source: HDB
Awards
References
External links
Canberra Plaza
Where2Shop
(HDB Page for HDB Neighbourhood Centres)
* - More pictures of Archietectural Model
{{Singapore malls
2020 establishments in Singapore
Shopping malls in Singapore
Places in Singapore
Sembawang