Architects:SPARK

Area :21800 m²

Year :2022

Photographs :Fabian Ong, Studio Zeros

Lead Architects :Stephen Pimbley, Wenhui Lim

Project Management :Arcadis Pte Ltd

Structural Consultant :Arup

Lighting Consultant :Brandston Partnership Inc.

Construction :Gennal Industries Pte Ltd

Electrical Consultants :Arup

Design Team : Stephen Pimbley, Wenhui Lim, Carlo Joson, Jessica Leong, William Nguyen Van Thanh Ha, Andriani Wira Atmadja, Javier Campoy, Mark Mancenido, Michael Halagao, Maribelle Lapizar, Syazana Paudzi, Regina Kartika, Joei Wee, Lili Saputri, Aye Yu Mon, Arissa Rashid, Zhen Xiao Yang

Consultant : TRIPPLE

Client : GAW Capital Partners, Manful Wings Pte Ltd

Country : Singapore

SPARK has a reputation for the innovative transformation of buildings such as Clarke Quay and Starhill Gallery.GRiD is the next chapter in this narrative. A youth-focused mall and education hub sits at the heart of Singapore’s Selegie Arts District. Sandwiched between the adjacent School of the Arts (SOTA) and several time-worn shopping malls. GRiD is a great example of the vibrant retrofitting of an existing building that extends its community relevance through positive reuse rather than wholesale demolition and re-construction. The metamorphosis of GRiD’s street corner into a “beacon” and attractor as well as housing an increased quantum of high revenue-generating F+B units is SPARK’s signature gesture and a cultural “nod” to the night-time luminosity of the local shophouses. A new ‘social stair’, a key component of the dynamic new corner is located opposite SOTA driving footfall to “food joints” in the basement. The stair is the place to relax with friends, watch onscreen shows or enjoy live performances by GRiD’s arts-focused tenants. The corner shops and social stairs have become a vibrant digital generation-friendly “Instagrammer” canvas for content creators and experience seekers. The GRiD has been deliberately designed to stand out from its neighbors. The energy of the exterior is carried into the interior spaces, redolent of a post-industrial aesthetic with neon lights and supersized utilitarian graphics.