GRiD / SPARK

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Text description provided by the architects. 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.