Katong
Shopping Centre
ABOUT
Located on Mountbatten Road, Katong Shopping Centre began its operations in 1973. It was the first mall to be fully air-conditioned, compared to other malls which only had fans and individual air-conditioning units.
The building has a unique architectural design - with its iconic holes-in-walls structure, allowing it to stand out amongst the modernised shopping centres we have today. The mall was built shortly after Singapore's independence, an optimistic period of time, which influenced the mall's modernist design. During this period, steel and reinforced materials were popular building material, instead of the glass used by many modern buildings in the 2000s. According to an interviewee named Mr Goh, the mall's design was considered the "new look at the time", although it would look chunky and bulky in present time. Its architectural features such as circles and straight blocks defined the 1970s Singapore Modernist look.
In 1997, the mall got painted in striking and recognisable blue and yellow colours. The building essentially consists of blocks of increasing sizes, stacked atop one another. As a result, a unique pyramid-like shape is created, giving the mall a spatial depth and unique charm.
Katong Shopping Centre used to be a beachfront mall; commonly referred to as the “Chinatown of the East” due to its high human traffic. This was before the East Coast land reclamation and construction of Parkway Parade which blocked the mall’s iconic sea-view and diluted its business.
The mall was once a popular food hotspot. Among the popular food stalls, only the Delicious Boneless Chicken Rice and the Dona Manis Cake Shop remain in the mall today. Furthermore, Katong Shopping Centre is home to the first-ever Teo Heng KTV karaoke studio outlet. Back in the day, the Katong outlet was the go-to place for karaoke lovers.
Over the years, the crowds died down in Katong Shopping Centre as people began visiting newer malls such as Parkway Parade and I12 Katong instead. Today, Katong Shopping Centre consists of mainly maid agencies and services such photocopying, tailoring and beauty & wellness shops. Most of the shops in Katong Shopping Centre are up for rent and it is evident that Katong Shopping Centre no longer attracts the masses like it used to.