The SM Mall of Asia is the largest shopping mall in the Philippines and the 6th largest shopping mall in the world in terms of gross floor size, after the South Dongguan Mall (China), Golden Resources Mall (China), Central World Plaza (Thailand), Seacon Square (Thailand),and Runwal Arcade (India). It opened on May 21, 2006.[1]
It is owned and operated by SM Prime Holdings, under the management of Henry Sy, a Chinese-Filipino business tycoon.
It is owned and operated by SM Prime Holdings, under the management of Henry Sy, a Chinese-Filipino business tycoon.
The Mall of Asia was constructed within the reclamation area, west of Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City, aptly nicknamed "Bay City". It is built on 19.5 hectares of reclaimed land and has a gross floor area of 386,224 square meters. The mall is located at the southmost tip of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue. A roundabout was constructed in the front of the mall with a huge bronze globe similar to Universal Studios.
The SM Mall of Asia mall grounds consists of four buildings interconnected by walkways; the Main Mall, the Entertainment Mall, and the North and South Carpark Buildings.
The Main Mall includes shopping and dining establishments and the food court. The Entertainment Mall is a two-story complex, a majority of which is open-air, facing Manila Bay.
The mall's 5,000 parking spaces are divided across two, six-story parking buildings conveniently designated the North and South parking buildings. The South Parking building houses the mall's official SM Department Store, while the mall's supermarket, the SM Hypermarket is located within the North Parking building. A major portion of the North Parking building also contains the offices of Dell International Services Philippines (Dell, Inc.).
One of the mall's somewhat-unique features is a 20-seater tram traveling around the mall grounds to ferry shoppers around.
Concierge desks are located in the Main Mall and the Entertainment Mall.
The Main Mall includes shopping and dining establishments and the food court. The Entertainment Mall is a two-story complex, a majority of which is open-air, facing Manila Bay.
The mall's 5,000 parking spaces are divided across two, six-story parking buildings conveniently designated the North and South parking buildings. The South Parking building houses the mall's official SM Department Store, while the mall's supermarket, the SM Hypermarket is located within the North Parking building. A major portion of the North Parking building also contains the offices of Dell International Services Philippines (Dell, Inc.).
One of the mall's somewhat-unique features is a 20-seater tram traveling around the mall grounds to ferry shoppers around.
Concierge desks are located in the Main Mall and the Entertainment Mall.
The mall includes branches of all of the standard anchor stores found in most of the SM Supermalls. The first-ever branch of Taste Asia, one of the SM Supermalls' food court brands, is located right outside the mall's supermarket, the sprawling SM Hypermarket.[3] (Another Taste Asia branch has since opened in SM Supercenter Pasig)
One of the mall’s main attractions is the first ever IMAX theater in the country, along with a Director's Club Theater for intimate screenings (30 La-Z-Boy seats), a Premiere Cinema, and the CenterStage Cinema which can used for live musical concerts and theatrical performances.
In addition to the mall's special theaters, it also has six regular two-tiered movie theaters similar to the ones found in almost every SM Supermall.[4]
The mall features the Philippines's first Olympic-sized ice skating rink. At 61 by 30 meters, the rink is described as the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia. It can accommodate both recreational and competitive figure skating, as well as ice hockey. Along with plain access and skate rentals, the rink's operators also offer training progams in both figure skating and ice hockey.[5] Several ice skating competitions have been held at the mall's ice skating rink.[6][7]
The mall also provides office space. Dell International Services, a subsidiary of Dell, Inc. occupies a 13,470.5-square meter area at the second floor of the north parking building of the mall.
One of the mall’s main attractions is the first ever IMAX theater in the country, along with a Director's Club Theater for intimate screenings (30 La-Z-Boy seats), a Premiere Cinema, and the CenterStage Cinema which can used for live musical concerts and theatrical performances.
In addition to the mall's special theaters, it also has six regular two-tiered movie theaters similar to the ones found in almost every SM Supermall.[4]
The mall features the Philippines's first Olympic-sized ice skating rink. At 61 by 30 meters, the rink is described as the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia. It can accommodate both recreational and competitive figure skating, as well as ice hockey. Along with plain access and skate rentals, the rink's operators also offer training progams in both figure skating and ice hockey.[5] Several ice skating competitions have been held at the mall's ice skating rink.[6][7]
The mall also provides office space. Dell International Services, a subsidiary of Dell, Inc. occupies a 13,470.5-square meter area at the second floor of the north parking building of the mall.
Construction
The exterior of the SM Mall of Asia, facing Manila Bay.
The mall is the centerpiece project of SM Prime at the SM Central Business Park, where five one-story buildings serve as the company's corporate offices (the sixth building being occupied by TeleTech Holdings, Inc. as their flagship site in the country). Construction began in mid-2002 right after the completion of a contemporary medical school, dining strip and residential complex at Macapagal Boulevard, adjacent to the SM Central Business Park.
The SM Mail of Asia’s design team includes Arquitectonica, design Architect; Robert Carag Ong and Associates, architect of record; GHT Services, project manager, and Hilmark Construction (for the South Parking Building, Main Mall, and Entertainment Mall) and Monolith Construction Development Corp. (for the North Parking Building), general contractors.
The mall would have opened before Christmas Day of 2005 but had been delayed due to hitches in the delivery of construction materials. Frequent rains in the last quarter of 2005 also delayed the turnover of mall space to tenants. SM Prime decided to move the opening date to March 3, 2006.
Originally, the mall was supposed to have had seven stories, with a budget of around 7.5 billion pesos. This was later downscaled to a more modest budget of 2.5 billion pesos, and the original plan for the mall was changed for it to be the two-story superstructure that it is today.[1]
On February 27, 2006, local newspaper Manila Standard Today, reported that a team of Pasay City engineers found huge cracks underneath the structure, which was causing the structure to vibrate.[8] When questioned about the inspection, the Pasay City Engineering Department denied making any statement regarding defects in the Mall of Asia. Engineer Edwin Javaluyas, Pasay City engineering officer, in his letter to SM Prime Holdings Inc., said he never stated that the city hall’s engineering department inspected the Mall of Asia on February 23, 2006.[9]
SM Prime however decided to move the opening to May 21 of that year. Jeffrey Lim, corporate information officer of SM Prime Holdings, emphasized that a rescheduling of the mall’s opening was made to give the company an opportunity to allow more tenants to open shops and denied that the change was due to structural defects.[10]
On May 20, 2006, the mall was officially inaugurated by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with a special screening of Everest in the San Miguel Coca-Cola IMAX Theater.[citation needed] The movie was shown three days after tri-athlete Leo Oracion reached the treacherous mountain’s summit.[citation needed]
[edit] OneEsplanade
An esplanade was constructed at the back of the mall where it served as the observation center for the First World Pyro Olympics in December of 2005.
The second World Pyro Olympics were held at the SM Mall of Asia's boardwalk area in early January, 2007.[6]
The parking lot was also the venue for Lovapalooza 2, wherein more than 5,300 couples kissed for 10 seconds on February 10, 2007, breaking Chile's 4,445 in the Guinness World Records. The event was initiated by Close Up, a Unilever toothpaste brand, as their Valentine's Day event.
The mall's open-air Music Hall directly facing the sea has also held several events, contests and concerts.
The exterior of the SM Mall of Asia, facing Manila Bay.
The mall is the centerpiece project of SM Prime at the SM Central Business Park, where five one-story buildings serve as the company's corporate offices (the sixth building being occupied by TeleTech Holdings, Inc. as their flagship site in the country). Construction began in mid-2002 right after the completion of a contemporary medical school, dining strip and residential complex at Macapagal Boulevard, adjacent to the SM Central Business Park.
The SM Mail of Asia’s design team includes Arquitectonica, design Architect; Robert Carag Ong and Associates, architect of record; GHT Services, project manager, and Hilmark Construction (for the South Parking Building, Main Mall, and Entertainment Mall) and Monolith Construction Development Corp. (for the North Parking Building), general contractors.
The mall would have opened before Christmas Day of 2005 but had been delayed due to hitches in the delivery of construction materials. Frequent rains in the last quarter of 2005 also delayed the turnover of mall space to tenants. SM Prime decided to move the opening date to March 3, 2006.
Originally, the mall was supposed to have had seven stories, with a budget of around 7.5 billion pesos. This was later downscaled to a more modest budget of 2.5 billion pesos, and the original plan for the mall was changed for it to be the two-story superstructure that it is today.[1]
On February 27, 2006, local newspaper Manila Standard Today, reported that a team of Pasay City engineers found huge cracks underneath the structure, which was causing the structure to vibrate.[8] When questioned about the inspection, the Pasay City Engineering Department denied making any statement regarding defects in the Mall of Asia. Engineer Edwin Javaluyas, Pasay City engineering officer, in his letter to SM Prime Holdings Inc., said he never stated that the city hall’s engineering department inspected the Mall of Asia on February 23, 2006.[9]
SM Prime however decided to move the opening to May 21 of that year. Jeffrey Lim, corporate information officer of SM Prime Holdings, emphasized that a rescheduling of the mall’s opening was made to give the company an opportunity to allow more tenants to open shops and denied that the change was due to structural defects.[10]
On May 20, 2006, the mall was officially inaugurated by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with a special screening of Everest in the San Miguel Coca-Cola IMAX Theater.[citation needed] The movie was shown three days after tri-athlete Leo Oracion reached the treacherous mountain’s summit.[citation needed]
[edit] OneEsplanade
An esplanade was constructed at the back of the mall where it served as the observation center for the First World Pyro Olympics in December of 2005.
The second World Pyro Olympics were held at the SM Mall of Asia's boardwalk area in early January, 2007.[6]
The parking lot was also the venue for Lovapalooza 2, wherein more than 5,300 couples kissed for 10 seconds on February 10, 2007, breaking Chile's 4,445 in the Guinness World Records. The event was initiated by Close Up, a Unilever toothpaste brand, as their Valentine's Day event.
The mall's open-air Music Hall directly facing the sea has also held several events, contests and concerts.
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