Opened in 1972, Tanglin Shopping Centre was one of Orchard Road’s earliest retail landmarks. Until its closure and demolition in 2024, it had witnessed, for more than half a century, the development and progress of Singapore’s most famous shopping belt.

Designed by local architect William Lim, the construction of Tanglin Shopping Centre began in 1969 along the Tanglin Road-Orchard Road stretch, where there were previously a row of shophouses, including one that housed the family of the founder of S.K. Chee Pte Ltd, also the developer of Tanglin Shopping Centre.

The $7.5-million mall was designed to cater for both the tourists and locals. It had seven storeys, made up of 150 shop and office units, and a two-level basement carpark. A display consultant was hired to advise on shop interiors and displays in a bid to improve the new mall’s attractiveness to shoppers.

Tanglin Shopping Centre was part of the rise of many shopping complexes in the early seventies. Other malls that were built at about the same time were Peninsula Shopping Centre, Specialist Shopping Centre, Golden Mile Complex and People’s Park Complex.

Tanglin Shopping Centre had the first “day hospital” in Singapore. The Singapore Medical Centre, with 18 medical practitioners and up-to-date facilities, was established at the fourth and fifth floor of the new mall in late 1971.

Lufthansa German Airlines also relocated its office from Raffles Place to Tanglin Shopping Centre. It paid $1.2 million for its huge 5,000 square feet of office space.

Midteen Boutique was one of the first shops opened at Tanglin Shopping Centre. Selling teen clothes, it was opened just before the Christmas Day of 1971.

With almost all the shops and offices sold or leased out, Tanglin Shopping Centre was fully opened in January 1972. Throngs of tourists and local shoppers were lured to the new mall as it had a large variety of shops that ranged from apparel, jewellery, beauty salons to cafes and restaurants.

Some of Tanglin Shopping Centre’s early tenants were Connoisseur (antiques), Sun Craft (handicrafts), The Nutmeg Tree (antiques), The Gallery (art gallery), Di-Enchantress (ladies’ fashion), CYC Shanghai Shirt (men’s shirts), Bata Boutique (shoes), Shui Hwa Jewellery (jewellery), SPH de Silva (jewellery), Genexco (home products), Sharmila (Indian cuisine), Tenderloin Grill and Coffee House (western cuisine) and The Cookie Box (pastries).

Like other early prominent shopping centres in Singapore, Tanglin Shopping Centre had its fair share of issues in its early days.

In 1974, there were several cases of tourists buying luxurious items, such as expensive watches and jewellery, from Tanglin Shopping Centre’s shops with counterfeit cheques. On 29 April 1974, two armed robbers barged into jewellery shop SPH de Silva and got away with $5,000 cash and $200,000 worth of gems. It was the largest robbery case, in terms of the loots’ value, in the year of 1974.

The high-profile jewellery robbery of Tanglin Shopping Centre was just one of the many cases occurred in 1974. In the first six months of 1974, there were more than 900 cases of robberies and thefts reported. Homes, offices, workshops, jewellery shops and money changers in different parts of Singapore were robbed or broken into. The victims suffered a combined loss of $1.4 million.

By the eighties, the older shopping centres of Orchard Road, including Tanglin Shopping Centre, faced increasing competition from the newly-built malls, such as Orchard Plaza (opened in 1980), Far East Plaza (1982), Scotts Shopping Centre (1983), Centrepoint (1983), Orchard Point (1983), Meridien Shopping Centre (1983), Delfi Orchard (1984), Promenade (1984) and The Paragon (1986).

Tangs and Yaohan Orchard also underwent revamps in 1984 and 1985 respectively to polish their appeals to the shoppers.

In 1980, Tanglin Shopping Centre’s developer S.K. Chee Pte Ltd added a $12-million office tower extension to the mall’s circular concourse. In 1981, S.K. Chee Pte Ltd was acquired by King’s Hotel and renamed King’s Tanglin Shopping Pte Ltd. King’s Hotel itself was the hotel subsidiary of City Developments.

Following its revamp, Tanglin Shopping Centre had its lower levels leased out to several prominent artwork shops and antique shops specialised in old maps, prints and artefacts. Slowly gaining a reputation as a “treasure chest of antiques”, the shopping centre became a place where the rich and famous visited to pick up exquisite artworks and antiques for their own collections.

In 1994, Tanglin Shopping Centre carried out a $9-million renovation project in a bid to bring it on par with its nearby malls, hotels and buildings. Its aging aircon systems were replaced, and new interior finishes were applied to the floorings, ceilings and toilets. A new, wider canopy was also built to provide more shelter at the driveway.

Tanglin Shopping Centre had several well-known longtime tenants.

Steeple’s Deli, opened at Tanglin Shopping Centre in 1981, was Singapore’s first delicatessen (a shop that sells cooked meat, cheeses and other foreign prepared food). Its faithful patrons would remember its retro interior fittings, served milkshakes and sandwiches. One of Tanglin Shopping Centre’s longest serving tenants, Steeple’s Deli was closed in April 2023.

Another one was Anywhere Club, home to Singapore’s rock legends Tania, made up of lead guitarist Zulkifli Sutan, singer Alban De Souza and keyboardist Ismet “Boy” Lubis. Anywhere Club was established at Tanglin Shopping Centre in 1986 and lasted almost 20 years before its closure in 2005.

Other names that come to mind are Club 21, Laugh Comedy Club, Antiques of the Orient, Excalibur Bar and D&O Film and Videos.

By the mid-2000s, there were criticisms that the older shopping centres of Orchard Road were increasingly looking outdated, empty and even “haunted”. In 2007, Tanglin Shopping Centre was in the news due to a “rumoured” en-bloc sale. It was then put up for a collective sale three times between 2010 and 2017. However, its reserve price of $1 billion to $1.5 billion failed to secure any buyers.

In 2022, in its fourth sale attempt, Tanglin Shopping Centre was finally acquired by Pacific Eagle Real Estate in a $868 million deal. The mall was eventually vacated and demolished in 2024, after a long 52 years of history at Orchard Road.

Tanglin Shopping Centre in 2023, a year before its demolition:

Published: 29 January 2025