In 2016, Funan DigitaLife Mall shuttered after 31 years of providing electronics and IT goods to the people of Singapore. In its place, we were promised an “experiential creative hub” to be built in three years.
Fast forward to 2018, and we’re nearing the deadline of the mall’s revamp, with good news — Funan will open ahead of schedule in the second quarter of 2019 instead of the third. It’s billed as CapitaLand’s “first innovation-focused integrated development” — which basically means high tech building with retail and office space, plus a co-living service residence called lyf Funan Singapore that’ll open at the end of 2019.
To date, 72 percent of the overall construction has been completed — the S$560 million project took about 19 months to go from groundbreaking to structural completion.
Hailed as Singapore’s first commercial development to allow cycling through the building’s first level, Funan will offer cycling amenities alongside shower facilities and cafes, as well as house English folding bike brand Brompton Bicycle’s flagship store in the country.
It’s also the first in the country to offer a smart interactive directory that’ll use facial recognition technology to recommend stores to shoppers based on factors like gender and age. The building will have sensors scattered throughout the six floors as well, to allow retailers to tweak their offerings in line with shopper traffic and demographics.
Elsewhere in the mall, you’ll find electronics brands like Newstead Technologies, AddOn Systems, T K Foto, and gaming store GamePro, which will host the occasional eSports tournament. Besides all this tech stuff, Funan will also feature a new culinary concept by ABC Cooking Studio, a farm-to-table restaurant by the Spa Esprit Group, a rooftop urban farm by Edible Garden City, a futsal court by Ark Futsal, and a rock climbing facility by Climb Central.
Other tenants include a Golden Village cineplex, a Kopitiam food court, a Wild Rice theatre, and the flagship store of Carrie K and Keepers.
