Suggestion for L2

Second floor has a really simple design of a rectangle shape. The walking path for the shoppers is also very spacious which is a really good thing. What i find a bit unusual about the planning of this floor is that, some parts are clustered with shops while the other parts only have a few shops. Instead of crowding all the shops in a small area, they should space out the shops so that it will be more pleasing to look at.

In terms of facilities, I feel that there is a need for one more restroom. They can also make use of the wide space they have by putting benches. I would prefer to see a bit more greenery as this floor is rather plain and dull looking. Like any other floors' directory, they should be more detailed. Instead of only showing a few shops' location on the map, they should show the location of the other shops as well, or else, it can be rather hard for the first timers to look for the shop that they want. Other than those a few flaws, second floor is really well-thought out.

Suggestions On Improvement L1

Suggestion For L1

To start off with, the footpaths of the level is quite wide, which is a good thing, but it is a waste of space because it is not maximizing the space in Level One. As seen in the map, the shops are all clustered together, which minimizes the size of the shop. The planning committee should space out the space of the shops equally, as the footpaths are quite narrow in between the shops.

For the facilities, there are no toilets to be seen in sight in the entire level. It may cause inconvenience to most people as they have to travel to other levels to look for toilets. The directory should be more well detailed, showing all the names of the shops on the level itself. This will allow the shoppers who have never visited the mall before to know what shops are available in the shopping mall and where are they located. This will provide everyone with more convenience. There should also be more passenger lifts which will come in handy especially for elderly or the disabled that is using wheel chairs, as it is quite inconvenient to travel up by escalators or travellators.

SUGGESTION FOR IMPROVEMENT B1

Suggestions for B1

The layout of the shops are quite complicated, it confuses people and certain shops are difficult to pinpoint, which makes it quite time consuming to locate the shops that you want to find. To make a better life for the shoppers, the layout should be improved by making it less confusing, simplifying the way the shops are arranged.

For facilities, we should have more restrooms since there is only one toilet located on this level, which is at one end of the level. This makes it inconvenient for the shoppers and if they need to visit the restroom urgently, the consequences would be dire if they cannot make it on time. On peak hours, there could be a long queue waiting, especially at the female toilet. Even though there are any cubicles, it might not be enough to accommodate the large crowd of shoppers who visit the toilet. There are also a lack of tables and chairs which allow the shoppers to sit and rest while eating their food, since basement 1 is normally the level where food outlets are usually located. There should be outdoor area for eating which will allow the shoppers to get more in touch with nature. There should also be more escalators which can give the shoppers a better accessibility to other levels, especially with the shoppers who are wearing heels or are rushing for time.

PEDESTRAIN COUNT

Pedestrian count conducted at NTUC (B1), Levi's (L2) and Starbucks (L1).

NTUC
We can say that NTUC has a high human traffic as shown by the data of the pedestrian count conducted.

Reasons for high traffic:
1, NTUC is a supermarket which has almost every products needed for daily use, many people will visit the shop often to get the things that they wanted.
2, The timing when we conducted the pedestrian count is nearly 4.30 in the afternoon, which is almost peak hour, where the domestic helpers or housewives will be going to get the items needed for dinner and so on, contributing to the high pedestrian traffic for the supermarket itself.
3, NTUC accepts a range of credit cards, and also has their own discount card, which can allow the shoppers to save quite a lot of money for the items bought, which may be service that not many shops provide.

LEVI'S
We can say that Levi's has a low human traffic as shown by the pedestrian count data, due to the following reasons.

Reason for low traffic:
1, Levi's sells mainly jeans, that is quite expensive, which causes shoppers to walk pass the shop without entering to take a look at their products, contributing to the low pedestrian count.
2, The shop position of the shop is not very ideal as it is placed near the other end of the level with not much interesting shops or accessible facilities such as toilets, seating areas and so on.
3, The shopkeepers are not very friendly, which does not make the customers feel welcomed, as observed by the few customers entering the shop and leaving it shortly, mainly due to the services.

STARBUCKS
We can say that Starbucks has quite a high rate of human traffic as observed from the data collected from the pedestrian count.

Reasons for high traffic:
1, Starbucks is located at a convenient place as the shop is just facing the MRT station, and the shop is located just beside the entrance of the shopping mall, which makes it more accessible.
2, Starbucks is well known for it's unique blend of coffee, which makes it quite popular among coffee lover, and it is also a common sight of students doing their work in Starbucks due to the free internet access and peaceful ambiance.
3, Starbucks offer a wide range of different flavoured drinks other than coffee, and their service was efficient and they also have friendly counter staff who are willing to help out whenever in need.

FLOOR PLAN OF JEM BASEMENT 1

We can conclude that Basement 1 is definitely not a place to shop for clothes. This floor is mainly made up of restaurants and food outlets, which will definitely provide the food lovers a place to find their favourite food as there are a variety of different food outlets, leaving the shoppers open to a lot of choices to indulge in a world of food heaven. 

FLOOR PLAN
This floor is pretty much well planned-out. I am really surprised by the fact that many stores are able to fit into this basement. I would say that this floor is pretty much crammed up compared to other floors. It is great that they are many shops to full fill our necessity in just one floor but they lay out could easily confuse the customers as they are either clustered in a way of the units are split into half . The pathway for the people to walk on is really narrow which can be very troublesome during the rush hour. I feel really suffocated visiting the basement as everything is allocated very closely to each other. We can also say that the layout of shops are also different from level one and level two, which shows that JEM's infrastructures and layouts of shops has been thought through specially by the architects and the designers as the layouts for the three levels are different. This architecture is rather unique as the levels layout for most shopping centres in Singapore is all similar for different levels, which effectively shows JEM's uniqueness in trying to portray the idea of ingenuity. Basement One has quite a number of food stalls which are clustered together shows that the use of space is cleverly planned in the shopping mall to put different varieties of food stalls as much as possible in the small area of space provided.

FACILITIES
I would say that the facilities are alright but it is definitely not very good. It has two lifts,one escalator and one travelator, which effectively makes it more convenient for the elderly and the disabled as travelling is made easy and more accessible with these features around in the shopping mall. In basement one, there is also has toilet, which makes it very convenient for people as compared to Level one where there are no toilets at all which makes it very inconvenient for people to use. The facilities on this floor are very elder and disabled friendly as it has lifts and travelator which is very suitable for them. There are also seating areas in Basement one which provides the shoppers a place to rest before continuing. There are also several ATM counters placed near the few banks which maximizes the accessibility level as many people would very much prefer to draw money from the machine itself rather than bringing huge stacks of money around.

SURROUNDINGS 
The ambiance of Basement one is not as good as Level one as Basement One do not have too much of greenery planted to enhance the appearance of the Level, as compared to Level One and Two, which effectively made use of the different types of plants to make the surroundings more welcoming to the shoppers as greenery makes the space more relaxed and more inviting.

PICTURES OF FACILITIES [Basement 1, 2 and 3]

 So these are the basic features of Basement 2 and 3, which is the car park. 

There is a public telephone placed at the car park to allow the users to make emergency calls in the event when they forgot to bring along their mobile phones. 

The car park is also environmentally friendly, as seen in the green parking lots, it provides hybrid car users (which uses electronic batteries to power the cars) to be charged as the parking lot provides wires for the cars to be charged. This is a special feature of the carpark in JEM that is unique and most likely cannot be find in a lot of shopping malls in Singapore.

There is an interactive directory placed near the entrance of the mall to allow the shoppers to locate the shops more efficiently. There is also a fire extinguisher placed near the exit sign which comes in handy during emergencies. There is also a waste bin placed near the entrance of the mall to allow the shoppers to have more convenience to discard their waste.

Escalators to provide a more convenient travel from level to level.

There are reflective strips placed onto the metal poles to ensure that the motorists sees the hump further in front, and also to prevent speeding. 

There are passenger lifts that provides accessibility needs for the elderly, disabled, as well as parents with young children.

There are also signal lamps placed at alternate intervals to signal to the drivers of the zebra crossing in front of them. There are also pillars built to ensure that the drivers know which lot do they parked their cars in and so on. 

Escalators connecting Basement 2 and Basement 3

 

Escalator connecting basement 1 and 2 

There are signages put up by the escalator to remind the users of the dos and don'ts. At a further distance there is also a few boards left aside for commercial use to allow the companies to advertise their products as well as giving the shoppers a chance to know what are the companies advertising. 

This photo is taken at an angle to show that the lamp posts are placed side by side at specific intervals to allow the motorists to be more aware of their surroundings, and they are usually placed near the entrance to the shopping mall.

There are also a few enclosed areas which are fenced up, which also means that there are potential dangers in there, in this case, it will be the electricity source in the car park itself.

There is a door separating the mall from the car park, acting as a safety barrier to the shoppers to the roads with vehicles. 

There are also benches and potted plants placed at the different car park levels to give the shoppers a place to rest while waiting for their driver to pick them up at the designated place. 

 There are also signages put up by the escalator to remind the users of the dos and don'ts. At a further distance there is also a few boards left aside for commercial use to allow the companies to advertise their products as well as giving the shoppers a chance to know what are the companies advertising. In this level, there are also plants and bins placed.

There is a trolley return point at the car park to allow shoppers to have better accessibility of returning the trolleys at a more convenient place, rather than making another trip down to Basement 1 to return the trolleys to NTUC supermarket. This is also useful as it minimizes the chances of having trolleys strewn all over the place, or even missing trolleys as they might be brought back home by the shoppers. 

~YC

PICTURES OF THE FACILITIES [Level 1 and 2]

These are the images taken at the different locations respectively, featuring the facilities and ambiance of JEM shopping mall.

Pathway leading towards another exit/entrance out of JEM shopping mall, which has been observed that there are quite a lot of people using it even though it is around 3PM on a weekday afternoon. 

Pathway leading towards another exit/entrance out of JEM shopping mall, which has been observed that there are quite a lot of people using it even though it is around 3PM on a weekday afternoon. 

Resting area in front of ESPRIT and the passenger lift, as seen, planted with a lot of plants. 

Another entrance/exit of the shopping mall at Level 1, as seen, with many people entering and leaving the place from this entrance/exit. 

Resting area outside Soo Kee, with sofas provided for people to resr before they continue to shop. 

Quite a few plants planted near one of the escalators of the Level 1 escalator, enhancing the greenery of the shopping mall. 

These type of bins can be seen only near the passenger lifts, as observed as there are no bins available easily in the mall itself except for these places. 

A row of trees planted neatly along the pathways of level one, outside the stretch near Starbucks Coffee. 

Views of trees of level one from the angle on level 2. 

Another resting area near the UOB ATM machines on level 2. 

ATM Machines outside UOB bank, Level 2.

Broad Pathway outside the stretch of shops of Level 2. 

Travellator linking B1 to L1, made accessible for elderly and the disabled as the speed is quite slow. 

Pathway linking from the exit to the shopping mall, which appeared rather empty as the use of space is not maximized, and there are quite a lot of shoppers moving to and fro from this pathway to the outside of the mall.

~YC