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

FLOOR PLAN OF JEM LEVEL 2

Level 2

Floor plan
This is the floor plan of Level two, and there are also more clothing outlets as compared to the other outlets stores. There are also no sports and technology shops available in Level two as most of them are either located at the lower stories or the upper ones. There are also fewer food outlets as compared to Level one, therefore, we can also conclude that the food and beverages stores are all concentrated at the lower floors, especially in Basement 1, which makes the higher floors have fewer choices of dining area as compared to the lower floor.

Judging from the floor plan, it actually look quite different as compared to the different levels, for example, Level one, in between the JEM atrium and the information counter is actually winged shaped, similar to a trapezium. Comparing to Level two, both floor plans are actually different when we compare the centre of each level. For Level two, the centre of the level is actually similar to a rectangle, with different styles of parting the shops. This shows us that JEM's architecture is actually quite unique in that sense as the design of the layout of shops are different for each level, which is something unique as most shopping malls have similar design for each level.

We can conclude that Level two actually maximize the use of space for more shops unlike level one, which has too much space set aside for pathways for people to walk. As compared to Level two, we can see that more spaces are occupied due to maximizing of land use, which is an effective way of minimizing land constraints.

Facilities
As compared to Level one, Level two generally more equipped with the different facilities that makes life more accessible and cater to the needs of more people. There are two toilets here in Level two, at different ends of the level, unlike level one, with no toilet access, which makes it inconvenient for many. There is also a diaper changing station located beside each toilet, which will definitely come in handy for mothers carrying their younger children out for shopping. There is also escalator, travellator and passenger lift access which caters to the needs of different groups of people, which makes JEM an elderly and disabled friendly shopping mall. There is also quite a few ATM machines in front of UOB Bank, which made it more convenient to draw money from there in case of emergencies. There are also two AED devices placed here in Level two, which makes the place seem quite safe, as in times of crisis, the AED will definitely comes in handy to save a life. Furthermore, what makes Level two the most convenient and the most fully equipped Level is that it is easily accessible by almost everyone via the ticket concourse of the Jurong East MRT, where everyone can just take a walk through the shopping mall before making a trip back home, or towards their respective destinations.

Surroundings
As compared to level one, Level two definitely is lacking in greenery even though there are also indoor plants planted at almost every different corners of the level, which also makes it more spacious in a way, even though plants can help us to breathe in fresher air indoors through photosynthesis. However, level two is generally similar to level one to the extend that both levels do have different resting corners set up for the shoppers to enjoy a moment of peace before continuing their shopping journey. We came up with a conclusion that the designers of JEM shopping mall is actually quite thoughtful as most of the shoppers would be rather tired to continue after a while. With the chairs available, the shoppers will not be so willing to go home too quickly due to exhaustion, and will continue to shop after they feel less tired and more energetic. This service of putting resting areas are usually not commonly seen in all shopping malls, as most of them are well constrained of space and they do not have much space to provide shoppers a place for resting. However, this service will definitely provide a space for people to relax in, which is one of the facilities that most shopping centres is lacking, yet it is one of the more important services that a shopping centre should provide to make it a more friendly space for all.

~YC

FLOOR PLAN OF JEM LEVEL 1

LEVEL 1

Floor plan
This is the floor plan of the level , and we can conclude that Level 1 has quite a number of clothing outlet stores (14 clothes outlets) which allow the shoppers to have a wide range of brands to choose from, and also, there are also some food outlet (8), and they are mainly clustered together. After analyzing the floor plan of Level 1 of the shopping centre, we can say that the arrangements of shops are mainly classified according to the different categories, as seen in the legend as well as in the floor plan above. We can also say that even though the floor plan and the arrangements of shops are quite unique (because some shops have two shops sharing a unit at some spaces, while there are also shops that only occupies one whole shop, such that we can walk through the shop to the other end of the mall), as compared to other shopping centres. However, the disadvantage is that there are not much clever use of space as there are too much space used as pathways when they can actually be converted into more shops so that the land can be maximized, minimizing land constraints by having more shops into one shopping centre.

Facilities
We can say that the facilities are not really fully equipped in Level One. There are no toilets in level one, which makes it rather inconvenient to travel either up or down just for toilets. There is also a customer service counter set up near one of the entrances of the shopping mall, which makes it rather accessible for people to locate the place to seek for assistance as it is quite prominent. There is also an AED device near the information counter, which makes a life saving device available, which may come in need in times of crisis. The building is quite an elderly and disabled-friendly shopping mall as there are travellators around which is efficiently helpful as it has a flat surface and the speed is rather slow so that the needy do not lose their balances and fall. There are also 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.

Surroundings
There are trees planted around to help to improve the look and the feeling of the atmosphere, which makes it more comfortable, and also allow us to get more in touch with nature around us. There are also several resting areas set up by the mall indicated by sofas, chairs or benches, which can allow the shoppers to have a good rest when they are tired to continue. This service will definitely provide a space for people to relax in, which is one of the facilities that most shopping centres is lacking, yet it is one of the more important services that a shopping centre should provide to make it a more friendly space for all.

~YC

BIPOLAR SURVEY

We had arrived at this conclusion that our field is has a positive image because most of the ranks of the building characteristics is highly ranked. For the design architecture, we realized that JEM is cleverly crafted such that most shops can actually accommodate two mini shops in between. One of such example is Sephora and Pedro, as they shared the same unit, but they sub divided the unit into two. As for the maintenance of the building, we found it quite good as there are no rundowns anywhere in these five levels that we worked on, with the walls of shops newly painted and toilets maintained well. There are also a lot of indoor plants in the shopping centre itself which effectively greens the place, giving the shopping centre a better and fresher look, which is quite a novel idea. There are also a lot of open space for people to move and even though there are a lot of people moving in and out of the place, there is actually not much noise generated, even though the human transport is quite high. There are no dents on pavements which made it quite safe for the elderly to walk on. Even though there is only rubbish bins and recycling placed at the life landing lobby, we actually observed that there are not really any litter spotted in the shopping centre, and there are also no vandalism too. Certainly there is a wide variety of shops in the mall itself, which gives us an opportunity to shop for more alternatives when we are lost of ideas for what to get. The service in the customer service counter is quite good as we can see the staff replying the inquiries from the customers promptly. This mall is also elderly and disabled friendly as we can see there are quite a lot of escalators and lifts provided to ease their accessibility problems. Overall, we think that JEM has a positive image as the services and the architecture designs is good and accessibility services is quite good and suited the needs of different groups of people.

~YC

FIELDWORK LOCATION (14 JULY 2014)

Our fieldwork site's location is JEM lower floors (Site I) and we took levels B1, B2, B3, L1 and L2. We did the maps for these floors, conducted the bipolar survey and took some photos of the fieldwork location.