by Colin Lauw

Pedestrians and cafe patrons enjoying shelter and cool respite along the covered walkway at Novena Square.

It does not surprise. Slowly but surely, Novena is becoming what it was meant to be - vibrant and thriving.

In 1995, URA announced the development guide plan for Novena, envisioning the area to be "an urban community with a rich variety of commercial and residential developments in close proximity to the city". One of the planning strategies was to develop the land around Novena MRT station as a Fringe Centre (see box story).

Since then, URA's urban design plan has guided subsequent developments and our sale of sites process and post-sales co-ordination efforts have facilitated implementation of these plans to create the distinctive commercial centre and quality living environment that Novena is today.

Transport hub

Novena Square is today a transport hub for the area, with Novena MRT station located directly beneath Novena Square. Working together with the Land Transport Authority (LTA), URA's plans ensured that the bus stop, taxi stand, car drop-off and MRT entrance are fully integrated with the development. Transferring between modes of transport is seamless and also 'weather-proof'. MRT commuters exit directly into the shopping centre and conveniently outside to the taxi bay and bus stop.

More pedestrian linkages

One of the key proposals in URA's urban design plan for Novena was to provide a comprehensive network of covered walkways, underpass connections and throughblock links to facilitate movements between the various developments and Novena MRT station.

To enable pedestrians to walk comfortably from Thomson Road to Sinaran Drive and onwards to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, URA's plans required a covered throughblock link on the first storey of the Novena Square development to be built over the existing MRT station.

 

At the heart of Novena Fringe Centre, Novena Square - with offices, shops,
and various transport modes all under one roof.