Lucky Plaza is a shopping centre located at Orchard Road

Orchard Road

Orchard Road is a road in Singapore that is the retail and entertainment hub of the city-state. It is regularly frequented by the local population as well as being a major tourist attraction...

 in Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

.

Built by owner and developer Far East Organization

Far East Organization

Far East Organization is the largest private property developer in Singapore. It was founded by Singaporean billionaire Ng Teng Fong in 1960s. It has two listed subsidiaries, Orchard Parade Holdings Limited and Yeo Hiap Seng Limited...

, Lucky Plaza was completed in 1981. Lucky Plaza has proved to be one of the more successful shopping centres in Singapore during its heyday.

Architecture

Lucky Plaza's success was due as much to the architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

's — BEP Akitek Pte Ltd — concept of an open vertical 'bazaar

Bazaar

A bazaar , Cypriot Greek: pantopoula) is a permanent merchandising area, marketplace, or street of shops where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The term is sometimes also used to refer to the "network of merchants, bankers and craftsmen" who work that area...

' as to its central position in the middle of the Orchard Road tourist district.

The high value location prompted the idea of placing the traditional arcade

Arcade (architecture)

An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....

 'on end' in the form of a series of stacked galleries, interconnected by escalator

Escalator

An escalator is a moving staircase – a conveyor transport device for carrying people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individual, linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.Escalators are used around the...

s and glass

Glass

Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...

 lift

Elevator

An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...

s, around a high open space. These internal pedestrian

Pedestrian

A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In some communities, those traveling using roller skates or skateboards are also considered to be pedestrians. In modern times, the term mostly refers to someone walking on a road or footpath, but this was not the case...

 streets are linked to those outside and a multi-storey carpark at the rear at several not too convenient points.

The building is set back from the main road and though this would appear to give more space for vehicles and pedestrians, the conflict between people, cars and taxis is very evident.

Amenities

Lucky Plaza has a wide range of shops selling Filipino

Filipino people

The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....

 products, electronics

Electronics

Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...

, shoes and sports goods. The upper levels include bars, nightspots and doctor's premises. The mall is also a hub for the Filipino community in Singapore, which can be observed on Sundays in particular when Filipino domestic workers congregate in and around the vicinity for snacks.

There is a food court

Food court

A food court is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dining. Food courts may be found in shopping malls and airports, and in various regions may be a standalone development...

 in the basement that sells cheap local fare. There are other food joints in the building, such as McDonald's

McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...

, Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise that offers different styles of pizza along with side dishes including pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread....

and other eateries, including the main branch of an Ayam Penyet chain.

Shops that sell off-season perfume and cosmetics can be found on most floors.

Lucky Plaza also houses beauty salons on the fourth floor that attract foreign tourists and flight crew due to the lower costs compared to prices of salons in the rest of the shopping district.