A walk in the sky
SM Supermalls Vismin PR team with
SM head office publicity staff led by
Senior PR Manager Melody Bay
(5th from left).
Never a mall person, I got an invitation from SM Shoemart to attend their one-day familiarization tour of their new sky garden in SM North EDSA in Manila. Since I’ve never been with my press colleagues on a fam tour before I decided to go along, a day in Manila isn’t that bad, besides I need a new scenery so to speak. So off I go to a one day adventure with lots of reservation on my part, shall I have a grand time or not!
Troy Camarista, SM City, Iloilo Public Relations officer, was our amiable host. I must say I felt totally relaxed with his company; very efficient and most accommodating, making the first leg of our trip (first flight to Manila) all ready enjoyable. We were billeted in G Hotel in Roxas Boulevard, a boutique hotel with a most interesting touch – noire et blanc in all its lobby interior! Very very chic.
A waterwall at the second floor.
Next was the highlight of the trip, our visit to humongous SM CITY North Edsa where the sight nearly blew me away – a breathtaking lush green park complete with a waterfall on the second floor. It’s like a garden on suspended in air – way so much for my badly needed new scenery!
The Sky Garden as it is now called is the most innovative and exciting part of SM CITY North EDSA Mall’s renovation which was formally opened to the public last May 29. This elevated curvilinear park at the second floor of the former parking lot fronting the City Center and The Blocks offers the much needed green space not only for the mall, but also the city as a whole. It buffers the mall from the busy EDSA intersection and serves as a living, organic link between the different components of the Block, The City Center, and The Annex (the many buildings that comprised SM North EDSA dearie, in case you don’t know). Lifted from the road like a floating green ribbon, this elevated garden softens the harsh urban environment with the lush land and waterscapes, while its organic form also compliments the new wavy cladding of the mall.
SM City North Edsa.
Pockets of outdoor chairs give the shoppers calm rest spots amid the string of retail shops and specialty stores, Café, grills and dining outlets floats on ponds or cluster, around circular pocket gardens, whose forms echo those of the renovated skylights within the mall. Iloilo’s very own Marina Restaurants sit majestically near the water falls! Canopied walkways meander amidst undulating lawns, ponds, and trees, while tunnel of shops are sculpted out of the earth giving visitors a new dimension to the traditional park experience.
The Sky Garden’s main attractions include the Roof Garden, the Sky Dome, Water Features, and retail, dining and entertainment outlets. The well manicured Roof Garden has about 55 species of plants, grass and trees. All these plant species grow on a special type of garden soil which offers a lightweight effect on the structure. A truly green garden, it has a special type of drainage system that allows it to conserve water. The Sky Dome is a performance area which is open for concerts and promotional activities, providing further attractions and dynamism to the landscape deck. It has a seating capacity for more than 1,000 and a movable stage to accommodate different types of events. The Sky Garden’s water features include two bubblers, a simulated river flowing at the center, and waterfalls at the edge of the second floor, which will act as a monumental screen onto which various promotional montages can be projected, giving the park an added presence at the street level.
The Sky Garden is accessible from many points. It’s Ground Level has a vehicular parking and public transportation terminal, where customers can access the Sky Garden via the escalator and stairs. There are driveways and drop off areas from EDSA for pedestrians, and the entire development will be connected to the combine LRT 1, MRT 1, and MRT 7 Grand Terminal in the future.
Watch out for my IMAX Experience in my next article.