# Through the lens: Farewell to HarbourFront Centre

- **Source:** EdgeProp Singapore
- **Published:** 2026-09-01T23:47:00.000Z
- **Author:** Kevin Siyuan
- **Original:** https://www.edgeprop.sg/property-news/through-lens-farewell-harbourfront-centre
- **Topics:** Commercial & Industrial

## Featured rationale

Its redevelopment signals continued confidence in HarbourFront’s transformation and could support new supply, stronger connectivity and buyer interest across the surrounding waterfront precinct.

## AI summary

HarbourFront Centre, established as the World Trade Centre in 1978, closed in late July ahead of redevelopment within the evolving Greater Southern Waterfront.

## Original article

Some buildings are remembered because they are extraordinary. Others become unforgettable by virtue of having always been there, gathering decades of shared passages and lived history.

HarbourFront Centre belongs to the latter.

For generations of Singaporeans, it has been a familiar face along the southern waterfront, a building passed through on the way to Sentosa, the Southern Islands, neighbouring countries, or the workplace.

Its architecture was never intended to command attention. Instead, it earned its place in the city's collective memory through routine and everyday movements.

Read also: Marina Square to transform into 'hyper-mixed' 24/7 destination with living, hospitality, office, retail, sports, wellness, culture: SingLand

For decades, the now-defunct shopping mall and ferry terminal has anchored one of Singapore's busiest waterfront precincts.

First established as the World Trade Centre in 1978, before renovations and a rebranding in 2003, the complex has long connected Singapore to regional destinations while evolving alongside the changing shoreline.

Together with VivoCity, HarbourFront MRT Station and the surrounding ferry terminals, it helped define HarbourFront in Bukit Merah as a gateway between the city and the sea.

Today, that gateway is entering a new chapter.

As the Greater Southern Waterfront reshapes Singapore’s southern coastline, familiar landscapes around HarbourFront are beginning to change.

New public spaces, transport connections and waterfront developments will redefine the precinct, leaving HarbourFront Centre — which shut its doors in late July, ahead of its redevelopment — as a reminder of an earlier generation of waterfront planning.

Its architecture reflects that era. The stepped façade, horizontal bands and deep overhangs express a functional architectural language shaped by practicality, climate and movement.

Read also: Pacific Eagle Real Estate to bring new 1,000-seat theatre, art museum to redeveloped Tanglin Shopping Centre

Rather than competing with the harbour beyond, the building provides a calm backdrop to the constant flow of commuters, ferry passengers, office workers and visitors who pass through it each day.

From the pedestrian bridges linking VivoCity to the ferry terminal, to the elevated walkways overlooking Keppel Harbour, the precinct has always been defined by movement.

Ferries depart for the Southern Islands, cable cars drift towards Sentosa, while vessels continue to navigate the waters.

Architecture is often photographed when it is new. Less often is it documented before it changes.

Perhaps that is HarbourFront Centre's enduring significance. It was never meant to be the destination, but the space between destinations; the pause before departure and the point of return.

Like a comma in the city, it connected journeys, places and people, allowing one story to flow naturally into the next.

As HarbourFront enters its next chapter, photographing the precinct is no longer an act of nostalgia but one of observation — a way of acknowledging an ordinary place that has connected generations through daily journeys, before it makes way for what comes next.

Read also: UOL readies mega Thomson Reserve condo launch in 4Q2026, and luxury NoMad Hilton hotel debut

Kevin Siyuan, director of Shiya Creative Studio, is an architectural photographer and short-film director with a background in urban planning.

Check out the latest listings for Harbourfront properties

## Chinese translation

> Translation model: grok_cli

### 透过镜头：告别港湾中心

在港湾中心迎来下一篇章之前，以视觉方式向这座熟悉的滨海水上门户致敬——它承载着数十年的共同记忆。

有些建筑因非凡出众而被铭记。另一些则因始终在那里、汇聚了数十年的共同往来与生活历史，而令人难以忘怀。

港湾中心（HarbourFront Centre）属于后者。

对一代又一代新加坡人而言，它是南部滨海一带熟悉的面孔，是前往圣淘沙、南部离岛、邻国或上班途中必经的建筑。

它的建筑从未意在夺人眼球。相反，它凭借日常往返与寻常动线，在这座城市的集体记忆中赢得一席之地。

延伸阅读：滨海广场（Marina Square）将转型为集居住、酒店、办公、零售、运动、康养与文化于一体的“超混合”全天候目的地：新翔集团（SingLand）

数十年来，这座现已停业的购物商场兼渡轮码头，一直锚定着新加坡最繁忙的滨海街区之一。

该综合体于1978年作为世界贸易中心（World Trade Centre）落成，后于2003年翻新并更名，长期以来连接新加坡与区域目的地，并随不断变化的海岸线一同演进。

它与怡丰城（VivoCity）、港湾地铁站（HarbourFront MRT Station）及周边渡轮码头一起，共同将红山（Bukit Merah）的港湾（HarbourFront）塑造为连接城市与大海的门户。

如今，这座门户正进入新篇章。

随着大南部滨海区（Greater Southern Waterfront）重塑新加坡南部海岸线，港湾一带熟悉的景观开始发生变化。

新的公共空间、交通连接与滨海发展项目将重新定义这一街区，而港湾中心——已于7月下旬关闭，为其重建做准备——则成为早期一代滨海规划的见证。

它的建筑反映了那个时代。阶梯式立面、水平饰带与深远出檐，体现了一种由实用性、气候与动线塑造的功能性建筑语言。

延伸阅读：Pacific Eagle Real Estate将为重建后的东陵购物中心（Tanglin Shopping Centre）引入全新的1,000座剧院及艺术博物馆

这座建筑并不与远处的港口争辉，而是为每天穿行其间的通勤者、渡轮乘客、上班族与访客的持续人流，提供一片平静的背景。

从连接怡丰城与渡轮码头的行人天桥，到俯瞰吉宝港（Keppel Harbour）的高架步道，这一街区始终以流动为特征。

渡轮驶往南部离岛，缆车缓缓滑向圣淘沙，船舶则继续在水面航行。

建筑往往在崭新之时被拍摄。较少有人在它即将改变之前加以记录。

或许这正是港湾中心持久的意义所在。它从来不是目的地，而是目的地之间的空间；是出发前的停顿，也是归来的节点。

它像城市中的一个逗号，连接着旅程、地点与人群，让一个故事自然流向下一个。

随着港湾进入下一篇章，拍摄这一街区已不再是怀旧之举，而是一种观察——在它让位于未来之前，向这个通过日常旅程连接了几代人的寻常之地致意。

延伸阅读：华业集团（UOL）筹备于2026年第四季度推出大型公寓项目Thomson Reserve，以及豪华NoMad希尔顿酒店首度亮相

Kevin Siyuan是Shiya Creative Studio总监，身为建筑摄影师兼短片导演，并拥有城市规划背景。

查看港湾（Harbourfront）房产的最新挂牌