Online shopping and infomercials have largely affected how consumers hunt for necessities, special bargains and other nifty finds. However, no matter how these may seem like comfortable options for customers, the shopping mall industry continues to be on the rise. In the Philippines alone, there seems to be a ceaseless influx of shopping centers- from bazaars and hypermarkets, to colossal malls.

Dominating the malling phenomena in these parts, however, are the shopping hubs of Henry Sy’s brainchild, SM. From a humble shoe store in Manila, it has now morphed into an icon in the world wide shopping scene. In fact three of the SM Suppermalls (SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall and SM North EDSA) were even included in Forbes Magazine’s top 10 list of the world’s largest malls.

Leading SM’s chain of stores is SM Mall of Asia, considered as the third largest mall in the world. Located within the reclamation area, west of Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City, SM Mall of Asia is built on 19.5 hectares of land, with a gross floor area of 386, 224 square meters.

The mall is said to be the centerpiece project of SM Prime at the SM Central Business Park, where five one-story buildings serve as the company’s corporate offices (the sixth building is occupied by Teletech Holdings, Inc. as  their flagship site in the country). Construction began in mid 2002, right after the completion of a contemporary medical school, dining strip and medical complex at Macapagal Boulevard, adjacent to the SM Central Business Park.

The SM Mall of Asia’s design team includes Arquitectonica, design Architect; Robert Carag Ong and Associates, architect of record;GHT Services, project manager, and Hilmark Construction (for the South Parking Building, Main Mall and Entertainment Mall) and Monolith Construction Development Corp. ( for the North Parking Building), general contractors.

The Mall of Asia’s design is essentially abstract and modern. The curvilinear planes can be read either as sails or waves or wings, and it is this very abstraction that renders the design timeless and constantly reinvented in people’s eyes.

The malls interiors are designed with the customers in mind. Shop frontages and balustrades are largely glass in order to maximize views of the merchandise. Circular forms such as waves, zigzags and ovals also permit better views of the shops when viewed obliquely. Shop fronts, skylights, floor and ceilings, while definitely striking in design are kept simple. In general, the interiors are kept clean and free of unnecessary details so that they will not overpower the tenants and their merchandise.

The SM Mall of Asia grounds consist of four buildings interconnected by walkways: the Main Mall, which houses a gamut of shopping and dining establishments, as well as the food court; the Entertainment Mall, which offers a spectacular view of the Bay with outdoor dining balconies and landscaped terraces; as well as the North and South Carpark Buildings.

Being the Philippines’ largest, MoA has around 5, 000 parking spaces divided across two, six- story parking buildings. The South Parking Building houses the malls official SM Department Store, while the mall’s Supermarket, the SM Hypermarket is located within the North Parking Building. A major portion of the North Parking building also contains the offices of Dell International Services Philippines (Dell Inc.).

The Mall of Asia’s somewhat unique features is a 20-seater tram traveling around the mall grounds to ferry shoppers around. Concierge desks are located in the Main Mall and Entertainment Mall.

Without a doubt, the mall is sprawling with attraction. Mall of Asia includes branches of all of the standard anchor stores found in most of the SM Supermalls. The first ever branch of Taste; Asia one of the SM Supermalls’ food court brands, is located right outside the mall’s supermarket, the sprawling SM Hypermarket.

Also an attraction is the first ever IMAX theater in the country, along with a Director’s Club Theater for intimate screenings (30 La-Z Boy seats), a Premiere Cinema, and the Centerstage Cinema which can be used for live musical concerts and theatrical performances.

In addition to the mall’s special theaters, it also has six regular two-tiered movie theaters similar to the one found in almost every SM Supermall. The mall features the Philippines’ first Olympic size ice skating rink. At 61 by 30 meters, the rink is describe as the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia. It can accommodate both recreational and competitive figure skating, as well as ice hockey. Along with plain access and skate rentals, the rink’s operators also offer training programs in both figure skating and ice hockey. Several ice skating competitions has been held at the mall’s ice skating rink.

The mall also provides office space. Dell International Services, a subsidiary of Dell Inc., occupies a 13, 470.5-square meter area at the second floor of the north parking building of the mall.

Also seen within the vast vicinity of SM Mall of Asia is the OneEsplanade. This was constructed at the back of the mall where it served as the observation center for the first World Pyro Olympics held ion December of 2005. the second World Pyro Olympics was also held at the MoA’s boardwalk area at the early part of last January.

The parking was also a witness to the Lovapalooza 2, wherein thousands of couples kissed for 10 seconds, breaking Chile’s record in the Guinness World Records.

Also set to the right of the north parking building, The SM i-City is a 1.17 hectare lot allocated to serve as prime venues for companies engaged in software development and IT enabled services. A mix of single and multi-storey buildings will be developed to provide for the office and backroom operations of business process outsourcing.

The first building, OneE-comCenter, began March 8, 2006 and scheduled for completion this November. The 105,857 square meter OneE-comCenter was designed by international firm Arquitectonica and Architect Felix Lim. The building itself will have a total of 71, 934 quare meters available for lease. Seven floors will be allotted for office space, and the ground floor for commercial use.

The average floor plate will be 9,000 square meters. There will be two and a half levels for parking with 600 slots. Tenants on the fourth floor will enjoy the convenience of parking their cars on the same floor as their offices. Offices on all floors can look out into a courtyard in the middle of the whole structure.

More than its design features, tenants of OneE-comCenter will also enjoy tax incentives as it is completes its registration with the Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA). Its strategic location and proximity to the airport will ensure a strong market response for OneE-comCenter. The building is connected by a second level pedestrian bridgeway to the mall’s north parking building.