Glorietta (Tagalog: [gloɾˈjɛtɐ, gloɾˈjɛta]; stylized in all lowercase), also known as Ayala Malls Glorietta and formerly as Quad, is a shopping mall complex in the Ayala Center, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. The mall is owned by Ayala Land and operated through its subsidiary, the Ayala Malls. The mall is divided into five sections (named Glorietta 1 to 5) and contains many shops and restaurants, as well as cinemas, a gym, arcades and a large central activity center.
Location | Ayala Center, Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines |
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Opening date |
|
Developer | Ayala Land |
Management | Ayala Malls |
No. of stores and services | 550+[1] |
No. of anchor tenants | 5 |
Total retail floor area | 250,000 m2 (2,700,000 sq ft) |
No. of floors | |
Public transit access | 3 Ayala E Ayala AX10 Glorietta 5 |
Website | www |
Glorietta 1 to 4 is integrated with the nearby Greenbelt, SM Makati, Rustan's Makati, The Landmark, and eventually One Ayala. Glorietta 5 is detached, located at the lot formerly occupied by an open parking area between Hotel InterContinental Manila and Rustan's Makati.[2] Coinciding with the redevelopment, the tenants affected by the October 19, 2007 explosion were given an option to relocate there.[3]
The mall got its name from the Spanish word glorietta, which used to describe the public meeting place in Spanish colonial-era designed towns throughout the Philippines; the spelling with double "t" reflects the Old Spanish alphabet.
Until 1997, the mall was previously named Quad, a name that was also borne by the four-cinema Quad Theater that was integrated into it. The name quad is a Latin word for four, reflecting the mall's original number of divisions.
Glorietta was originally a park centrally located in the Makati Commercial Center complex. The Glorietta park, with its outdoor stage for event hosting, was built in the 1970s. It was landscaped by Ildefonso P. Santos Jr., a National Artist for Architecture who was also credited for designing the entire complex.[4] It was then surrounded by small shopping arcades, Quad Theater (also known as The Quad), and the Makati Supermart.[5][6]
In 1990, Ayala decided to redevelop Makati Commercial Center, then branded The Center Makati, into a new development named the Ayala Center. The plan called for the redevelopment of the Glorietta park and the surrounding shopping arcades into a single shopping mall. To mark the change, Makati Commercial Center was renamed Ayala Center in 1991.
The new Glorietta mall opened in 1992 with a gross leasable area of 250,000 m2 (2,700,000 sq ft), envisioned as one of the largest malls in the Philippines. The mall was divided into four sections:
All four components were home to a variety of shops and restaurants. Quad 1 and 2 opened in 1991, while Quad 3 opened in 1992 and was completed in 1993. Glorietta 4, delayed due to the construction of Oakwood Premier, opened in 1998 and was completed in 1999.[8] Quad 1, 2 and 3 would later be renamed Glorietta 1, 2 and 3, respectively.[4] Those were divided by walkways radiating from the activity center to their namesake major roads (clockwise from north): Ayala Mall, EDSA Mall, Pasay Mall, and Makati Mall.[9]
Tenants that set up shop in Ayala Center prior to Glorietta's development, most notably Mercury Drug, Automatic Centre, Jollibee, Max's, and McDonald's, also found a home in Glorietta. The department stores surrounding the mall – SM Makati, The Landmark, and Rustan's – were utilized by Glorietta as its anchor tenants for its supermarkets and department stores.
By the mid- and late 1990s, Glorietta gained popularity as a premier mall. It has an air-conditioned atrium with water features, an indoor children's playground, and an activity center that hosts concerts and shows.[citation needed] The mall was known as Quad until 1997, when it adopted Glorietta as its present name, though the Glorietta name was used as a secondary branding since 1992.
Other new buildings were also constructed between 1999 and 2005, making Glorietta larger than its original construction plan. Glorietta 5, an additional wing detached from Glorietta 1 to 4, was opened in the fourth quarter of 2008.[10] Reconstruction and redevelopment of Glorietta 1 and 2 began in 2010, with reopening on November 5 and December 7, 2012, respectively. On November 29, 2012, Move to the Vibe of Glorietta, a fashion show, was held at the mall's new Palm Drive Activity Center and broke the Guinness World Record for the “Most People Modeling on a Catwalk” with 2,255 participants.[11]
A Chuck E. Cheese's was meant to open here in 2013, but the plans were cancelled due to the mall layout.[12]
The flagship Uniqlo store opened on October 5, 2018 in Glorietta 5, occupying the ground and second levels of the mall; it is Uniqlo's largest store in Southeast Asia.[13] A year later, a new roofdeck named "Top of the Glo" was opened.
In 2019, a remodeled Food Choices area in Glorietta 4 was opened.[14] The section opened with more food shops, and the area was extended into the location formerly occupied by Automatic Centre and BLIMS Fine Furniture. Consequently, both these stores were moved to the former location of National Book Store's third level in Glorietta 1 as part of the remodeling project. BLIMS re-opened at its new location in April, while Automatic Centre opened their relocated store in June. The main atrium at the center of the mall was closed for a major renovation in early 2019 and reopened on November in the same year.[15]
A major redevelopment of Glorietta is being done in phases since the first quarter of 2024. It will feature layout changes, along with new interiors and exteriors, and increase its gross leasable area (GLA) by 10 percent. It is expected to be completed in 2026. Ayala Malls has tapped Australian architectural firm Buchan for the redesign of Glorietta.[16][17]
Glorietta, located in Ayala Center, has a GLA of 250,000 m2 (2,700,000 sq ft), making it the ninth largest shopping mall in the Philippines in terms of GLA, tied with Greenbelt. It is divided into five sections: the contiguous Glorietta 1, 2, 3, and 4 and the fully detached Glorietta 5. Glorietta 1 to 4 features up to five levels of retail. Glorietta 5 has three retail levels and five levels of BPO offices. Although detached above, it connects to the rest of Glorietta via a pedestrian underpass at Basement 1. Level 2 walkways link Glorietta to SM Makati and The Landmark. A connection to One Ayala is pending, and previous links to the former Park Square 1 and Park Square 2 existed before the 2010–12 redevelopment.[18] Adjacent parks are Glorietta 3 Park, Dolphin Park, Palm Promenade, and Terraces Square.
Glorietta 3 is home to clubs and restaurants (including Hard Rock Cafe) and international luxury labels.[8] Glorietta 4 is home to seven cinemas, Food Choices, Rustan's Department Store (shared with the adjacent Rustan's Makati building), and The Marketplace supermarket. Glorietta 5 is home to Uniqlo's largest Southeast Asian branch and the Makati church of Christ's Commission Fellowship.[13][19]
"Top of the Glo" is an al fresco roof deck attraction featuring Japan Town (under Mitsubishi's partnership), K-Park, and the Omniverse Museum at the fourth level of Glorietta 1 and 2.[20][21] Its retail area has a GLA of 2,500 square meters (27,000 sq ft).[22][23][24][25] An atrium is situated at the center of the contiguous Glorietta, as well as an activity center positioned between Glorietta 1 and 2, facing the Palm Drive entrance. Both spaces are frequently utilized for hosting events.[1]
Above the contiguous Glorietta stand office buildings such as Glorietta 1 Corporate Center and Glorietta 2 Corporate Center, as well as hotels such as Holiday Inn & Suites Makati and Ascott Makati.[26][27] Those buildings are all accessible at Glorietta's ground level, with Holiday Inn & Suites Makati accessible through the fourth level as well.
Glorietta is supported by three levels of basement parking shared with the aforementioned hotels,[28] interconnected with the basement parking of the adjacent Park Terraces residential complex and Terraces Square.[29] It is also served by other distinct parking facilities nearby, such as The Link, 6750 Steel Carpark, 6750 Ayala Avenue Office Tower, Park Square, and One Ayala's basement parking, which is planned for connection to Glorietta's.
On May 17, 2000, thirteen (13) people were injured in an explosion at Glorietta 2. Police said the blast (by a homemade explosive) originated from a restroom of a restaurant and affected a nearby branch of Timezone, a game arcade center, as well as the ceiling of the bridge connecting Glorietta 2 to the then Park Square 2. Two rival gangs were seen fighting near the restaurant shortly before the blast occurred.[30]
Magdalo soldiers led by Lt. Sr. Grade Antonio Trillanes IV took control of the Oakwood Premier. Glorietta, where the hotel stood, was also closed during the siege.
An explosion in Glorietta 2 killed eleven people and injured a hundred others. Initially, authorities termed it a liquefied petroleum gas explosion in a restaurant, but later began investigating the possibility that the explosion may have been a C-4 bomb.[31][32] The explosion destroyed much of Glorietta 2's main lobby and vehicles parked outside. Several days later, October 23, 2007, senior government officials expressed "a high level of certainty" that the explosion was an accident,[33] but the bomb theory has not been totally ruled out. This was brought on by the inability of experts to find bomb components after four days of rigorous investigation. It is believed that the explosion was caused by underground structures in the mall that might have triggered the blast, pending further investigation.
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