You might have heard the news that Harbourfront Centre is set to close down in the 2nd half of 2026, leaving behind fond memories of shopping and dining, before exciting ferry and cruise trips or even tuition centres took over.
But what the younger generation might not have known is that Harbourfront Centre used to be Singapore’s World Trade Centre, a place many remember for exhibitions, book fairs, and even a maritime museum.
Image credit: HarbourFront Centre via Facebook
If you haven’t already, quickly head down to HarbourFront Centre for a last look because it will be shutting its doors later this year for a 5-year makeover, transforming it into a mixed-use building.
Currently, the 3-storey building features tenants offering a wide range of fashion and retail options, restaurants, enrichment centres, and ferry ticketing shops. It’s connected to VivoCity and houses the ferry and cruise centre for your cruise trips and ferry rides to Batam and other vacation islands.
When the mall closes in 2026, the passenger terminal will begin operating at a new location next to the existing building.
Image credit: Roots by National Heritage Board
The World Trade Centre was built in 1978 and was meant to be Singapore’s link to global trade centres. This one-stop hub for global commerce services cost $83 million to build and also served as a venue for commercial, recreational, and marine terminal facilities.
The Singapore International Motor Show in 1978 was the first large-scale exhibition held there. It also hosted the Miss Universe Pageant in 1987, televised worldwide to at least 600 million viewers, as well as the Guinness World of Records Exhibition in 1990.
The Harbour Pavilion at the World Trade Centre.
Image credit: Roots by National Heritage Board
There were many exhibition halls at the World Trade Centre, including the hexagon-shaped Harbour Pavilion hall – a 5,000-seat multi-purpose hall with a portable stage and motorised retractable seats.
These halls could host concerts, musicals, and exhibitions – perhaps some older Singaporeans may remember getting comics and PCs from the book fairs and IT shows there. Now, such exhibitions are held at Singapore EXPO instead.
Image credit: Liang Wei via Facebook
The World Trade Centre spanned the whole area, including where both HarbourFront Centre and VivoCity currently stand.
It had also housed a large arcade chain, WyWy Wonderspace, popular in the 1980s and 1990s, a KFC, and other small shops that many older Singaporeans still remember.
Screenshot from: Reddit
Those who have visited might also remember the container ride that carried people up and down past a LEGO miniature display of port operations, part of the Maritime Square exhibition at Harbour Pavilion.
The World Trade Centre later closed down in 2000 for redevelopment, and reopened on 17th February 2003 as the HarbourFront Centre we know today.
Image credit: Mapletree
HarbourFront Centre will be closing down again after 23 years to be redeveloped into a 33-storey mixed-use building, with completion expected in the 1st half of 2031. The new building will boast 26 floors of office spaces and 5 floors of curated retail spaces.
Image credit: Mapletree
It will also come packed with sustainable elements, like bicycle parking, a solar photovoltaic system, a smart lighting system, EV charging stations, and a 13,000sqm publicly accessible elevated park.
Now that we think about it, the building kind of resembles an air purifier – with all the greenery worked into the design and its focus on sustainability, it looks like it’s about to start filtering air.
While it’s always a little bittersweet to say goodbye to a place that held many great memories, HarbourFront Centre’s legacy won’t disappear with the redevelopment. The next generation would just be creating more memories of their own in the brand-new building.
For more articles on Singapore’s heritage:
Cover image adapted from: NLB, HarbourFront Centre, Mapletree
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