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According to Master Lee, ION Orchard’s irregular shape means its element is water.
There are plenty of fengshui guides for the home, but what about the workplace? In our very first fengshui section, we help you choose a retail unit conducive to you and your business.
By Jet Lee
The first thing to understand about commercial fengshui is its two components of the exterior and interior. Interior fengshui emphasises on the building’s appearance, “facing”, main door, and atrium. On the other hand, exterior fengshui emphasises on the building’s protective surrounding landform: rivers, hills, valleys and other natural features.
The Surrounding Landform
The objects within the surrounding premises form an essential part of energy reflection via circulation. This dictates the existing influential factors that affect the performance of an area or property. The entire arrangement, including the front, back and sides, are always considered in landform orientation and beauty. These factors are known as the Four Celestial Animals.
The Red Phoenix represents potential opportunities for business development, while the Black Tortoise represents the business’ stable performance. The Green Dragon symbolises nobility and fame, and the White Tiger symbolises aggression and wealth performance. It is important for the premises to be more or less balanced, open and broad, so the incoming qi will be well contained and can easily be tapped into, resulting in auspiciousness and timeliness that will benefit you financially.
Appearance
The shape of a building indicates the nature of the business. But with modern architecture, the shape of the building can be difficult to establish. In my experience, a conservative, classic shape and tends to lead to more stable and balanced business performance.
Different shapes represent different elements. For instance, the triangular Wheelock Place has the fire element, the square Ngee Ann City has the earth element, the circular Shaw House has the metal element, the irregularly shaped ION Orchard has the water element and the rectangular CK Tang has the wood element.
Facing
The “facing” of a building is a vital component of its appearance. There are three factors to help determine a building’s facing: its façade (appearance and shape), “bright hall” (frontage opening) and “qi mouth” (main door).
The facing should not be lopsided, but should be constructed with a person standing upright in mind. There should be a clear and bright outlook that gives a neat and tidy impression. Only then will the energy that enters the building be gentle and positive. The facing should also facilitate doors opening in the right direction, which are critical to the navigation of qi flow into the building.
Main Door
From the facing, the main door is the “qi mouth” of the building, reflecting the nature of the building’s qi intake and its internal circulation. This is paramount to business performance and the distribution of energy within the building itself.
The direction in which the door opens is insignificant, but its location and direction towards the exterior of the building is important. It illustrates the nature of “food” intake from the mouth (main entrance) to the body (building). Therefore, there should always be only one main entrance to the building. Other doors can be present, but should smaller than the main entrance.
Two doors of the same size means two equal forms of qi intake, which will make it erratic. As such, the main door must be the biggest.
Atrium
All prominent commercial complexes have one common feature: the atrium. It symbolises the stomach or digestive system, facilitating the qi pool for the common usage of the building. The atrium should be broad and with adequate depth and preferably, a high and hollow ceiling span to accommodate a proper qi flow and energy exchange in the building.
Any negative external energy projected towards the main entrance can be diluted via the atrium, which indicates the building’s overall performance, capacity and status. An atrium should be bright and broad to facilitate movement without minimal obstruction.
Choosing a retail unit
Step 1: Assess the building’s fengshui on a macro platform, namely, its location, logistics and demographic(s) to determine your business’ target audience.
Step 2: Drive around the area to understand the surroundings and determine the protection factor of the building, namely, the Four Celestial Animals mentioned earlier.
Step 3: Assess the appearance of the building in terms of shape, entrance, and elemental attribution (wood, fire, water, metal or earth).
Step 4: Decide on the façade and main entrance with a compass to determine the direction of the door.
Step 5: Assess the internal layout of the building and looking out for good and big atrium (if there is) that facilitates the qi pool effect as well as the platform of qi distribution.
Step 6: Pick a unit equipped with good energy, bearing in mind the direction in which it faces, its water features, the building’s human traffic flow, and any junction within the building.
Good fengshui will preserve business optimal performance, dictating the strategic geographical factor in one’s life pursuits, and thus, allowing one to leverage on this natural factor.
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This article was first published in the print version The PropertyGuru News & Views. Download PDF of full print issues or read more stories now! | ||