Glorietta
Glorietta, also known as Ayala Malls Glorietta and Glorietta by Ayala Malls and formerly known as Quad and Ayala Grand Mall, 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 and contains many shops and restaurants, as well as cinemas, gyms, arcades and two central activity centers. Visitors have described the mall as maze-like, due to the complexity of its interior layout.
Glorietta 1 to 4 is integrated with the nearby Greenbelt, SM Makati, Rustan's Makati, and The Landmark. Glorietta 5 is detached, located on the former site of an open parking area between Hotel InterContinental Manila and Rustan's Makati. Coinciding with the redevelopment, the tenants affected by the October 19, 2007 explosion were given an option to relocate there.
Name
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 Quad, which contained four cinemas that would be integrated into it. The name quad is a Latin word for four, coincidentally the mall's original number of divisions. The mall was also known as Ayala Grand Mall.
History
Glorietta was originally a park centrally located in the Makati Commercial Center complex. The Glorietta park, with its outdoor stage, 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. It was then surrounded by small shopping arcades, The Quad, and the Makati Supermart.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. Makati Commercial Center and the nearby Greenbelt complex were later merged to become Ayala Center in 1991.
As Glorietta
The new Glorietta mall opened in 1991 with a gross leasable area of, envisioned as one of the largest malls in the Philippines. The mall was divided into four sections:- Quad 1 - which retained the four original cinemas of The Quad until 2009;
- Quad 2 - which had an indoor theme park named Glico's Great Adventure, the Goldcrest shopping arcade, and was soon to become the main setting for a deadly explosion in 2007;
- Quad 3 - which would soon be the home of international restaurants like Hard Rock Cafe and TGI Friday's;
- Glorietta 4 - a new hub for entertainment with a Timezone branch, seven additional cinemas, and Oakwood Premier, a premier hotel that stood on top of the mall.
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.
In the mid-1990s, Glorietta emerged as a premier mall, boasting an air-conditioned atrium, children's playground, and activity center. The mall transitioned to its present name from "Quad" in 1997 and underwent expansions from 1999 to 2005. Glorietta 5, an additional wing detached from Glorietta 1 to 4, was opened in 2008. As part of the Ayala Center Redevelopment, reconstruction work on Glorietta 1 and 2 began in 2010, with reopening on November 5 and December 7, 2012, respectively, followed by the addition of Holiday Inn & Suites Makati and two namesake office towers on top of the mall. 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.
A Chuck E. Cheese's was meant to open here in 2013, but the plans were cancelled due to the mall layout. Further developments followed, including the opening of Uniqlo's flagship and largest Southeast Asian store at Glorietta 5 in 2018, the unveiling of "Top of the Glo" roof deck in 2019, and the completed renovation of Food Choices in Glorietta 4 and of the atrium in the same year. The renovation on the mall's fitness and wellness zones was completed in 2021, with the launch of Wellness Place and the opening of the country's largest Adidas store.
2020s redevelopment
A major redevelopment of Glorietta is being done in phases since the first quarter of 2024. It features layout changes, along with new interiors and exteriors and additional open-air areas, and increase its gross leasable area by 10 percent. It is expected to be completed in 2026. Ayala Malls has tapped Australian architectural firm Buchan for the redesign of Glorietta.As part of the renovation, the total number of cinema theaters at Glorietta was reduced from seven to six. The original Cinema 3 was dismantled, while the original Cinemas 4 to 7 were reassigned as the new Cinemas 3 to 6. Reopened in 2025, the new Cinema 3 was rebranded into an A-Luxe Cinema, while A-Giant Cinemas were included at Glorietta. A 13K-resolution LED display, one of the largest in the Philippines, was unveiled in mid-2025 at the cinema lobby. Meanwhile, Dolphin Park is being redeveloped as The Plaza.
Features
Glorietta, located in Ayala Center, has a GLA of, making it the eleventh largest shopping mall in the Philippines in terms of GLA, tied with Greenbelt and Ayala Center Cebu. 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. Located in the contiguous area is the Glorietta Grand Mall, a hallway that is shared with the adjacent Rustan's building, with an entrance along Ayala Avenue. Glorietta 5 has three retail levels and five levels of BPO offices. Although detached above, it connects to the rest of Glorietta through a pedestrian underpass at Basement 1. Level 2 walkways link Glorietta to SM Makati and The Landmark. A Level 3 walkway links Glorietta 5 to One Ayala, while elevated and basement links from Glorietta 4 to One Ayala are pending. Previous links to the former Park Square 1 and Park Square 2 existed before the 2010–12 redevelopment. Adjacent parks are Glorietta 3 Park, Dolphin Park, Palm Promenade, and Terraces Square.Glorietta 3 is home to clubs and restaurants and international luxury labels. Glorietta 4 is home to six cinema theaters, Food Choices food court, Rustan's Department Store, and The Marketplace supermarket, which is located within the Rustan's building but considered part of Glorietta. Glorietta 5 is home to Uniqlo's largest Southeast Asian branch, the Makati church of Christ's Commission Fellowship, and offices of Ayala Land and some of its subsidiaries.
"Top of the Glo" is an al fresco roof deck attraction featuring Japan Town, K-Park, and the Omniverse Museum at Level 4 of Glorietta 1 and 2. Its retail area has a GLA of. An atrium is situated at the center of the contiguous Glorietta, as well as an activity center in between Glorietta 1 and 2, facing the Palm Drive entrance. Both spaces are frequently utilized for hosting events.
Hotels and office buildings
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. Those buildings are all accessible at Glorietta's ground level, with Holiday Inn & Suites Makati accessible through Level 4 as well.Parking
Glorietta is supported by three levels of basement parking shared with the aforementioned hotels, interconnected with the basement parking of the adjacent Park Terraces residential complex and Terraces Square. It is also served by other distinct parking facilities nearby, such as The Link, 6750 Steel Parking, 6750 Ayala Avenue Office Tower, Park Square, and One Ayala's basement parking, which is planned for connection to Glorietta's.Incidents and accidents
2000 bombing
On May 17, 2000 shortly before 5:00 p.m. PHT, a blast occurred along the pedestrian bridge between Glorietta 2 and Park Square 2. It left thirteen people injured. Police said the blast originated from a restroom of a restaurant and affected a nearby branch of Timezone. Two rival gangs were seen fighting near the restaurant shortly before the blast occurred.Oakwood mutiny (July 27, 2003)
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.2007 explosion (October 19, 2007)
An explosion in Glorietta 2 killed eleven people and injured a hundred others. Initially, authorities termed it a liquefied petroleum gas explosion at Luk Yuen Noodle House, but later began investigating the possibility that the explosion may have been a C-4 bomb. 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, 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.Following the explosion, the mall was temporarily closed, but Glorietta 1, 3, and 4 were reopened on October 25, 2007.