A new hangout spot for right-brained people!
GMBB is a “mall” like no other. There are no H&M, Sephora or luxury brands here. Instead, it’s books, art, and handicrafts made by local artists, including an artist very close to home: YOU! In addition to the independent fashion and craft boutiques, the GMBB creative community mall hosts a wealth of workshops where anyone so artistically inclined can try their own DIY project.
Layout
The layout of GMBB is the only uncreative thing about the whole place. Each floor is a square with escalators in the middle, forming a tall chimney where you can look straight through to the top. There are nine floors, but most people won’t need to go above the 3rd floor.
Shopping at GMBB
There’s not much to buy at GMBB unless you’re into books and crafts. The bookshops seemed to contain a hodgepodge of titles or niche types of books, like the Museum of Picture Book Art. If you’re more in the market for something cute and handcrafted (but don’t know exactly what yet), you’ll fare a little better. Shops like ManoPlus and Artery carry miscellaneous items – cards, stickers, jewellery, coasters, and keychains, for example.
Workshops are the bread and butter at GMBB. Most of the storefronts host a DIY project that might be fun to do with your crafty friends or family. The Yu Wagashi workshop and make-your-own lipstick at Lipstick Diary seemed to be the most popular on our visit. We were here on a Sunday, and almost all the workshops were open for business. It seems like you can drop in on most of them, but a select few (like the leather crafting workshop) have a set schedule. Go to GMBB’s Instagram to check out the current and upcoming workshops.
Art exhibits and galleries cleverly fill the remaining empty shop lots, of which there are many right now at GMBB. There’s at least something interesting to look at instead of a bare white space when shopping around the lower levels. Perhaps the most refreshing was that there wasn’t a single piece of obvious AI art. When GMBB says they celebrate artists, they mean real artists.
The retail action pretty much ends on the 2nd floor. The occupied lots from level 3 and above are mostly community spaces or artist studios. The GMBB Reading Corner on level 3 is like a library, but the seats don’t look particularly comfortable for long periods of reading. It does double duty as a board game cafe, which it’s much better suited to and something that’s lacking in Bukit Bintang. The sign was small, but I think it said it was RM20 per pax.
Level 5 had a temporary art exhibit that required a paid ticket to enter, so we skipped it. Who knows what they’ll fill the space with once the exhibit ends. The Dream Factory on level 7 is a co-working space with a lounge nearby and even showers. With the Nap Pods next door, I guess it is possible to live here at GMBB… during business hours, at least.
There’s no reason to wander the upper floors of 7, 8 and 9. The vibrant art galleries on the bottom floors don’t make it up here. I found it depressing to walk around on these upper levels with all the empty lots mixed in with the shuttered offices that are closed on the weekend.
Food at GMBB
There are only a handful of food & beverage options at GMBB. Most of them are intimate little kopitams and bakeries on level 1. There’s also a Jamaica Blue Coffee on the ground floor that is not on the directory. While it’s a shame to choose a chain, Jamaica Blue had the most appealing atmosphere, in my opinion. It had lots of natural light and seating, whereas the other cafes were cosy windowless places.
Washrooms
The washrooms are in the same spot on every floor – in the back corner. There’s no chance of a queue with so few visitors. Despite the low number of users, the washroom was well-maintained and stocked with toilet paper and soap every time I needed to go.
Extras
Level 6: Darkroom Gallery
The Darkroom Gallery is a free, immersive exhibit. As the name suggests, it’s a long, dark room with illuminated info boards. During our visit, the exhibit was all about carnivorous plants around the world.
Saturday Worthy?
GMBB was such a great find. The cutesy craft shops are just my thing, and I enjoyed seeing local art that wasn’t just AI generated trash. The art wasn’t pretentious or overly inscrutable either. Even if you’re a left-brain sort of person, GMBB is worth stopping into. The art galleries are all free, and it won’t take long to shop the first couple of floors if you want to move on to any of the “real” malls nearby. GMBB would’ve been a nice place to take our foreign friends to pick up locally made souvenirs instead of the junk at tourist traps like Central Market or Petaling Street. Those who enjoy art and trying DIY projects should definitely come and explore GMBB.
GMBB
Address: No. 2, Jalan Robertson, Bukit Bintang, 50150 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Opening Hours: 11am to 8pm daily
Nearest MRT Station: Plaza Rakyat, Merdeka
Stores and Floors: Less than 100 over 9 floors
Shop Types: Books, crafts, art exhibits, workshops
Anchors: None
