Singapore's malls are taking escalators to new heights.

They are rolling out outside escalators that send excited shoppers soaring up the exterior of buildings, so they bag a beautiful view as well as a bargain.

The latest mall to have a transport of delight is Orchard Central, which opened just last month, and which has four external escalators.

The highest is one rising 22m from the seventh floor to the 11th floor, but it will start operating only from next year.

However, the other three are up and running, rising from level one to three, from level three to four, and from level four to seven.

Orchard Central joins Illuma, Wisma Atria, Tampines Mall and Funan DigitaLife Mall in having such a feature.

Mr Ng San Son, an associate at DP Architects and a member of the design team for Orchard Central, says: 'Inspiration for these escalators was gleaned from the Pompidou Centre in France and Langham Place in Hong Kong.'

Paris' Pompidou Centre is famous for its external skeleton of service pipes and was one of the first buildings to have outside escalators. And Langham Place houses Hong Kong's tallest indoor escalator.

Over at Wisma Atria, its exterior escalators were designed to whisk shoppers from street level to its Food Republic food court on the fourth floor.

Exterior escalators at Tampines Mall help to ease congestion by taking shoppers directly from the first level to the upper floor without the need for them to enter the mall.

At three-month-old Illuma located at Bugis, outside escalators at the entrance lead to and from the mall's second level and are part of a link-bridge connecting the mall to Victoria Street.

If you are worried about being conveyed to your upper limit of fear, the malls assure that there are safety precautions in place.

To prevent users slipping, exterior escalators at Wisma Atria do not operate when it rains. Over at Orchard Central, the exterior escalators have a 1.4m-high glass railing, and there are emergency stop buttons. Wind is also kept out by the glass barrier.

Even parents seem unfazed by these particularly high rides.

Ms Gina Cheng, a mother of two boys aged seven and two, says: 'It should be safe as long as safety measures are taken.'

The 35-year-old housewife adds: 'I'll just tell my older son not to play on the escalator, and hold on to my younger one tightly.'

Industry experts say this is a new trend that looks set to stay.

'This design attracts attention, and if done well, can be very exciting,' says Mr John Ting, the past president of the Singapore Institute of Architects.

'The ones at Wisma and Orchard Central are really well done - they look like they're floating, not heavy or out of proportion,' he says.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.