The station is near the Serangoon Neighbourhood Police Centre and Braddell Heights Community Hub and serves various residential estates in the area.

During the construction of the CCL tunnels, ground settlement caused the NEL station to sink, leading to a brief halt in excavation works.

The NEL platforms and concourse display woodcut prints as part of Eng Joo Heng's artwork Memories of Childhood.

[15][16] To facilitate the station's construction, the Paya Lebar Methodist Church and Braddell Heights Community Centre were relocated.

[21] The area's grassroots leaders conveyed residents' complaints about the construction noises to the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

In response, the LTA explained the work progress and assured the residents that the inconvenience was temporary; the completion of the MRT station would make the area more convenient.

[22] Provisions were made for the existing NEL station to link with the future Circle line (CCL) platforms.

[24][25] The contract for the construction of the CCL station was awarded to a joint venture of Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Woh Hup and Alpine Mayreder.

[27] As the tunnels underneath the NEL station were being excavated later that month, the contractors encountered a large amount of groundwater that seeped into the work site.

[35] As part of a joint emergency preparedness exercise by the LTA and train operators SBS Transit and SMRT, security screenings were held at this station on 7 December 2021.

Residential developments around the station include Sunshine Terrace, La Belle and Forest Woods Residences.

[47] The pair of travellators linking the NEL and CCL platforms are one of the longest in the Singapore MRT network at 73 metres (240 ft).

[54] Eng Joo Heng's Memories of Childhood is a series of woodcut prints displayed in silk screens or vitreous enamel wall panels at the NEL platforms and concourse.

[59] His early sketches on paper had more specific symbolism related to the theme of childhood but were later revised to more generic images for all commuters to appreciate.

[58] Displayed at the CCL concourse level,[60] View of Life by Sarkasi Said is a batik painting of various colours in strokes intending to express movements of change and nature.

[53] Inspired by the lalangs that used to grow in the Serangoon area,[61] the work was intended to reflect the artist's love of batik painting.

[62] Feeling that Singapore's development was underappreciated, Sarkasi decided to create a painting that reflects the "optimism, joy and vitality" of the country's achievements.

Using wax-resist, the artist treated each splash with chemicals to dye the colour on the canvas made of thick denim material.

With concerns of possible damage the painting might face due to constant exposure to commuter traffic, a photographed digital copy was installed at the station.

[65][66] This work by Lui Honfay and Yasmine Chan, along with Rain, was selected through the International Art Seats Design Competition in 2006.

As part of SMRT's Comic Connect series, Serangoon Through the Years by students from the Singapore School of the Arts depicts various historic landmarks of the Hougang–Serangoon area.