Tag: Singapore Design

Pure Passion

“The studio is like a physical manifestation of who we are, it has to look like an expression of what we are doing currently.”
— Mark Ong aka SBTG, Royalefam

Why did you move out of the hip neighbourhood of Haji Lane into this industrial building in the sleepy estate of Commonwealth?

I started customising shoes in my parents’ kitchen back when I first started in 2003. Later on, I shared a shophouse with graphic designers :phunk studio at Arab Street and later Haji Lane for a total of four years. During that period, Royalefam had up to eight people housed in only about half the space of my current studio. When we first moved into the Arab Street/Haji Lane area, it was a ghost town. It got more popular over the years when stores like White Room and the Comme des Garçons Guerilla store moved in. Two years ago, the rent went crazy, and we needed a bigger space because our business was expanding. We started designing shoes and apparel, but have since moved on to signboards and interiors. We happened to bump into one of our embroidery suppliers and we mentioned looking for a new space. He suggested we moved into his place because he had spare room. We were happy with the size, the rent was reasonable and it was someone we knew, so we moved into this space that he partitioned for us. There are just two of us in this much bigger studio now, my wife and I. I also wanted to move away from Haji Lane, which has become very trendy. Here, you’re getting outside of the box so you don’t get influenced from inside the industry.

➜ Read the rest in art4d (Issue 196)

Work Hard Be Nice

“We think that a physical space where people of different disciplines can come together is easier for us to work in.” 
— Willie Koh, FARM

Why did FARM move here two years ago?

We were on the second storey of a quaint shop house at Selegie Road and we were looking for a bigger space when this came up. Then, we were packing in about 15 people, including those from two other creative agencies in a shophouse without many windows. We came to know that the previous tenant of this space, brand consultant Mindwasabi, wanted to move out, so we decided to take over their tenancy. We love the character of this space. Waterloo Centre is a public housing podium block, a typology that is not common in Singapore. Besides this, another one is Bras Basah Complex, where there are shops and retail businesses on the bottom few levels and residential houses above it. When we first came here, we were struck by the big ribbon-like window and the view of the trees and buildings. It was a very attractive space for us to create an open studio as it was just a big empty space. The location is interesting too because it’s in the district where the museums and art spaces are and it’s in central Singapore, so that’s good for us. This city centre is also constantly under rejuvenation and it’s interesting that more and more design companies are actually moving in here: there’s a 3D animation office, a photography studio…

➜ Read the rest in art4d (Issue 196)

Creativity moves…

“There is a culture we try to develop where we share our thoughts and we can just make a shout to one another.”
— Stanley Yap, Splash Productions

What attracted you to this area and how did you find this space?

Basically its accessibility in terms of transport and a lot of people still consider it as central. It is central, but it is not too noisy. Compared to Bukit Merah, the food here is pretty good and much better. For a lot of our sales staff, it is easier for them to travel to and from meetings. I’ve worked in this same building before at my previous company. We scouted the Tanjong Pagar area and almost got a shophouse there. But we received an email about this area from a property site. It was perfect because it was big and at a central location. The only issue was air-conditioning but it seems to be ok with the number of air conditioners now. Some of us even find it too cold at times.

➜ Read the rest in art4d (Issue 196)