The 34-year-old Singapore designer who worked alongside MBS architect Moshe Safdie
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The 34-year-quondam Singapore designer who worked alongside MBS architect Moshe Safdie
A dear for drawing led Simon Chiang to pursue a career in blueprint. Since graduating from NUS Architecture, he has gone on to pattern high-end homes, luxury hotels, resorts and more. What's next for the young talent?
Simon Chiang, creative manager of Kuhlmann International. (Photo: Alvin Teo)
fourteen Jan 2022 06:37AM (Updated: 14 Jan 2022 06:37AM)
1 of the get-go things that Simon Chiang tells me when nosotros sit downwardly for a conversation one afternoon is that he doesn't place with the label interior designer or architect. Instead, he prefers the term spatial designer, one who takes into consideration how people live, move and collaborate in the spaces important to them.
Still, he's not ane to pigeonhole himself.
It's a philosophy that has carried him through his years as an compages student at the National Academy of Singapore (NUS), as an architectural associate at some of the biggest names in the industry locally and overseas, starting his own firm at 30, and finally, to where he is now – the artistic managing director of German bespoke modular interior builder, Kuhlmann International.
Chiang was born into a Hong Kong family in Michigan, United states, where his male parent worked. At age six, his family moved to Singapore. Growing up, Chiang had always been intrigued by buildings and architecture.
"My father travelled a lot and would e'er bring back postcards of New York with all these buildings and skyscrapers. As a young child, I was inspired by buildings," he recalled. He too remembers spending much of his time drawing.
"I didn't accept any electronic games. When my family would become out, like when nosotros go to church or to dinner with family friends, my mum would bring lots of recycled paper from my dad'south company along with a pencil. I would sit down on the floor, the papers placed on a chair, and I would only start drawing," he shared.
A career in design hadn't always been his goal, however. "I wouldn't say that I knew that I wanted to be a designer or builder right abroad. Only as I grew upwards, in that location was really zero else that interested me," Chiang explained.
At just 34 years sometime, Chiang has made quite a proper noun for himself. His works take been featured in some of Singapore'south top design titles, a nod towards his innate talent and grooming at several of Singapore's most established firms.
Upon graduating as valedictorian with a Master of Compages from NUS School of Design & Environment, Chiang began his career at SCDA Architects, an internationally renowned house established in Singapore in 1995. He had caught the attending of Chan Soo Khian, the founder of SCDA, who was a invitee critic at Chiang's last critique session of his graduation twelvemonth.
"I wasn't sure which firm to join, and then I got a call from Chan'southward secretary. Then I went downwardly for an interview with him and was offered a job immediately. As a fresh graduate, I didn't know much about the industry, but that's where I started," said Chiang.
Chiang spent almost two-and-a-half years as an architectural designer at SCDA, where he worked on several of the business firm'due south projects in the luxury hotel, resort and residential infinite both locally and internationally. These included the Intercontinental Robertson Quay in Singapore, Waldorf Astoria in Bali, Four Seasons Lijiang in China and more.
After that, Chiang "did a 180". The globe of high-end residential homes and luxury hotels is "just one segment of the design and architectural earth", he believed, and at his immature age, he desired to strop his skills in other aspects of the industry.
Thus, he joined Surbana Jurong as an architectural acquaintance, where he was exposed to more community-based projects such as public housing, shopping malls and hospitals. During his time at Surbana, Chiang was as well seconded to Safdie Architects in Boston, USA to work on a design competition with renowned architect Moshe Safdie. Safdie is the architect behind Singapore's Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay.
At 30, Chiang struck out on his own and co-founded his ain house, Archetype Studio, together with one-time business partner Darren Yio. At Archetype, some of his most memorable projects include designing a 5,500 sq ft corner bungalow at Sunset Terrace, the home of a doctor couple and their 3 children.
"The project was meaningful to me as the couple'due south father was quite ill at the time, and we managed to finish the house before he passed on. He could really enjoy the cease of his life with his family and grandchildren in that house, and that brought him much joy," shared Chiang.
He continued: "That left an impact on me as I am not simply designing and collecting a fee. Just I am building a relationship with this family unit, going back for dinners, seeing them relish the infinite and beingness a role of their lives. That's very rewarding." Chiang adds that he enjoys projects that are more sentimental in nature.
In designing the Sunset Terrace house, Chiang approached German bespoke modular interior brand Kuhlmann International, equally his clients had wanted modern, European-styled furniture for their home. Launched in 1923, the about century-old brand is represented in Singapore past TMB Pte Ltd and offers modular, customisable offerings for the kitchen, wardrobe, storage systems, architectural interiors and loose effects.
Kuhlmann's products merge German language manufacturing with Italian artistry. Its modular design structures, which are customisable, are fabricated off-site at factories in China and Frg, which are then efficiently assembled at the client's location. Bated from homes, Kuhlmann'southward solutions have been installed in hospitality and commercial projects, including the Empire Hotel in New York, Iv Seasons Hotel in Shenzhen, Beijing Four Seasons Hotel and The Emerald Seattle.
"My clients were incredibly happy with the final outcome of the house, so I went dorsum to Kuhlmann to say, really, in that location's a lot of potential for the brand here," said Chiang. Chiang eventually joined the company as its creative director and is now helping to build the business organisation, offering design services and further educate the Singapore market on its offerings.
Chiang's bio on Kuhlmann International'southward website describes him as a "young man in a bustle". "I do not shy away from venturing off the beaten path," Chiang said when asked about what drives him. "In my career, I didn't stay in i business firm and climb the ladder. I could accept, but if I did, I wouldn't have had the luxury and opportunity to effort different things. Now at Kuhlmann, I'1000 at a stage where I still do a lot of design only at the same time, it's likewise about driving a business organization. I accept stepped off the typical path of an architecture graduate and that has given me the time to pursue other interests."
In Dec 2021, Kuhlmann opened the doors to its new 3,000 sq ft feel centre in Singapore, located in an industrial building in Kallang Place. The showroom, designed by Chiang, represents the interior of a home, segmented into kitchen, living, dining and wardrobe areas. Chiang envisions the showroom every bit a space where potential customers – not just homeowners but interior designers, architects, and developers too – can experience the products first-hand.
As the price of renovating a home increases due to manpower issues brought on past the pandemic, Chiang believes Kuhlmann is competitively priced and is in good stead to offering an alternative solution. The fact that all Kuhlmann products are mill-congenital to a loftier standard helps to mitigate homo price, he explained.
When it comes to interior design trends, Chiang believes homeowners are at present more discerning. "Everyone has Pinterest, everyone has Instagram. But at the same time, in that location's a lot of fluff out there and a lot of information overload," he said.
Chiang believes that Kuhlmann is "not hither to catch trends in terms of design". Instead, it appeals to those who desire a more classic, timeless look. "From my experience in the industry, timelessness in design is something that is a niggling bit more sophisticated and is not easy to achieve," he said.
The fact that Kuhlmann products are modular too add together to its timeless appeal. Homeowners tin easily dismantle products and bring them over to their adjacent house. While modular piece of furniture and interior solutions are pop in Europe, it has yet to fully have off here. Simply with more homeowners desiring flexible solutions for their homes, there'due south potential for Kuhlmann in the market.
"It'south a European thing in a sense that in Europe, many people rent their homes every bit they motion from boondocks to boondocks for work. Whereas in Singapore, we ain our houses, and then we spend a lot of money to renovate our houses considering they are our forever homes. But should you motion, you lot can take the products with you," Chiang said.
Encapsulating what Kuhlmann's products are capable of is a recently completed 800 sq ft, ii-bedroom condo unit in E Coast's Seaside Residences, designed by Chiang and his team. As the unit of measurement is located next to the bounding main, Chiang was inspired to include oceanic elements in its design, including the colours of driftwood in the furnishings as well every bit sandy grey tones to underscore the coastal feel.
The view of the sea was also brought into the space through reflective materials on either side of the long living room space. Kuhlmann solutions were used in the interior fittings and furnishing.
"Kuhlmann is the perfect tool for any designer as the fully customisable product sizes are beautifully detailed and able to fit any floor programme and type of space. The Seaside Residences condo and the Kuhlmann Experience Eye are very different, merely nosotros can achieve a similar sense of calm and subtle luxury for both. Even this autonomouslyment with a 4.5m loftier ceiling tin be easily accommodated by our custom products and fittings that are made to measure in our factory," Chiang commented.
While Singapore is the first Southeast Asian outpost of the make exterior of Europe, Chiang, together with TMB Pte Ltd, hope to eventually expand Kuhlmann to neighbouring countries Malaysia and Vietnam. "We hope to become more people to like the brand. At the same time, we besides would like to scale up the business organization so it can have off, both in Singapore and regionally," Chiang said.
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