The project is an 8,000sqft column-free space situated in Harry Siedler’s iconic Hong Kong Club Building. The client’s brief was for a space that reflected the values and culture of the family’s founding generation, but which would leave room for the next generation to evolve, especially as the business segues into investments and private equity.
Brewin Design Office designed a modernist-inspired office interior for a private investment office, drawing on the building’s 1980s brutalist architecture., which allowed the interior architecture to respond to not just the physical context but also the historical significance of the building.
The program of a private family office encouraged us to explore high-quality residential level details and furnishing set within the context of a professional office space that needed functions like an 18 person boardroom, and meeting rooms that had the luxury of seating lounges within them.
Custom Brewin Design Office furniture pieces were complemented alongside vintage pieces by Oscar Niemeyer, Jean Michel Frank, Eero Saarinen, among other canons.
Gallery Residence is a 3,500 sqft private home in Singapore that was completely transformed and redesigned for an art collector with the primary purpose of showcasing his art, in a way that creates a balance between a sense of warmth in a home and the gravitas of a gallery.
The interiors of this 12,000 sqft bungalow in Singapore was designed in response to bold, masculine, and tropical architecture by Ernesto Bedmar Architects. Brewin Design Office carefully integrated interior architecture with bespoke interior details, joinery and furniture, and thoughtfully transformed the interior space with a sense of understated luxury, elegance, and sophistication.
The interior palette takes inspiration from nature to define them in earthy, organic materials and shapes. Elements of stone and timber are complemented by accents of tinted cast glass and platinum polished metals, to achieve a contrast between the rough and raw, precise and precious. Bespoke joinery details and furniture pieces were meticulously tailored to the space and architectural concept, and we also custom-designed a range of unique furniture pieces from the entry foyer table and console to the dining table, study table, coffee and side tables.
Our aim was to introduce an element of softness and elegance, counterbalancing the bold architectural language of the exterior. Through intelligent space planning, careful selection of materials, and the creation of bespoke joinery details and furniture pieces, we crafted an interior that invites comfort, serenity, and a connection with nature.
Situated in Tuen Mun, a new district between Hong Kong and South China, this residential property for 535 units has 2 large buildings that hover over 4 storeys of landscaped terraces which form a shared podium. We designed a dynamic and undulating podium facade to be contrasted against a simple and timeless tower facade language. Designing all of the public amenities, the intention was to re-invent clubhouse internal programs and to create an aesthetic and experience throughout the facilities and lobbies that is seamlessly connected to the exterior landscape.
Brewin Design Office is the lead Interior Designer for Park Nova, a 54-unit ultra luxurious residential development in Singapore. Working alongside London based firm PLP Architects, Brewin Design Office is responsible for the design of all the common areas, amenities and residential unit interiors, as well as the sales gallery and show unit.
The design, which draws on the idea of wellness and urban living surrounded by nature, ties in with and guides the overall marketing strategy. The direction, which is also solidified in the highly bespoke sales gallery and show unit, concludes in the design of details and selection of materials and brand partners for the interior fit-out of the residential units.
Brewin Design Office led the architectural design of Capital Square in Singapore, while DP Architects supported with submissions. The upgrade of the 20 year building includes fully redesigning the exterior plaza, creating a warmer and lush vegetation-filled space. The main lobby is designed to intergrate circulation with the back drop off, reimaging the back dropoff to operate as a front of house entry for VIP vehicular access. A large canopy extends into the plaza carrying a ceiling feature lined with custom designed aluminium louvers that filter day light and artificial light. These louvers are visually extended into the lobby to both visually accentuate its size and to connect it to the plaza.
Brewin Design Office is designing the interiors of a hotel in one of the most historically significant cities in Japan. The luxurious four-storey hotel is slated to open in 2025 and will comprise 90 guest rooms and suites, 3 restaurants and the hotel’s signature Spa.
Through the use of traditional details and locally crafted art, the interior architecture of the hotel reflects the storied history and culture of the city, responding to time, scale, tradition and the changing seasons, and creates a wholly immersive experience for its guests. Through a procession of sculpted views and the contrast of more intimate spaces to surprising larger vistas, the guests are brought through layers of space, all of which echo the importance of composition, balance, and harmony that can be seen heavily in the city’s arts and architecture.
The Green Apartment is a 350 sqm four-bedroom residence within a low density block. The floor plan was reconfigured to free up more walls in the bedrooms whilst offering more efficient use of space in the bathrooms. The extensive renovations – paired with rare sourced and customised furniture, and a rich green palette – were inspired by the lush exterior gardens. In the dramatic entry, a gallery of solid onyx marble pillars creates a screen between the foyer and the main common areas. The existing sunken reflective pool on the balcony was leveled and new floorboards installed. This new expansive patio, along with the living and dining spaces, created over 100 sqm of common area – the lofty, voluminous mood accented by lifting the ceiling height.
Based on the ideal of a “home in a garden”, British architect Thomas Heatherwick’s Eden apartments in Singapore’s prestigious Ardmore neighbourhood connect city-dwellers with nature. Each of the 20 apartments occupies a single floor, and comprises four ensuite-bedrooms and five balconies within 300 sqm of livable space. The developer-client briefed Brewin to design a one-of-a-kind apartment that complemented Heatherwick Studio’s daring vision. Dressed in bespoke and curated furniture, Brewin’s design accentuates the blurred line between the lush leafy foliage of the exterior with the light-filled interior.
Press:
EdgeProp – Robert Cheng’s garden home concept for Swire Properties’ EDEN
Sitting at the rooftop of the newly built Capella Hanoi, the entire floor plate of The Hudson Rooms occupies 1,200 sqm and seats 120 people.
Inspired by the aesthetics of 1920’s New York and the renaissance of travel, the restaurant is designed to transpose a golden era into contemporary indulgence, and captures the iconic energy and beautiful spirit of that era. Curved ceiling profiles are inspired by New York’s Grand Central Terminal, and joinery details, fixed and loose furniture pieces have all been inspired by Art Deco motifs, specifically of the later period from the likes of Jean Michel Frank.
A private back room has been dedicated to whisky and cigar appreciation.
Occupying the entire top floor of a 35-storey Grade-A building in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district, this private family office was designed to satisfy the needs of both its first-generation leaders and their children. The range of uses – including investor visits, new venture incubations, board meetings and family conferences – is accommodated by residential-styled lounges and meeting rooms of varying sizes. Though certain spaces, such as the board room and the chairman’s office, are clearly set, the reconfigured layout is otherwise comprised of fluid work spaces that encourage different work modes and moods. The office is furnished with artwork and antiquities from the family’s personal collection, alongside bespoke pieces designed by Brewin Design Office.
The Yoga Shophouse is a 175 sqm 2-storey conservation row-house. The brief was for a complete overhaul of the space into a calm and peaceful pied-a-terre with ample space for a yoga studio. An open-air atrium was enclosed to claim more interior space, and to allow natural light from the air well to illuminate the interior spaces. We covered the double height volume with a 2.5m by 2.5m frameless sheet of glass, framing a clean and pure opening with a view of the sky. Originally a 4 bedroom residence, we transformed the shophouse into a 1 bedroom with an expansive yoga studio that occupies the mezzanine overlooking the double-height living room. The rest of the house was designed clean and unembellished carefully balancing fragments of the existing condition of the house with new walls and ceilings.
The dark and masculine mood for Ando – a 30-seat restaurant in Hong Kong jointly owned by celebrity Argentinian chef Agustin Ferrando Balbi and Hong Kong-based global hospitality group, JIA Group – was inspired by its address in Hong Kong’s famous restaurant and bar district, Lan Kwai Fong. Over the past decade, this dense urban hot spot has seen considerable construction and development, and Brewin’s design references the neighbourhood’s character with raw concrete, hammered stone and patina-finished metal. The feeling of weight and structural solidity is emphasised by thick-walled arches and a muscular chimney feature that descends from the ceiling, whilst subtle surface textures enhance the dark-hued, industrial vibe.
Press:
The Cool Hunter – Ando Japanese-Spanish Restaurant in Hong Kong
Design Anthology – Ando’s Interiors Reveal a Slice of Hong Kong
Brewin Design Office was engaged for an extensive refurbishment of 61 Robinson, a 20-year old building formerly known as Robinson Centre in Singapore’s Central Business District. The new owners, a private real estate fund, aimed to rebrand, reposition and revitalise the building through an asset-enhancement initiative, strategic leasing, and by adding leasable GFA.
Inspired by a 1920s Manhattan Art Deco aesthetic, Brewin Design Office reimagined the lobby with a dramatic 12m tall fluted-bronze walled atrium, its 4m base clad in large slabs of curved travertine, and a stone perimeter acting as an anchor for the lobby giving it presence and gravitas. The original massive volume of space in the foyer’s center that rose to a 5-storey height was lowered to 10-meters across the 6,000 sqft lobby floor plate, spread evenly across the main vault. By redesigning the walls, ceilings and by reorganising the interior architecture of the space, the studio created a new and improved proportion to the lobby, making it more relatable to visitors while retaining a grandeur in scale.
To enhance cohesion between the interior and exterior spaces, the partially enclosed frontage to the five-foot-way was replaced by a 60-metre-long, floor-to-ceiling glazing, as well as the use of similar flooring materials in a receding pattern.
Brewin Design Office was also responsible for turning the building’s entire fifth-storey car park into new interior leasing units, and ensured the upgrades were in line with ESG and Greenmark ratings, such as improvements to M&E and ACMV systems that achieve better energy efficiency and light.
The eventual overall mood and tone created was to bring an element of hospitality into a commercial typology, to create a welcoming and energised space.
Two factors were key to the design of this apartment: the family of three’s growing art collection, and the need for space that could accommodate future generations. The cornerstone of the design is the entry corridor. Lined with pieces of art, it is a dynamic, evolving space that transcends the banality of a typical room connector by becoming the spine of the apartment connecting common and private spaces. A sequence of portals and wall niches frame and connect rooms to the artwork in the corridor, giving visitors the subtle impression that they are moving through an art gallery.
Set in the lobby of the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore, this restaurant’s subtle oriental touches incorporate a contemporary language entirely in keeping with its pan-Asian menu. A procession of seven dramatic timber pods – three of which rise six-metres into the soaring atrium – act as both a permanent modern installation to match the hotel’s muscular interiors, and a privacy screen against the hotel’s passing guests.
Press: Archify – A Spatial Installation in an Immense Interior Space
Overlooking the Singapore River, this modern Japanese brasserie comprises two main areas – a water-fronting bar that lights up like a lantern in the evening and an izakaya. Both are connected by a long teak counter framed by bevelled mirrors and timber screens that visually elongate its length. The palette of green marble, white-washed oak and solid teak tubes are subtle references to the natural hues of the river’s landscape.
Comprising a bar, all-day dining restaurant, spa and gym, the Conrad’s expansive pool lounge adjoins the 25m lap-pool on the roof of a four storey podium. The palette is deliberately minimal – handsome teak and white oak timbers are contrasted against frosted mirror panes to create a warm yet sleek and contemporary setting for the lounge’s varied activities.
This fourth-floor apartment – located within a 1960s residential block along Repulse Bay Road, on the north side of Hong Kong – takes full advantage of its cliffside perch and unobstructed views of the sea and the mountains. The original four bedrooms were reconfigured into an open-planned one-and-a-half bedroom residence. Bracketed by thick walls, a series of spaces opens out along a long circular passage, each with a distinctive character, whether a bench, or even narrow slits that double as connecting passage ways to other parts of the apartment. Unusually, all the joinery work was built in France and Australia, and then seamlessly assembled on-site.
The works of Donald Judd – the pioneering American artist known for his utilitarian ideas on art and the environment – inspired the interior design of this penthouse. Strong and clear structural insertions accentuated the architectural simplicity and abundant natural light of the space, the better to showcase the owner’s art collection. The heart of the apartment is the living room whose furniture offers varied seating arrangements. A built-in feature wall – an homage to Judd’s principle of progression – is carved from travertine slabs laid on metal sheets that are supported by vertical wood structures to create a storage system of sculpted lattice cubes.
This 300 Sqm 4 bedroom apartment is 1 of 17 different layout typologies in a 49 unit condominium designed by Jean Nouvel in Singapore. The layout of all of the units follow a strict order of a 4 meter grid, with 2 units making up one floor’s 16 x 16 meter footprint.
The floors and bay windows of the entire living, dining and entry foyer of the apartment has been clad in an un-polished silver quartz marble. Though sealed, the finished quality of the stone has a lightly roughened texture and a blue grey tonality. The walls and ceiling are clad with an off white stucco plaster that reflects with a natural light with a silvery hue. This calming cool blue tone to the public areas is contrasted against a set of warmer tones made up of white oak and walnut timbers in the bedrooms.
This extraordinary penthouse takes up the entire top floor of the Robert Stern-designed Morgan Residence in Hong Kong’s Conduit Road. Offering views of all four compass points including the vertical rock wall of Victoria Peak, the apartment’s centrepiece is a 25m-long living room lined with solid white oak fins that frame the south view towards the city and the sea, whilst helping to block neighbouring buildings. Brewin conceived a palette of cream, pale blue and green hues to reference the mountainous landscape, and designed bespoke furniture pieces to dress the interiors with understated luxury.
Located in a district north of the Shanghai Train Station, the Financial Street Business Hub is a new central business district made up of a cluster of five office towers. Brewin created an arresting feature installation in the central core of each of the five lobbies with a series of six-meter tall ‘wall-peels’, created by stacking solid bands of bullnose-edged travertine marble.
Building on the late Jaya Ibrahim’s original designs, Brewin Design Office’s new plans for the guest rooms and suites of the Capella Hotel bring a fresh, understated luxury to the rooms by focusing on quality craftsmanship, whilst preserving the existing interior architecture. Quiet hues and a palette of natural textures – such as rich woodgrains and hammered timber, brushed bronze and intricate carpet weavings, alongside a contemporary collection of custom-designed furniture, lighting, and fixtures – visually connect each guest room with the seascape and breathtaking colours of the resort’s verdant setting.
Brewin Design Office transformed an ineffective hotel souvenir store into a multi-purpose kitchen and dining room that easily sits 36. The new hybrid space is designed to both catch spill-over from the resort’s restaurant, and operate as a private dining or function room where seasonal menus are prepared on-site. The contemporary moodboard of white marble mosaic tiles, deep green marbles, bronze trims, and grey timber subtly reference the influences of Sentosa’s colonial architecture while adding a warm, intimate vibe.
Brewin Design Office was briefed to renovate and convert the National Gallery Singapore’s Rotunda dome into a gallery library and archives to house the museum’s collection of 20,000 physical and digital resources – one of the world’s most comprehensive – on 19th- and 20th-century Southeast Asian art. The challenge was to revive the Rotunda’s historical function, and create a space that is simultaneously contemporary and historical, all without disrupting the sightline of visitors into the impressive inner dome. The joinery work was fabricated by both local and international cabinet makers, alongside bespoke and carefully restored historical furniture.
Brewin Design Office partnered with auction house Phillips to design a section of the latter’s Fall Sales Preview, which would be furnished with a selection of furniture and art from the Day Sale. A specially commissioned paint – Pantone 405-C by Robert Cheng – was paired with warm greys and mirrors to both visually extend the length of the room and to create portals. The subtle simplicity of the design created an unusually meditative quality that allowed the pure form and beauty of each piece in the sale collection to be individually spotlighted.
The first of its kind in South East Asia, the ‘Minimalism: Space. Light. Object’ exhibition brought together over 110 Minimalist art pieces. The brief was to both frame the artwork on an individual level, and to express a cohesive narrative that strings together the different pieces across time and cultures. Drawing on the artistic principles of Minimalism, Brewin infused the design with nods to proportion and geometric logic.
‘Now Is Not the Time’ is an immersive art exhibition that merges virtual production, Artificial Intelligence, generative art, architecture, sculpture, film and music, in collaboration with the talented artist Daniel Arsham, virtual production and animation studio X3D, and various other contributors, that pays homage to Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew on the occasion of his 100th birthday.
Brewin Design Office contributed to this historically significant exhibition by designing “Building Blocks”, a warren of fabric-walled rooms of varying heights and square footage that evokes the emotional life of a city, its challenges and its triumphs.
Building Blocks is very much a physical environment paving a journey for the visitor, providing an experience that relies on spatial, volumetric, and perspectival design. An abstract metaphor of the urban development that Singapore has gone through over the past 5 decades, we created a series of translucent rooms through the use of gradated tonal fabrics and artificial lighting that allows the audience to journey through variations of scales and transparencies. The installation transcends the boundaries of both temporality and spatiality, serving as a physical rendition of a journey through time and history.
