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Insight
The case for a full-service firm
One of the first decisions on any project is who to hire. An architect, a separate interior designer, or a firm that holds both. The answer shapes how coherent the finished building feels and how much coordination falls to you.
Building or renovating is a long sequence of decisions, each one constraining the next. A common early choice is whether to engage an architect and an interior designer separately, or a single firm that practises both. It is worth thinking about carefully, because the answer affects how the whole project runs.
Architecture and interior design are often treated as two trades that meet at handover. They are better understood as one continuous discipline. The architect resolves structure, form, and how a building sits on its site. The interior designer resolves how it is lived in, through light, material, and proportion at close range. When the same firm carries both, the gap between them closes.
What one team brings to a project
Holding architecture and interior design under one roof changes the project in concrete ways.
Coherent space planning
Moving easily from room to room is never an accident. It is the result of space planning, and architects are trained and licensed to do it well. When the same people plan the shell and the interior, every square metre is considered once, for the way it will actually be used.
Regulatory clarity
Addition and Alteration works and office renovations carry their own complexities. Projects must satisfy the Building Control Act, the Fire Safety Act, and related requirements. An architect inside a full-service firm can explore design options while keeping local building regulations in view, so the project stays compliant from the first sketch.
One point of contact
Engage one firm and you deal with one party for the whole build. There is no handing the project between an architecture office and an interior office, and no chasing two parties for one answer.
Integrated design
A striking exterior and an interior that does not relate to it is a common, avoidable outcome. With architecture and interior expertise on the same team, the two are developed together, and the design reads as one idea from the outside in.
Efficient project management
When both disciplines sit on one team, communication between them is direct and timelines hold together. The project is managed start to finish by people who share the same drawings.
Less coordination on your side
Coordination is the quiet tax on any renovation. Whether the project is a shophouse in a conservation district or sun shading added to a penthouse, keeping architecture and interior expertise in one place means far less of that coordination lands on you.
A full-service firm closes the gap between shell and interior. You get one coherent design, one regulatory view, and one team accountable for the result.
Choosing the right firm
Singapore has no shortage of capable architecture and interior firms. A few criteria help narrow the field to one that fits your project.
Experience
Experience is simple to value. The more projects a firm has completed, the more problems it has already solved and the fewer surprises it meets. Our team has worked across hospitality, commercial, high-rise residential, and landed properties, from modern terraces to semi-detached houses.
Licensing
A licensed firm has met the legal requirements to practise in Singapore: the necessary permits, the right qualifications, and adherence to residential and commercial building codes. Architects must be registered with the Board of Architects, Singapore, and follow its Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics. Working with a licensed firm also means you have proper recourse if something goes wrong.
Architectural style
A firm should be able to deliver the look you want, whether that leans modern and spare or warmer and more textured. We provide complete architectural concept design, construction, and management services across both architecture and interior design, so the design intent carries through to the finished space.
Recommendations
Word of mouth is a reliable guide. Friends, family, and colleagues who have built before can point you to firms worth meeting. For our part, we were named in the Tatler Design Awards 2021 as a Designer on the Rise, which we take as a sign we are on the right track.
Bringing your project to one team
If your home or commercial space would benefit from architecture and interior design held together rather than handed across, our studio is set up to do exactly that. We work across commercial interiors, landed houses, and office spaces in Singapore, with complete concept design, construction, and management under one roof. Tell us what you are planning.
