158 | theceomagazine.com
30–40 employees but, when he walked out for the
last time, a team of 300 bid him farewell.
However, even at the peak of his career in
P&T, Chai Boon felt the strong tug to embark on
a new adventure and build a Singaporean brand.
So he decided to take a leap of faith and joined as
a partner at Swan & Maclaren. At the time, it was
a tiny architectural firm and its potential was still
dormant. But over the past seven years, the company
has successfully completed numerous projects across
China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand,
and is now looking at new territory in India, Nigeria
and Sri Lanka.
Today, Swan & Maclaren is a Singapore-based
brand with 126 years of history that prides itself
on its ability to deliver innovative design and the
highest level of professional services. The company
plans to expand its services internationally by
partnering with foreign architectural firms that
align themselves to the its mission and vision. So
Chai Boon prioritises localising his firm’s services,
and ensures that his partners “fly the Swan
& Maclaren flag”.
Coming from a relatively large, corporate
architecture firm, Chai Boon believes that it’s
necessary to expand overseas. To do so, Swan
& Maclaren needs to focus on three things.
First, winning jobs through branding and design
innovations, with PR and development skills playing
an important role. Second, delivering projects with
the highest professional qualities and services. And
third, a healthy corporate culture and efficient
processes. These three things, or pathways, must
form a background to grow the firm.
“Remember, if you can win a project but cannot
deliver on it, that’s as good as no job,” says Chai
Boon. “Swan & Maclaren must uphold high standards
if it’s to become the world’s ‘local architectural firm’.”
The company wants to simultaneously localise
and globalise, with its focus on expansion working
towards the aim of becoming a global architectural
firm with a local ambience. While Swan & Maclaren
has been growing in South-East Asia for the past
seven years, it is now looking at North and South
Asia, which contain half the world’s
population. The firm classifies four
main regions for future expansion:
South-East Asia; South Asia; North
Asia; and the rest of the world.
“South-East Asia is a home base
for me as emerging economies and
particularly ageing populations are bringing fresh
opportunities in the areas of urbanisation, hospitality,
wellness and health care. These are just some of the
places we’re looking at typology-wise,” Chai Boon
says. “By engaging partners from the local economies
of emerging countries, we can identify SMEs that
could provide opportunities to inject our branding
into the local context.”
So far, Swan & Maclaren has won a number
of accolades, including the categories of Multiple
Residence Architecture Singapore and Retail
Architecture Singapore at the Asia Pacific
International Property Awards.
But despite all of Swan & Maclaren’s
achievements to date, Chai Boon firmly believes
that the best is yet to come.“IF YOU CAN WIN A PROJECT
BUT CANNOT DELIVER ON IT,
THAT’S AS GOOD AS NO JOB.”
Coral Bay Residence.Stratum Residence.INVEST | Interview