The founder of homegrown hospitality group Unlisted Collection:
takes his passion for adaptive reuse to Ireland, a country wherehe spent his childhood. Ahead of the opening of his new hotels,
Trinity Townhouse in Dublin and Sheen Falls Lodge in Kerry,he shares with us his favourite places and furniture pieces
Loh Lik Peng
1
IRELAND
Ireland is a land of contrasts. It’s both rural
and urban, with a foot in the past as well
as in the present. It has one of the youngest,
best educated and most digitally savvy people
in the world, who
live in a country
that’s profoundly
connected to its land
and heritage. When I
visit, I always start out
in Dublin—a modern
city that embraces the
future wholeheartedly—
then spend a few days
in the countryside. For
the fi rst-timer, I suggest
going west or to aplace like Roundstone or Dingle. It’s here where
you’ll appreciate why the Irish diaspora always
yearn for their home, no matter how many
generations removed they are.2
BRUTALIST ARCHITECTURE
I particularly like the Brutalist architecture
of pioneers like Eero Saarinen and
Alvar Aalto. I admire its clean lines and the
strength and pureness of concrete formed
into beautiful shapes. It’s both organic
and unnatural, and thus has a duality
that transcends its physical form. Having
said that, I love all types of old buildings.
Somehow the patina of age and wear
really appeals to me. There is something
ineff able about the long passage of time
and accumulation of lives lived.3
EAMES AND ARNE
JACOBSEN CHAIRS
When I opened my
fi rst hotel, Hotel 1929, on
Keong Saik Road, I fi lled
the lobby with an eclectic
selection of designer
chairs. After all these
years, the classic Eames
and Jacobsen chairs
remain my favourites.4
RAFFLES EXHIBITION
AT THE ASIAN
CIVILISATIONS MUSEUM
I’m unabashedly a “city person”. I love being
in the thick of things—going to museums and
theatres, restaurants and bars, and being able
to embrace all that a large sophisticated city
has to off er. A recent exhibition that got me
really excited was the Raff les in Southeast Asia
exhibition at the Asian Civilisations Museum,
staged as part of Singapore’s bicentennial
commemoration and done in collaboration with
the British Museum. It was an eye-opener—it
made me refl ect on the infl uence of the
colonial period on modern Singapore. What
a wonderful opportunity it was to study this
period and also learn about the people who
had such a large part to play in history.5
ANCIENT WONDERS
OF THE WORLD
There’s a long list of places I want to
visit, but at the very top of my travel list would
be Iran, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Egypt and
Afghanistan. This is the true cradle of civilisation
and I would dearly wish to organise a trip with
an eminent historian to explore this part of the
world in depth one day. Perhaps when I am
fully retired, I would spend a year going to all
the ancient wonders of the world.TATLERTa k e s^5
INTERVIEW: KISSA CASTAÑEDA; MAIN IMAGE: ERIC SEOW; OTHER IMAGES: TOURISM IRELAND, VITRA AND 123RF232 singapore tatler. october 2019