2019-08-01 Home & Decor

the designer

the

objective

TheIDCSDesign

Excellence

Awards,

supportedby

Home&Decor,

recognises

outstanding

professional

talentsinthe

interiordesign

industry.

A colourful

spAce

for the

community

Interior Design Confederation
Singapore (IDCS) Design
Excellence Awards 2018/2019
Designer of the Year award
recipient, Mike Lim, shares his
thoughts about the winning
project, Our Tampines Hub
(OTH), and the key to the
success of large-scale projects.

PeoPle-centric design

for greater inclusivity

and connectivity

Our design was driven by the

need to create opportunities

for inclusivity, richness and

new synergies of communal

and social settings for

Tampines residents. The idea

of connectivity is also reflected

in how different materials and

textures are woven together in

the elevated streetscapes and

green terraces.

As OTH is largely a public

space, the materials and finishes

used had to be resilient and

low-cost, yet still aesthetically

pleasing. And with

such a large-scale

project, we had to

integrate smart

technology like

apps and info-

comm systems to

aid in wayfinding.

Ultimately, these

relate back to how

people-centric

OTH is.

synergy between

different

Programmatic

functions

To avoid saturating the

Tampines neighbourhood with

another retail-driven concept,

our design took a bottom-

up approach. We involved

different stakeholders such as

public agencies and residents

of varying demographics and

had them weigh in on the

design process. The differing

needs, design principles and

expectations meant we had

to ensure the design had an

overall cohesiveness. Thus, we

focused on creating synergy.

As OTH is made up of different

programme clusters, we

uniquely intended for them to

relate to one another.

“ParticiPatory design”

Right from the get-go, the

vision for OTH was that it would

be an integrated hub serving

the Tampines community.

The brief also required that

we engage with all 12 public

agency stakeholders as well as

the residents. This had never

been done before in Singapore,

and the design process we

adopted – what we termed

“participatory design” – was

naturally unorthodox too.

With its many

stakeholders and

the participation

of residents, the

project was not a

walk in the park.

To understand

everyone’s needs

and wants, we

had focus group

sessions that

involved an

extensive and

intensive residents’

engagement

process. We also

went through

platforms created by the

People’s Association for

discussion and decision-making

with a dedicated joint committee

made up of representatives from

each stakeholder.

Also crucial to the whole

process was a key alignment

exercise that took place early

on in the project. It allowed us

and all stakeholders to identify

and reconcile overlapping

and/or conflicting needs, and

collectively set out the larger

objectives as well as the purpose

of the project upfront.