LOCATION           SINGAPORE
TYPE                     SHOWROOM + OFFICE
STATUS                 BUILT
COMPLETED         MAY 2016
SIZE                     1100 sq ft

Design Concept:

Schattdecor is one of the leading surface manufacturers in the world, supplying decorative paper to numerous furniture manufacturers. The Singapore branch of Schattdecor in Ubi has been in operation since 2012 serving primarily as a showroom for showcasing the latest trends and designs ongoing in the furniture industry.

The brief requirements included the showroom, a common office space doubling up as reception space, two management office spaces and a conference room facility.

The design utilizes 2 main colors: White and Blue. To accentuate the showroom space, it is expressed entirely in white while the rest of spaces are boxed politely in blue.  

The objective of this design is very clear from the beginning, to create a clean slate for the showroom area for the designs to take centre stage, hence the pure white. The rest of the office spaces are “recessed” in blue so they don’t draw the attention away from the showroom space. 

The common office area has an opening in the form of a “cut-out” which allows support staff to answer any queries by visitors.  The manager’s office, which is located next to the common office, is given semi-privacy via a glazed window while maintaining visual connectivity to the showroom.

The idea of transitioning between blue and white spaces provides a very clear reading of the scheme. The interplay of the spaces is carried through to the bathroom, with the wash area and toilet area defined in white and blue tiles. 

Site Context:

Located in a non-descript light weight industrial building, the office had previously made do with wooden boxes that were haphazardly stacked.  The Singapore office had taken over the space from a previous tenant and didn’t do much work to it, original flooring were homogenous tiles that were unevenly laid and popped out resulting in the decision to carry out a proper revamp.

Resources and limitations:

Originally, the local office here was told they had to get the German HQ’s clearance for design but the local representative was confident of the design and managed to convince the management in Germany to approve the budget for the revamp. The management visited in late April to view the revamped space and were delighted with the end product. This project has set a new benchmark for the other representative offices.

Material Palette:

The material palette is kept simple to allow the “decorative laminate samples” to stand out.

Laminate was an obvious choice of material for the carpentry due to the nature of the business.

However, as different laminate companies have their own series and patterns, choosing a single laminate had to be deliberate so that it would not put the client in a difficult position having to explain why one laminate was chosen over another. Also as a marketing strategy, the conference room table is  finished in dark walnut laminate finish which is one of the best-selling designs for Schattdecor.