Their brief to the designers was succinct; they wanted a space that felt like a “holiday, every day”. Through visiting their apartment in Shanghai, the designers thought they could truly feel how the ‘holiday everyday’ concept was an essential element and environment to them.

“They had been working hard in this big city, and now it was their time to have an easygoing lifestyle and take a step back to relax,” says Ooi. “Hence we were excited to create a new place to make them feel holidaying at home and grateful to have this unique opportunity to enhance the already beautiful space.”

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The main inspiration for this project was creating a fun and relaxed space for the couple and their pets. “We could see they love their fur kids very much and wanted to make a home that belongs to all of them,” explains Ooi. “To suit the seaside holiday vibe, we wanted to include materials in their natural state to complement the sea view and the scene.”

For starters, natural wicker weaving was applied in the bespoke carpentry, which works well for ventilation and partition functions yet provides a warm, tactile look. A warm-based background was also used for this resort condo, underlined by the liberal usage of Lamitak wood laminate finishes for the cabinets and feature walls.

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To achieve harmony with the material used, the designers have proposed a Kompac Plus product in a wood pattern for the kitchen island top, which worked well and had a sustainable function. Again, natural stones were chosen to highlight the warm tone space, and the designers decided to use a white and grey mixture of terrazzo as this blended into the overall palette, which has a minor detail when you get close enough. 

Lastly, the designers admitted that improving the original bathroom was challenging as the existing travertine marble and classic sanitaryware were great. So, the only alteration was applying patterned vent blocks to imbue the bathrooms with a resort spirit.

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Creating a home for the furkids was a priority, and the designers built an entire wall of customised cabinets to suit their habits.

“We started by observing their habits and checked with the clients that it blended with their lifestyle before designing a wall which houses their feeding, exercise and resting areas. It’s complete with a ceiling tunnel which leads them directly to Suk and Polly when they are busy in the kitchen,” says Ooi.

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Furniture-wise, Ooi explains that all loose furniture was sourced directly from Chinese factories in accordance with the designer’s colour and material selection as the couple were still there. In addition, natural rain wood pieces were featured in the carpentry works, such as the writing desk in the master bedroom and the TV console in the living room.

Now that Suk, Polly, and their furkids have moved in, Ooi is happy to report that the whole family is using every inch of the space to the fullest, and they have also become firm friends.

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“Every time we meet up, they still say how happy they are that we made their holiday everyday project happen and how they are enjoying the peaceful combination of the space and intention and function of every part,” says Ooi. “

The precious moments in this industry are not about how many design projects you get. It’s the fulfilment when you find a client who appreciates your work and design ideas, who you make friends with, who you can keep exploring the unknown with and have a friendly that gets better along the journey.”

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