For over 30 years, Phillips Connor’s role in the interior design industry has primarily been consultancy based. Then, a new working relationship with DB&B as an independent consultant led to an epiphany about the design-build model of business and ultimately, an acceptance of a full-time appointment as the firm’s Senior Creative Director.
Jumpstart Business Centre, Wheelock Square Shanghai was a finalist in the SPARK Awards 2012
“To be frank with you, I resisted [the design-build model] for many years, preferring to keep to what I saw as more of an advocacy relationship,” shares Connor. “What really convinced me about developing a kind of a new offering through DB&B, in terms of professional design services, is the extensive capability and resources that we’re able to provide in-house.”
The ’J’ in Jumpstart inspired an innovative lighting concept in the business centre at Wheelock Square
Prior to joining DB&B, Connor served as creative director for Designphase and led the Aedas interiors department for Southeast Asia and India; he also ran his own consultancy, Space Partnership, for 12 years.
In Jumpstart Business Centre, L’Avenue Shanghai, the letter ’J’ was used in the development of ’floating’ islands
“The success that I see behind the design-build model these days is that we have access to comprehensive capabilities. Because we are generating income from the delivery of the project as well as the design service… [we are] able to staff up and provide the considerable specialist resources that today’s projects demand. So we have premium expertise readily available at every level. This has not been my experience working in consultancy-only firms, where resources are almost always stretched too thin,” says Connor.
“This model allows me to nurture and develop talent, for better quality results for all our clients. I have more time to think about design because quality-delivery issues are already easily met by the pre-existing, individually focused deliverables structure on hand, and at the end of the day, there’s more time for me and my designers to design.”
In Cerebos Pacific, Singapore, DB&B collaborated with a lab specialist to build a Brain Research Room
DB&B is headquartered in Singapore with offices in Malaysia, China and the Philippines. In Singapore, the firm’s key focus is on corporate interiors. That, however, looks set to change if one considers Connor’s portfolio, which recently came to include a project for Zouk’s Velvet Underground in Singapore for which he was awarded several industry accolades, both locally and overseas.
At Akamai Technologies, Singapore, materials were chosen not only for their colour and texture, but also for their intrinsic anti-microbial properties
“The Velvet Underground renovation for Zouk is a good example of the innovative creative process that I want to bring to the table here,” says Connor. “The challenge for that project was to look at how to create a new USP within a well-known existing environment, and to work within the confines of a very restrictive architectural envelope. So we turned things on their head with new finish applications and new lighting techniques.”
Connor, who is also responsible for the interiors of the current Zouk Club in Kuala Lumpur, is now leading his team on the design of the club’s new location at Jalan Tun Razak. The project is expected to be completed by end 2014.
Velvet Underground at Zouk, Singapore has received multiple awards, the most recent being the ’Commercial Interiors’ award and ’Supreme’ award at the Surface Design Awards 2013
Given the range of Connor’s design experience and expertise, the Singapore office is now also looking to expand its reach into retail, hospitality, and even the entertainment sector.
Velvet Underground
“The principle reason I make the move from any organisation to another is that I see an opportunity to create a paradigm shift, either in the way we deliver work, or the kind of work we produce, or what I can do with people: staff and clients,” Connor says.
“My biggest goal at DB&B is to raise the bar in terms of design quality and how the value of design-build firms are perceived.”
Velvet Underground
DB&B
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