The large multidisciplinary firm had their creative juices working in overdrive with an unforgettable ’Playground’ installation at Xtra using furniture pieces from Herman Miller. PDM’s Design Director Karen Fairfax also personally collaborated with Natalie Louey from Ong&Ong to create a Chinese shophouse setting at Stylecraft following the theme ’Oriental Connection’

The Project at Stylecraft

Having attended both the Saturday in Design events in Sydney and Melbourne, Karen Fairfax says she had been keen to participate in Singapore’s first.

“I had never had an opportunity to participate in The Project so having recently moved to Singapore and being a new kid in town I wanted to show support for the Indesign event, the industry and good design.”

The Project using Herman Miller products at Xtra

On The Project with Herman Miller/Xtra:
(by the PDM International team)

’Connection’ being the main focus for the Saturday in Design project, our team thought about how they could take that idea and the Herman Miller products and bring them together.

We had a brainstorming workshop… the products selected were the new Aras desking system, the new Sayl chair and the classic Eames Plastic chair.

They questioned: Why constrain ourselves to an uninspiring working environment? Why can’t the workplace be like a playground? A place to interact + connect to each other, meet with friends, make new friends and exchange ideas…

The design was to play on this idea, making the Aras desk a ping pong table and turning the chairs into see-saws and swings, transforming a work zone into a ’playground’.

The Project at Stylecraft

On The Project with Stylecraft:
(Karen Fairfax’s own collaboration with Ong&Ong’s Natalie Louey)

This was part of the brief given to us by the Stylecraft Singapore team. They felt as much as their product is predominantly European they wanted to connect with the local design market showcasing how their products could easily sit well within the Asian market.

The idea of the Chinese ’shophouse’ was put on the table whereby we would try and transform the showroom into a shophouse with different ’rooms / zones’ showcasing select products and their use. Shophouses are very unique to the heritage of Southeast Asia and there are many around Singapore and near the Stylecraft showroom.

At Stylecraft

We streamlined the concept taking inspiration from the traditional Chinese screen with a more modern spin to create different zones within the showroom.

At Stylecraft

On the overall experience:

There was a huge turnout at all the different venues with lots of new products to see. Our design team found it very inspirational as it was their first time ever experiencing this event.

Photos by Yong Sze Yuen Kelvin & Stylecraft

PDM International
pdmdesign.com