Steven Louie, a respected figure from design practice and education, is now the Workplace Leader Asia at Geyer’s Singapore studio. “I’m excited to be leading the workplace team at the Geyer Singapore studio, and have the opportunity to deliver amazing projects with the experienced design team who are already collaborating with many Fortune 500 clients,” he says.

Louie has over 40 years’ experience in the strategic planning, design and delivery of interior projects in Singapore, Japan, China, South Korea, Thailand, Europe, and the USA (where his career began). His previous roles have been with Gensler (where he spent nearly 30 years as Design Director across New York, London, Tokyo and Boston from 1980 to 2008), as well as M Moser and PSG in Singapore.

More recently, he has been known and respected for his role as a Senior Lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic’s School of Design, where he was active in developing the skills and shaping the perspectives of young designers. “I’ve always loved what I’ve been doing. It’s never been work for me,” he tells Indesignlive.sg.

Louie’s considerable practice experience has given him the enviable position of holding a broad view of changes in design practice and workplace culture. He recalls the introduction of ‘open planning’ and ‘change management’, and witnessed first hand the resistance it could attract at the time. “Back then, ‘change management’ sounded like a dirty word,” he recalls.

He also recalls the appearance of large multi-national companies in Asia. “At that time they were imposing their standards on Asia,” he says. Louie arrived in Asia in 1988 to work with a client on a project here in Singapore. A one-month posting became a year, and the American-educated designer soon found himself well placed for understanding both Western and Eastern cultures and philosophies.

Today, says Louie, Asia is setting its own standards. “That voice was stated when China held the Olympics,” he says.

Says Ross Moller, Geyer’s Singapore-based COO, “Steven Louie’s arrival in the Geyer Singapore studio has had an immediate and very positive impact on clients and our design teams. Steven’s experience, knowledge and relationships will be invaluable to Geyer and its clients as Geyer continues to grow in South East Asia.”

Images courtesy of Geyer.