“We always try to do something that is different,” says Julian Koh, the chief design officer of local furniture brand Commune. “That’s our tagline: to defy the norm. We create products with subtle details and focus on invigorating all of our six senses.”
It could be said that a passion for furniture design is in his blood. Koh’s grandfather founded local manufacturer Koda in 1972, which produces furniture for American brands including Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn.
He grew up with fond childhood memories of visiting his family’s furniture factory, and as a teenager, he regularly visited the IMM Cologne and Salone del Mobile trade fairs in Europe with his family; Koh’s subsequent decision to study industrial design at the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne was also a natural progression.
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Another piece from the gallery is installed on the mezzanine, next to the Tatler Bar.
Polyhedron, a work by Chinese artist Julie Zhu, was inspired by a polyhedral lamp that she deconstructed into a two-dimensional form. Numerous semicircles have been painstakingly hand-drawn onto the geometric form at the centre of the canvas.
The polyhedron is a metaphor for the multifaceted elements of a person’s identity both the qualities intrinsic to the individual and the characteristics shaped by our social roles and other circumstances. The 18k gold foil detailing evokes the brightness and vitality of the sun, in contrast to the ephemeral human lifespan. The metallic detail also picks up the gold finish of the bar shelves and island counter.
“It was pure coincidence that we found this place it’s almost like the house was calling out to us,” says Elyn Wong. The founder of local womenswear label Stolen was instantly captivated by this Good Class Bungalow in Bukit Timah, right from her first visit with her husband, who works as a doctor. “My husband used to drive past it everyday on his way to work,” she says. “From the outside, you can’t see much of this house at all, which really piqued his curiosity and he decided to check it out.”
Elyn Wong, pictured at the staircase of her home