By Sherry Koh | May 25, 2010
Photographs courtesy of Santa Fe Interior Architecture Sdn Bhd
The all-new Holiday Tours office: Visually arresting
 |
| Open concept: Holiday Tours’ ground floor |
Arguably, Google started the trend. The trend of bringing a whole slew of home comforts, wonderful perks and quirky design ideas into the workplace. Now, Holiday Tours Sdn Bhd too blurs the line between work and play. Apart from the work/life balance approach, Holiday Tours and Google have one other thing in common - award.
The new Holiday Tours office located off Jalan Ipoh won second prize in the International Design Awards (IDA) for Interior Design – Office 2009, the same award category that Google’s EMEA Engineering Hub in Zurich, Switzerland, won first prize for previously. The perks might not be as elaborate to evoke the “I hate the fact that you work within the snazzy Google environment and I don’t” emotion, but Holiday Tours does a decent job of stirring some form of jealousy.
Yes, at Holiday Tours staying back at the office might mean hours of intense karaoke, networking at the bar area at the rooftop and watching movies in the chill area.
StarProperty.my visited Holiday Tours’ swanky and retro headquarters and chatted with Holiday Tours & Travel Sdn Bhd managing director and chief executive officer, the affable and animated Thomas Chong, 56, and Santa Fe Interior Architecture Sdn Bhd founder, the visionary Fendarie Su, 39, about creating a fresh environment that advocates a comforting sense of belonging.
When did Holiday Tours move into this building?
Chong: In September 2009, we moved to Selayang. More than half a year ago. Previously, we were in UOA (Kuala Lumpur) for approximately 10 years.
 |
A partnership of ideas: Holiday Tours & Travel Sdn Bhd managing director and chief executive officer Thomas Chong, and Santa Fe Interior Architecture Sdn Bhd founder Fendarie Su (right)
|
What spurred the move?
Chong: We want to have our own premise for quite some time now. And as you know, the Golden Triangle is getting extremely expensive and that is one of the major reasons we chose a location which is a little further from the Golden Triangle.
A few years ago, the airlines decided to go with electronic ticketing. In the old days, we used printed tickets. A few years ago, they (the airlines) decided that these are unnecessary spending. Once they discarded that, basically, we are virtual and you don’t need to come to our office, neither do we need to go to your office. And any amendments of schedule, you can text in and our consultant will just go into your booking, amend it and cue it back to you. So basically, the location is no longer relevant. We are very much a corporate agency, which means that we manage corporate travel. We are not really a leisure travel company whereby we promote to get walk-ins.
 |
| Dramatic: The ninth floor is likened to a duplex and it leads to a bar area on the rooftop |
So we found this location where properties are more affordable and we can afford to buy our own. At the same time, we have a bigger space, so we can do a lot of things that we want.
How many floors are there in this building and what’s the built-up size?
Chong: There are 10 and a half floors. Presently, we only occupy seven and a half (floors). We have some floors that we would like to rent out at the moment.
For built-up size, it is approximately 5,000sq ft per floor, which means it total, it is 55,000sq ft. We have ground floor, mezzanine which is considered half floor, and the first to ninth floors.
On the ninth floor, we have double volume. We created another floor (like a duplex). We also gained a lot of space upstairs (rooftop). The bar is on the top floor, and it offers quite a spectacular view.
What’s your staff size?
Chong: In total, we have 270 staff. In KL (Kuala Lumpur) itself, we have about 230. This is the head office. We have (offices in) Penang, Kuantan, and JB (Johor Baru) and we should have the next one in PJ (Petaling Jaya), quite soon. We have already the license. So, we will have our own office in Leisure Commerce Square.
How did you get to know of the designer, Fendarie Su?
Chong: Award-winning interior designer, very famous [jokingly]. In fact, Su has done a project for our chairman, Datuk Loy (also Taylor's Education Group managing director Datuk Loy Teik Ngan). He’s very much involved in the education group, Taylor’s, Garden International School, Australian International School, Nexus. Su did a project (for Datuk Loy) in (Sri) Hartamas. He’s my chairman. So
in the process, we got introduced and I like Su’s design because it is very young, very vibrant and very contemporary.
What was your brief to her?
Chong: As you can see, the building, on one side is all windows. One of the things that Datuk Loy was pushing for, was that nobody should actually own the sunlight. Basically we started doing rooms, and suddenly found that there’s a need for lots of lighting. So we decided on the open office concept. The other thing is that you a very nice scenery around you (via all the windows).
 |
Brainstorm away: “This is a fun area. We feature colourful fabric that goes well together. People can also listen to music via the plugged-in headphones
here,” says Su |
Su: The good thing about this office is that there are 200 plus employees and none of them own a room. Even his (Chong’s) room is actually quite open.
Chong: When we have meetings, we pull the door together and anybody can use the meeting room. We also started yoga class in the chill room. We created a chill room, where people can relax. Usually, the receptionist will take guests and visitors to the sixth floor (where the chill area is). That’s where people go for relaxation, during lunch time or after work. It is a place where they can listen to music, watch TV, do some karaoke singing.
Su: The idea Thomas wanted is to create a sense of community for the staff. A place where they can enjoy (the office environment) like a second home. Sometimes, his staff calls my colleagues for karaoke. Maybe they are good singers, so that’s why they always ask them to come back [laughs]. There’s also a common library and as well as a pantry. Every floor has a pantry area.
That’s what he (Chong) wants. He is young at heart.
Chong: I think one of the reasons we wanted the chill room is because when we were in UOA, it was very centralised. The staff was very happy, because within 10 minutes, they can either be in Pavilion, KLCC, Starhill. No problem. They can be anywhere within a walking distance of 10 minutes. When we first shifted here, there are not as many eateries as there should be, which is understandable because this (area) is very new. This building completed in June and we started work in July, so we were rushing.
Su: Yes, we took two to three months to get it done.
 |
| Bright and cheery: Discussion rooms and meeting area on the Mezzanine floor. The Mezzanine floor can also be used to hold seminars and workshops. |
Chong: I was telling everybody. 10 minutes and you are in Tesco (Tesco Extra Selayang). It’s like “Yes, I went there yesterday. Today I am going to go again”. So that doesn’t work so well. So that’s one of the reasons we created these things for them, so that there’s a sense of belonging.
What was your reaction when you first saw the design?
Chong: We talked about some ideas. Some concepts before Su went and did her designs. Well, there was a bit of fine-tuning as usual. But I think that it turned out perfectly well, with the time that we had. In the olden days, people use plaster ceiling. All those are quite conventional and conservative. Nowadays, I think a lot of people have the open concept.
Su: In fact, we use egg crates for the ceiling, for sound acoustic.
Chong: It’s quite a novel concept. Most (enclosed) meeting rooms (have egg crates above them).
Su: It’s interesting and he can accept almost everything.
Chong: It was trial and error, but it’s a concept. You saw the lift? Inside it, we use poster. Our lift is like a poster. We are in the travel industry. It’s supposed to be fun and relaxing. My department heads are the one who usually go down to the details with Su and talk about things and do what they feel is right for the department. So, a lot of things, I leave it to the department heads. So certain floors, the configuration of the desktop is different.
 |
A retro area: There's plenty of natural lighting, thanks to the glass windows on
one side of the building
|
What are your corporate clients’ reaction this office’s concept?
Chong: You know, corporate clients look at facilities. We invested quite heavily in our software. For example, we engage state-of-the-art telephone system called Intelligent 3, I3. It is a call centre facility, where we try to move ourselves to a call centre environment whereby we can handle corporate clients calling in. Corporate clients’ spend is very high, so they know we can handle the travel, rather than merely talk about it.
What are the main challenges for this project?
Chong: Budget [laughs]. See the floor, we use cement.
Su: Budget and timeframe was an issue. Other one is constraint, because it is quite a new idea. We have to make sure that the client accepts it and it suits their operations.
For more information about Holiday Tours Sdn Bhd and Santa Fe Interior Architecture Sdn Bhd, visit their respective websites - www.holidaytours.com.my and http://santafeia.webs.com
Related article:
|