By Yvonne Yoong | January 17, 2012

Urbane sophistication

Pavilion Banyan Tree: Saw teamed up with Singaporean designer Angelina Chan to work on this project

Former mechanical engineer turned designer, Benson Saw, 37, has earned the luxury of picking exciting jobs and avoiding certain projects by clueless clients.

Together with his business partner Wong Voon Yee, 48, Saw has built quite a reputation with their London-based firm, VW+BS (Wong is better known in Britain as Voon Wong.)

While some clients have even become friends that have led to successful collaborations, said the designer, there were certain clients who were best avoided.

“I think we are sensitive to what clients need,” pointed out Saw, noting that many designers tended to impose their own design concept and style to the project without properly understanding the client’s brief. “The main challenge is always about the relationship between client and designer,” he stressed.

“We are fortunate that most of our clients understand our design manifesto very well and hence, they come to us. The best clients are those who understand how to work with designers. They need to know when to exert control and when to relinquish control,” he added.

On partnership with London-based architect Wong (left), hotshot designer Saw predicts that they will be more involved in jobs related aircraft interiors and hospitality projects.

Nightmare
Saw lamented that the firm’s nightmare cases could be clients who “have no absolute clue as to what they want and expect the designer to make miracles happen” and it could mean trying to find “a needle in a haystack.”

As such, the firm tended to be selective, preferring to lavish personal time and attention to particular clients in order to produce the best possible results.

While Singapore-born Wong trained as an architect at London’s Architectural Association, Saw who hails from Penang, initially studied engineering at Boston University in the US. He worked for a while as an engineer before enrolling at the Royal College of Art in London to study product design, eventually earning a master of arts qualification.

In 2001, he collaborated with Wong to establish VW+BS, a multi-disciplinary design practice. Since then, the firm has worked on a number of distinguished projects in Europe and Asia and as far as Australia, involving architecture, interior design and product design.

“I decided that I wanted to do design when I visited the Architectural Association in London where some of the most colourful architects like Rem Koolhas, Zaha Hadid and Ron Arad studied in the late 1980s.

“I wanted to become an art historian because I felt so in love with Italian and Dutch Renaissance paintings by the likes of van Eyck, van der Weyden, Raphael and Botticelli,” recalled Saw.

After his “first stint” as an engineer designing portable electronic products, Saw thought he could “contribute to design on a smaller scale”. As fate would have it, he and long-time friend Wong who shared “many common views on design and ideas” decided to formalise their work relationship with the establishment of VW+BS.

“I first met Voon when I was visiting the Architectural Association while he was studying there. I saw his work exhibited there and I could relate to his ideas. Many years later, while studying design at the Royal College of Art, Voon and I started to meet regularly to exchange views on designs,” explained Saw.

Since its set up, the design partnership has bagged the OXO Peugeot Award, UK, for the ELma lamp in 2002 and their Loop lamp was nominated for Compasso d'Oro, Italy, in 2004.

Saw maintained that the secret of their success lies with the firm’s philosophy: “Treat every project no matter how big or small with the same level of importance.”

Aviation projects
This approach, together with diligence and not being complacent - with the same formulas that could impede creative growth - has reaped dividends for the firm. Many of the firm’s projects were referrals or occasionally, come from clients “discovering” VW+BS from publicity in Europe.

“Looking back, it is rather exciting as we have embarked on projects beyond just architecture and product design. We have started to work on aircraft interiors for a major airline and conservation projects of 19th century buildings in Singapore.

“We will be doing a lot more projects for the aviation and hospitality industries in the next 10 to 20 years,” predicted Saw.

In Malaysia, VW+BS projects have included private residences such as detached houses in Ampang Hilir and Damansara Heights as well as a hotel project with the Crockfords Suites in Genting Highlands.

Saw has been based in Malaysia since 2006 and goes back to London three times a year. Wong is permanent resident in the UK and has been based in London since 1988.

Since his return, Saw has set up a KL-based interior design firm known as Designstream as a separate partnership with interior designer Angelina Chan, another Singaporean.

Designstream focuses on property projects such as show units for companies like CapitaLand (Singapore), Wing Tai (Singapore), UOL (Singapore), Bolton, UMLand, Pavilion and S P Setia.

While Saw favours modern furniture and clean lines, lighting fixtures such as chandeliers can be in the classic style (middle picture) or in a more modern form (right).

Banyan Tree
One of Saw’s latest projects under Designstream are two show units – about 2,000sq ft and 1,000sq ft -for the Pavilion Banyan Tree or Banyan Tree Residences in Kuala Lumpur (please see pictures of the project).

This residential project is sited on the former MISC building which occupies a plot of … (1.5 acres). The 55-storey building has been re-configured to accommodate 441 private residences, 50 luxury suites and 51 serviced apartments. Managed by Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, the serviced units offer apartments with one to 3+ 1 bedrooms spanning 1,076sq ft to 2,184sq ft.

While the pared-down look - in a muted colour scheme (middle picture) with simple highlights - reflects Saw’s taste, the client’s brief for urbane luxury is manifested in the two bedrooms (left and right pictures).

Saw Points
Investors and independent buyers of luxury condominium developments in Kuala Lumpur will likely be seeing more of designer Benson Saw’s influence in show units that require a sense of sophisticated elegance. Here, Saw offers an insight into what makes him tick.

How does local design compare to the international design scene?
In Scandinavian countries, for example, where natural resources are limited and labour cost is high, the products are designed to last at least two generations. As a result, the products are well conceived before production starts. In our part of the world, products are designed primarily for marketing purposes. They just wanted to sell as many as possible. This is a result of the American cultural influence that reflect a mentality that favour disposable goods.

Malaysians live in a society where products have a short lifespan. Therefore, there's no real priority in creating an enduring design for products.

The right degree of lighting is essential whether in the day time or at night.

What is your favourite part of the job?
We enjoy every discipline of our job. It's the type of clients that dictates the preferred job.

What’s your definition of success?
It's always a matter of relativity. Some 10 years ago, I would think that success is where I am now but now, I would think about what I aspire to achieve in 10 years’ time. Maybe being hungry to reach a higher level is what has kept us pushing ourselves to do better.

What is your mission in life?
Stay healthy, physically and mentally.

Advice to upcoming designers?
You need to work really, really hard. There's no short cut. Creativity does not only revolve around the product of the job but also the process. Think out of the box on how to execute a particular project.

Any secret to your personal success?
I think one need to be very discipline in balancing work and pleasure in life. One could get too carried away when he or she has tasted success but without a well-balanced life, one could not get any further as he or she will get too burned from work.

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