When it comes to show rooms, it’s more than a pretty face. It’s a pretty face with a deep and resonant story to tell. A story that speaks to the soul. And that it takes a special storyteller to bring out that tale. And that person is Hilary Loh.

Co-founder of 2nd Edition, Hilary began life as an architectural assistant, but her love for the minute details saw her make the jump from that career into interior designing. And since then, she’s just been sweeping up accolades after accolades. So many that they would require their own article, but some of them include the Singapore Good Design Award 2022, winner of the Taiwan Interior New Talent Award (TITAN) 2021, and the Luminary Award for Best in Exhibition Design at Singapore Interior Design Awards (SIDA) 2020. She also served as one of SIDA 2022’s Youth judges.

We had to send in a team to encircle and trap her just to get an interview with her.

Photo: Ki Residences

Every artist has their humble beginnings. What was yours? What got you into interior design?

I’ve always been fascinated by the composition of objects in shapes, colour and texture since I was young. I grew up in Ipoh, a town in West Malaysia, and left for Singapore at 18 to continue my tertiary education at Singapore Polytechnic. After that, I stuck around here and I moved between architectural firms for 10 years as an architectural assistant. I detoured from that path to follow my inner voice to follow my passion – interior design. I really like to examine things in a micro way, so I thought interior design was a good fit.

It was then that I got recommended to Park of Park + Associates Architectural Firm (we would eventually form 2nd Edition in 2005). He was looking for someone to look at his project and I suspect that he didn’t know that I had, at the time, zero experience in interior design. So he asked me to just go for it and I started work with one of his clients, a developer. That’s how I started on my first show flat and I never turned back. I figured things out along the way and the client had trusted me to get the job done.

That’s how I got started. Even to this day, show flats are still exciting; there’s always something new. It’s quite different from doing residential or commercial work. It’s fun to create. Show flats are a lot like staging; creating a story. That’s what makes it exciting. It never gets tiring.

The journey from founding a boutique studio, organically growing it for 17 years, and getting recognized through accolades and portfolios, validates my continuing balance of authenticity, style, and functionality in design statements.

If you were to redo your life, would you skip interior design altogether?

Yeah, I think so. I never tire of what I do. When you see a space, how do you design and compose it? When you can’t work it out, it weighs you down, but once you get it, the satisfaction is amazing. Usually the solution is all very simple, not complicated. Good design is all about simplicity and being authentic. That keeps me going.

Just like writing, you’ll get to a point and you go, “Yes!”.

With writing, there’s no true satisfaction – just constant self-criticism.

Then you and I have something in common (laughs). 

Photo: 3 Orchard by the Park

Who is your inspiration in interior design?

Sue Carr. She’s a co-founder of Carr Design Group based in Melbourne, Australia. A client paired us up with her company as their local build partner for a local project. The longer I worked with them, the more I was sure that I wanted to adopt her as my role model. She’s in her 70s but her work remains consistent. Quiet and strong. The lines in her work look so simple but so hard to achieve. I follow their Instagram and every time I look at their new posts, they just strike me speechless.

She’s been running the business for over 50 years so, in comparison, we’re still very young (laughs).

That’s one way to make ourselves feel young for much longer.

Yeah! And we shouldn’t complain about being tired! But seriously, for her to still have that energy to continue to tirelessly do what she does? You want to know why. That’s why I look up to her.

Another inspiration is Patricia Urquiola, a Spanish architect, industrial designer and art director. She designs quirky pieces. She’s basically the complete opposite of Sue. She’s a typical Spaniard that celebrates life with colours and approaching work with a sense of humour. I think we all need that in life (laughs).

How has she influenced your work?

It depends on the work. With show flats, we role-play; we have scripts. Different scripts work with different people.

Roleplay? Scripts? Tell me more!

When designing a sales gallery and show flats , you’ve got to create a story… a script. Think of contexts, experiences and audiences. In that way, that makes the job of designing a show flat meaningful and exciting.

So you’ve been talking a lot about show flats. Do you do any residential work?

Only 10% are residential projects for end users and 90% are project development, sales gallery and show flats. 

Photo: MORl Showflat

Every artist has their proudest work. What would you say yours is?

Presently, that would be MORI. Mori brings you on a journey through two show units which are presented in contrasting light and dark themes, centred around the main philosophy of Wabi-Sabi.

The light unit represents a home in its most natural and authentic state, designed to reflect a love of handmade quality , with clay tiles, sandy textured paint, and terracotta tones.

The dark unit embodies the art of finding beauty in imperfections and the natural cycle of growth and decay of materials over time. The scheme is a darker, more rugged and textured finish, with selections of burnt wood and tarnished metal to represent the timelessness and fortitude of such materials.

Photo: MORl Showflat

What guides your work? What would you say your design philosophy is?

Stay true to my values, being sincere with emphasis to create unique and distinctive solutions organically. Projects should maintain a balance of authenticity, style and functionality with subtlety and boldness whilst preserving any essence of discovered beauty and purity.

It is said that no idea ever comes from a vacuum. What inspires your work? Where do your ideas come from?

By being a good listener to the design brief and react instinctively, be open minded, and contextual. I like to approach things organically. First instincts, impressions, or ideas are always the best. And that’s where we begin, fine tuning it along the way. Having to force an idea onto a project often ends badly.

What is one advice you’d like to give up and coming interior designers?

Be unwavering, unrestrained, unconventional, and unconditional.

Posted on 23 December 2022

Kenny Tan,

SIXiDES Editorial Team