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    Ministry of Design’s Workshop is a collaborative space for post-Covid working

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    A simple steel framework incorporates both desks and storage in the self-designed all-white studio of architecture firm Ministry of Design in Singapore.

    With the MOD Workshop, studio founder Colin Seah set out to create a different type of workspace from Ministry of Design’s award-winning Bar Code office, which the practice occupied from 2010 to 2023.
    Ministry of Design has designed a new office for itself in SingaporeThe new office is less than a third of the size, with a focus on facilitating collaboration between coworkers who don’t spend as much time in the office as they did before the coronavirus pandemic.
    “In line with MOD’s transition towards a technologically-enabled work environment, which allows for most designers to work remotely, the Workshop dispenses with typical workplace conventions,” Seah said.
    The space is divided by a steel framework that incorporates desks and storage”Instead, it devotes 60 per cent of the layout to creative face-to-face collaboration because when we do need to meet in person, we really want it to make it count,” he continued.

    The 93-square-metre space is divided into a series of interconnected areas for collaboration, as well as hot desks and utility spaces, via a three-dimensional metal framework.
    A wall clad with cable trays allows objects to be attached with hooks or magnetThe minimal scaffold incorporates screens made from frosted polycarbonate and fluted glass that allow light to pass through, generating a bright and layered aesthetic within the workspace.
    The same materials were used to form shelves and worktops, with solid aluminium rods inserted into the polycarbonate panels to allow them to support heavier items.
    One of the main workspaces is centred around what MOD describes as a counter-height “war room” table that can be used for shared creative activities as well as design discussions and presentations.

    Ministry of Design creates lush “banking conservatory” for Citibank Singapore

    The table’s surface is made from frosted tempered glass that, along with other glossy and mirrored materials, helps to bounce light around the interior and enhance the spacious feel.
    The metal framework incorporates an adjustable lighting system above the table that can simulate different light conditions, while large windows minimise the requirement for artificial lighting during the daytime.
    To one side of the table is a wall clad with cable trays, allowing objects to be attached with hooks or magnets. Shelving along the opposite wall forms part of a material and artefact library.
    The interior is almost entirely whiteThe library shelves span the full length and width of the Workshop, ensuring the designers always have easy access to materials used to inspire and stimulate creativity.
    A row of hot desks along one wall and a meeting table near the entrance provide alternative areas for working and collaboration, with utility spaces including a pantry, printer and storage tucked away in a corner.
    In contrast to the bright-white interior of the workspace, a compact restroom concealed behind a mirrored door is designed as a private sanctuary lined with black tiles.
    In contrast, the bathroom is clad in black tilesMOD has completed more than 140 projects since it was founded by Seah in 2004, offering clients a holistic service that often includes architecture, product design, interior architecture, branding or landscaping.
    “We love to question where the inherent potential in contemporary design lies and then to disturb the ways they are created or perceived, redefining the world around us in relevant and innovative ways, project by project,” Seah said.
    Previous MOD projects include an office in a conservatory-like atrium filled with tropical plants and a co-living space with all-white interiors.
    The photography is by Jovian Lim.

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      Ministry of Design creates lush “banking conservatory” for Citibank Singapore

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      Offices and meeting rooms are nestled among tropical plants in this wealth management centre in Singapore by local studio Ministry of Design.Conceived as a “banking conservatory”, the verdant scheme won an international competition launched by Citibank Singapore last year that invited entrants to reimagine the conventional interiors often associated with financial institutions.

      Ministry of Design has created a conservatory within the Citi Wealth Hub
      The brief set out by Citibank was to create a wealth management centre dedicated to its high net-worth clients, over an area of 2,787 square metres across floors six to nine of an office building on Singapore’s Orchard Road.
      Across its four levels, the Citi Wealth Hub has more than 30 client advisory rooms alongside flexible office and event spaces, making it the bank’s largest wealth advisory hub in the world.

      Levels seven and eight are filled with sinuous brass planters

      The site is distinguished by its soaring atrium with tinted glass walls and skylights that create ideal conditions for growing tropical plants.
      In recognition of this, the studio proposed an office scheme based around a lush conservatory that would anchor the entire office.

      Seating alcoves are nestled into the greenery
      On floors seven and eight, a series of social spaces are nestled within the greenery, including a bar, observation deck, garden pods, banquette seating and a central garden lounge with a honed Grigio Carnico marble bar.
      “The choreographed verdant and lush greenery evokes an atmosphere where everything seems to flourish in a natural and sustainable manner – a nod to the ideals of wealth management,” said Ministry of Design’s (MOD) director of development Joy Chan Seah.

      Garden pods replace traditional meeting rooms
      “Although drawing from the virtues of biophilic design, the scheme aims to create a cultured conservatory and not a wild forest,” she added. “Introducing a measure of control and order amidst nature’s abundance, we created a series of carefully detailed planter box arrangements.”
      These sinuous, hairline brass containers are lit from below to signpost pathways and meeting spaces among the foliage.

      They are outfitted with TV screens and acoustic panels
      On the seventh floor, garden pods were installed as an alternative to traditional meeting rooms. These are lined with acoustic panels and equipped with curved TV screens, concealed power points and cables for connecting laptops.
      In collaboration with landscape architecture studio ICN Design, MOD carefully selected plants that would adapt easily to an air-conditioned environment, thrive even in the shade and create four distinct vertical layers to offer varied views at every level.

      The planters are lit from below to help signpost pathways
      For the tallest level, the designers selected betel nut feature palms, while elegant, feathery parlour palms sit below their crowns at the second level with bushy saplings and big-leafed arums in the foreground.
      Feathery Boston ferns, rosette-leafed bird’s nest ferns and money plants occupy the lowest level, fringed by jungle-floor plants that are spotlit at night.

      Marble planters decorate the eighth floor
      The eighth floor is dedicated to Citigold Private Clients, leading the design team to opt for more luxurious materials such as walnut and marble, while an observation deck offers aerial views of the conservatory on the level below.

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      Since this floor is less open to natural daylight, the planting here is smaller in both the horizontal and vertical scale, with planters set between desk alcoves and pathways.

      Walnut wood lines the walls to create a high-end finish
      Floors six and nine were conceived as “backstage areas” offering office space for the bank’s 210 relationship managers.
      They hold a variety of hot desks, collaboration tables and a town hall for meetings.

      Collaborative tables are fringed in planters
      Large planters help create a calming work environment on these levels and are filled with shade-loving plants that, in the wild, would grow low on the rainforest floor.
      Throughout the office, the temperature of the lighting is programmed to mirror human’s natural circadian rhythm and the movement of the sun, changing from blue to reddish undertones over the course of the day.

      A marble reception centres the eighth floor
      To keep the plants healthy the project uses a hydroponic system, in which plants are held in place by absorbent granules instead of soil.
      Grow lights with special LED bulbs that mimic natural sunlight are integrated within the recessed architectural lighting.

      Integrated lighting follows humans’ circadian rhythm
      “We’ve had really good responses from Citibank and from their clients so far,” the studio said. “They’ve said this is unlike any other wealth management hub they have seen.”

      10 plant-covered buildings that point to a greener future

      Studies have shown that access to green spaces, or even pictures of nature, can benefit workers’ mental health and improve performance in the office.
      As a result, a plethora of plant-filled workplace interiors have sprung up over the past few years, including this co-working space in Lisbon with over 1,000 potted plants and trees, while tropical flora provides privacy for workers inside an office in Utrecht.
      Photography is by KHOOGJ.

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      Ministry of Design creates shared office spaces in Kuala Lumpur skyscraper

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      Marble-clad columns and bronze detailing line the soaring entrance lobby that Ministry of Design has created for the YTL Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.It is one of several shared areas created by Ministry of Design in the Malaysian construction company YTL’s new office skyscraper by Kohn Pedersen Fox, which combines all of its staff departments in one place for the first time.
      Alongside the giant entrance area, the studio has created an oak-lined cafe and three storeys of varied meeting spaces shared by 1,000 YTL employees.

      Above: the YTL Headquarters skyscraper. Top image: the office’s entrance lobby

      “The brief for Ministry of Design was to design the public areas shared by these departments,” the studio explained.
      “As such, Ministry of Design sought to create a series of choreographed spatial experiences which aim to balance YTL’s legacy of corporate professionalism with a future-forward attitude that embraces change.”

      Marble-clad columns and cushioned benches line the entrance lobby
      The YTL Headquarters’ entrance lobby is positioned at ground level and measures 25 metres in height.
      Ministry of Design’s goal was to enhance the “majestic” quality of this vast space while ensuring it was welcoming and human in scale.

      The marble is offset by bronze accents throughout
      To achieve this, the studio developed a restrained material palette, dominated by the soaring, white columns clad in Bugatsa marble that run the length of the lobby.
      Floor-to-ceiling windows are positioned behind the columns to illuminate them and maximise natural light throughout the day, while making the space “glow like a lantern in the evening”.

      The lift lobby is highly symmetrical
      To obscure the height of the columns, each one is punctured by rectangular insets and bronze accents, while a cloud-like installation hangs between them.
      Cushioned benches that mimic Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chairs have also been slotted between the columns at floor level, framed by tall, gridded structures made from bronze.

      The cafe features a rough grey-granite counter
      The lobby is complete with a deliberately symmetrical lift area at its rear, accessed through turnstiles and framed by a statement bronze doorway.
      This provides private access to YTL Headquarter’s upper levels, including the office cafe, various meeting spaces and a function room by Ministry of Design.

      A central spiral staircase is enclosed by slatted bronze
      Ministry of Design’s development of the cafe and meeting spaces are intended as an extension of the lobby area, featuring a complementary material palette but with warmer tones.
      In the cafe, this includes a rough, grey-granite counter with a polished black-granite worktop, set against a backdrop of bronze wall-mounted shelves and oak-lined walls.

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      Oak has also been used to line the walls and ceilings of the meeting spaces, which cater for small and large, private to non-private gatherings.
      Ministry of Design achieved this through the combination of communal tables and open areas, alongside enclosed meeting rooms and acoustically-private spaces.

      The staircase connects the cafe to the office spaces
      In the open, shared meeting areas, the oak walls form a backdrop to black powder-coated lighting fixtures and seating upholstered with neutral Saum & Viebahn textiles.
      Silver mink marble flooring lines the floor, while black Nero Marquina and elegant white Calacatta marble are used across the tabletops.

      Oak lines the walls of the shared meeting spaces
      The private meeting areas are complete with softer furnishings and finishes, including brown-leather chairs, carpet floors and timber tables.
      The meeting spaces are complete with a statement spiral stair at their heart, which connects them to the cafe. It is lined with leather handrails that are enveloped by slats of powder-coated bronze and positioned on top of a bed of black gravel.

      The private meeting spaces feature softer furnishings and carpeted floors
      Ministry of Design is an architecture and interior design studio that was founded in 2004 by Colin Seah. Its headquarters are in Singapore, and it has two more offices in Beijing and Kuala Lumpur.
      Other recent projects by the firm include an all-white co-living space called Canvas House, a futuristic sports store in Singapore Airport and a robot training facility lined with metal and tube lights.
      Photography is by David Yeow.
      Project credits:
      Ministry of Design team: Colin Seah, Joyce Low, Ruth Chong, Kevin Leong , Damien Saive, Namrata Mehta, Fai Suvisith, Justin Lu, Zhang Hang, Maggie Lek, Kaye Mojica, Richard Herman, Rais Rahman, Tasminah Ali and Azilawanti WatiArchitectural design: Kohn Pedersen FoxAssociates design: Syarikat Pembenaan Yeoh Tiong Lay Sdn BhdArchitect of record: Veritas Design GroupLobby art: Leaves by Studio Sawada Design Co Ltd

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      Canvas House is a co-living space in Singapore with all-white interiors

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      Ministry of Design has created completely white interiors for this co-living space, which occupies a traditional shophouse in Singapore. Situated at the heart of Singapore’s buzzing Tanjong Pagar neighbourhood, Canvas House provides shared accommodation for creative locals and members of the ex-pat community. It takes over a four-storey shophouse – a type of building commonly […] More