The Singapore Institute of architects (SIA) bestowed two Design of the Year awards, seven Design Awards and nine Merit Awards to 16 projects that span categories including residential projects, institutional projects, special categories and interior architecture this year.
One of the highest accolades, the Design of the Year awards, was awarded to A Brick & Mortar Shop, a retail project by L Architects.
The brains behind Singapore’s beautiful homes
Founded in 2016, boutique architecture studio L Architects is renowned for award-winning beautiful homes.
You might know L Architects and their founder Lim Shing Hui better from our renowned House Tours – that amazing loft ceiling 2-room condo in River Valley, that stunning landed house with lots of trees, and that Sentosa Cove landed house with a facade that’s “alive” and breathing.
The firm won big at this year’s Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA) Architectural Design Awards 2022 with its two projects: A Brick & Mortar Shop, and House of Trees.
A Brick & Mortar Shop designed by L Architects
A Brick & Mortar Shop is a multi-label kitchen appliances shop designed by L Architects. It’s also the firm’s first retail project – that uses humble and salvaged materials that took home the Design of the Year accolade.
The actual multi-label kitchen showroom that occupies this space is Casa Holding Limited, located at 15 Kian Teck Crescent, Pioneer Industrial Estate.
We find out more about this breathtaking space from the firm’s founder and principal architect Lim Shing Hui:
![2a-a-brick_mortar-shop-a-multi-label-kitchen-appliances-shop_10_credit-jovian-lim-1024x683-1](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2a-a-brick_mortar-shop-a-multi-label-kitchen-appliances-shop_10_credit-jovian-lim-1024x683-1.jpg)
How did the idea of using common materials for A Brick & Mortar Shop come about?
Founder of L Architects, Lim Shing Hui: My dad is a nature enthusiast, and I grew up in a family with a strong appreciation for the natural world.
This often translates into noticing peculiarities in nature and slowly finding beauty in ordinary objects – things we usually take for granted.
Cement bricks are one of the most common building materials in the world, and so is plywood. The off-cut stones were sourced from Polybuilding (S) Pte Ltd, one of Singapore’s biggest natural stone suppliers.
I knew of these “waste” materials and thought we could salvage and use them. The supplier could sell these, and my client could get them at a fraction of the price, so the idea makes sense economically.
The resulting floor is so beautifully tactile that we, as designers, didn’t think using them was compromising the design.
The idea also addressed sustainability issues; we salvaged 34,000kg of natural off-cut stones, mainly for the shop’s floor.
![a-brick-and-mortar-shop_credit-finbarr-fallon-1024x683-1](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/a-brick-and-mortar-shop_credit-finbarr-fallon-1024x683-1.jpg)
How did you convince the client to buy into the design concept?
Founder of L Architects, Lim Shing Hui: E-commerce has changed the landscape of the retail scene. Mediocre retail experiences are not enough to bring people to shop at physical stores.
We did some field study and found that few appliance stores crafted a memorable shopping experience.
I wanted to change that.
The client acknowledged that we needed to curate a new retail experience using a sensible budget and trusted us to propose a bold design.
When you know how to use affordable, common materials inventively, they can breathe a new kind of freshness.
![home-decor-a-brick_mortar-shop-a-multi-label-kitchen-appliances-shop_4_credit-finbarr-fallon](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/home-decor-a-brick_mortar-shop-a-multi-label-kitchen-appliances-shop_4_credit-finbarr-fallon.jpg)
Tell us more about this shop. Where is A Brick & Mortar Shop located?
Founder of L Architects, Lim Shing Hui: Opened in October last year, it is owned by Casa Holdings Limited and located at 15 Kian Teck Crescent, Pioneer industrial estate.
The brands it carries include local ones like kitchen appliance brand EF, sanitary ware Rubine, wine fridge Chateau, smokeless barbecue grill Kith by Casa, and fan brand Evel.
It also carries international brands, including kitchen appliances Beko and Elba, water heater Ferroli, cookware Westinghouse, and air quality monitoring system uHoo.
![home-decor-a-brick_mortar-shop-a-multi-label-kitchen-appliances-shop_2_credit-jovian-lim](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/home-decor-a-brick_mortar-shop-a-multi-label-kitchen-appliances-shop_2_credit-jovian-lim.jpg)
Any plans to also use these materials in your residential projects?
Founder of L Architects, Lim Shing Hui: Generally, clients would prefer a more “finished” look in residential projects, so it might be more challenging for us to do something like this.
Each project is unique, and we want to always find a non-transferable idea for each.
When it comes to residential projects, we explore questions such as: how can we, as homeowners, see and appreciate the potential f common/humble/waste materials?
It is not the look that matters; it is what you see. We can all look at the same thing but feel differently about it.
“There is so much beauty in the ordinary and I just wanted to uncover that in this project.”
Lim Shing Hui, L Architects.
![home-decor-a-brick_mortar-shop-a-multi-label-kitchen-appliances-shop_13_credit-jovian-lim](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/home-decor-a-brick_mortar-shop-a-multi-label-kitchen-appliances-shop_13_credit-jovian-lim.jpg)
Share an observation you’ve noticed about local homeowners’ material preferences.
Founder of L Architects, Lim Shing Hui: Many people love visual seamlessness – think of large format materials.
But this removes quite a lot of tactility in the surfaces, making them look flat and lacking in character.
![a-brick-and-mortar-shop_credit-jovian-lim-768x1024-1](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/a-brick-and-mortar-shop_credit-jovian-lim-768x1024-1.jpg)
What’s your dream material to work with?
Founder of L Architects, Lim Shing Hui: I don’t have a “dream” material per se. I prefer to find new ways of seeing old materials. I believe there is still so much beauty that can be found in the ordinary.
I have been thinking a lot about red bricks – I would love to find a suitable project for us to experiment with this material.
![home-decor-a-brick_mortar-shop-a-multi-label-kitchen-appliances-shop_16_credit-finbarr-fallon](https://sonadecor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/home-decor-a-brick_mortar-shop-a-multi-label-kitchen-appliances-shop_16_credit-finbarr-fallon.jpg)