Completion: 2018

Duration: permanent

Location: Singapore

Project role: project manager / senior designer

An immersive tale of the Maritime Silk Route anchored in innovative story-telling and design approach takes the visitors through a series of thematic environments that bring to life the ancient tales of nautical navigation and maritime trade. The thematic edutainment approach to the entire museum sets it apart from more traditional counterparts and responds to the target audience befitting the context of the museum in Resort World Sentosa in Singapore. Innovative and interactive multimedia solutions coupled with realistic design details and recreated port settings enhance the ancient maritime stories and lead the visitors from the beginnings of maritime trade to present day port cities that originated and prospered due to maritime trade.

Completion: 2016

Duration: 3 months

Location: Mumbai, India

Project role: senior exhibit designer / art director / project coordinator

The design of the inaugural exhibition for the Piramal Art Foundation and the framing of the collection of artworks on display invite visitors to examine how memory shaped art in India and how it continues to play an integral role in Indian art today. The external shell of the structure provides glimpses to the artwork on display through a series of framed openings, while keeping the overall structure visually permeable from all sides. The internal cubic volume draws attention and curiosity of the visitors and provides a culmination to the sequential journey through space. The methodology of storytelling within the exhibition invites visitors to rely on their memory to discover the story of modern Indian art, with the core visual design approach utilising layering, fragmenting and deconstructing techniques to entice visitors to recall the suggested elements in their mind.

Completion: 2015

Duration: permanent with 1 year artist installations

Project role: senior exhibit designer

The Keppel Centre for Art Education is the first dedicated art education facility in Singapore and the surrounding region, located within the National Gallery Singapore (NGS). The Centre occupies the ground floor of the NGS' City Hall wing and comprises four immersive and interactive environments, including Art Corridor, Project Gallery, Playscape and Children's Museum and Workshop, as well as art-themed interstitial spaces.

The inaugural year-long installations within the dedicated environments feature commissioned art works from artists around the region and provide creative learning opportunities for children and youths of various age groups. Each space features immersive zones conducive to active play and discovery, as well as areas for educational hands-on activities and workshops.

Full title: Chua Ek Kay: After the Rain/Wu Guanzhong: Beauty Beyond Form

Completion: 2015

Duration: temporary; 6 months

Project role: senior exhibit designer

The dual show covering the lives and works of the two artists instrumental to modern Chinese ink painting draws parallels and contrasts between Chua Ek Kay’s and Wu Guanzhong’s lives and aesthetics through exhibition design that complements and highlights the artists’ individual styles in subtle and sensitive ways. The design allows visitors to experience the fine points of each artist’s painting techniques and subjects via a carefully planned spatial layout, where Chua Ek Kay’s and Wu Guanzhong’s artistic journeys are weaved together through structural, lighting and graphic components.

Each of the galleries provides insights into the artists’ methodologies through central feature elements, like softly back-lit exhibition panels and feature walls that frame views towards key artworks. The overall exhibition and branding work together to allow the two shows to make a strong visual statement, whether the artists are showcased on their own or side by side.

Date of completion: 2015

Duration: permanent; 3 years

Project role: senior exhibit designer

The conceptual approach for the Fifty Years of Singapore Design exhibition documents the five decades of the country’s design history in a visually immersive environment that progresses from a 2D to a 3D environment and evolves in form and character through each decade. The design of the exhibition is flexible and modular and showcases graphics, objects and artefacts in a large 3-dimensional grid of 50cm by 50 cm squares and cubes, with each slot within the grid showcasing iconic or pivotal designs that have played a role in defining the design landscape of Singapore.

The focal feature of the show is the central L-shaped wall composed of solid and transparent cubes that serves as an impressive collage of many memorable designs shown within the exhibition. GAA played a crucial part in collaborating with the client to develop a design solution that was able to showcase the wide range of the featured designs and was adaptable to the curatorial approach and vision of the DesignSingapore Council.

Completion: 2014

Duration: permanent

Project role: project leader; thematic exhibit design

Being the first of its kind in Asia, the river-themed River Safari consists of freshwater attractions and 8 ecosystems from around the world as its focal sights. River Safari is built over 12 hectares of land and is nestled between its counterparts, the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari. Boasting a tropical rainforest setting, the park is packed with a variety of animal attractions, thematic environments, including an immersive Amazon theme park ride, and features a progressive, thematic and interactive exhibit design approach that dives deep into the story of each species.

Completion: 2014

Duration: 6 months

Project role: senior exhibit designer

The “Love & Revolution: Madam Soong Ching Ling, Wife of Dr. Sun Yat Sen” exhibition traces Madam Soong’s life from early childhood until old age. The exhibition is divided into four sections, with each section highlighting Madam Soong’s roles as Sun Yat Sen’s supporter, wife and influential leader and her involvement in the major milestones in the history of China. The exhibition showcases over 130 heritage objects, ranging from photographs to personal belongings, while the overarching themes of journey and transition are used as inspirations for the design of the thematic display plinths, cases and exhibition backdrops.

Completion: 2013

Duration: permanent

Project role: architectural designer

Fay House is the original home of Radcliffe College and now the administrative building for the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.  It was built in 1807 and expanded both horizontally and vertically over the years.

Following an initial programming study and scoping analysis, the extensive renovation preserved the most important historic features and character of the building while:

-creating more efficient, functional workspaces

-assessing and addressing structural deficiencies

-improving life safety

-making the building more accessible, in compliance with current accessibility codes

-improving comfort and efficiency through new building systems

-improving the building envelope and addressing deferred maintenance throughout the building

Fay House is LEED Gold certified; as of its completion, it’s the oldest LEED certified building in the United States.

Date of competition entry: 2013-2014

Project role: project leader

The proposal for the renovation of the existing Living Galleries focused on showcasing Singaporean culture in an immersive environment, showcasing the old and the new aspects of the culture through interactive displays of objects and artefacts. Providing a human aspect to the overall storytelling was an essential part of the proposal. Fun facts, stories and recollections from key influential individuals in the spheres of fashion, entertainment, food and artisan-ship were developed to engage the local and foreign audience with the multicultural past, present and future of Singapore.

Completion: 2014

Duration: permanent

Project role: project leader

The Singapore Liquefied Natural Gas (SLNG) Visitor Centre reflects the importance of the LNG terminal as a significant gateway to Singapore’s energy future whilst highlighting its importance as a major connecting hub within the region. The exhibit is organized in a concentric way, with clean lines and subtle accents distinguishing the four main themes and bringing to focus the three central elements on display: the projection mapping interactive and the models of the LNG tank and terminal.

Completion: 2014

Duration: permanent

Project role: designer; concept and development, construction documentation stages

The design brief for the new information kiosks at Changi Airport required a distinguishable design that could be readily identifiable as the trademark of the airport. The solution to the brief was to create a sleek, noticeable and user-friendly kiosk with an easy-to-use interface. Changi logo and colours have been incorporated into the overall design in an abstract way. The user interface design demanded simplicity and clarity, which have been achieved through an integration of simple, contemporary icons, maps and usage instructions.

Completion: 2014

Duration: permanent

Project role: exhibit designer; concept and development stage

Located on Level 3 of the National Museum of Singapore, the Children's Wing consists of a permanent space, two programming spaces and an outdoor terrace. Connecting these spaces was an important aspect of the design solution. This was facilitated by creating a coherent design language to visually link the spaces and by considering how activities in one space have relevance in another - i.e. using artworks created in the programming space to decorate a structure in another space.

The permanent space is characterized by three distinct zones: Explore, Create and Perform. Each zone has been developed to have its own unique function and allow for active learning in different ways - through discovery and exploration, creativity and live performance.

Completion: 2014

Duration: permanent

Project role: exhibit designer; concept and development stage

The goal of this project is to showcase the National Library's extensive collection of rare books, journals, gazettes and maps from the permanent collection. Elegantly displaying a small selection of these works in museum-standard cases highlights the special significance of this collection to donors and researchers alike, while rising public awareness of this unique collection at the same time.

Two types of full height, glass paneled display cases are built with adjustable artefact mounts to allow for flexibility in artefact display compositions. These cases are also built to have sets of drawers for flat artefacts.

Date of project completion: 2010

The collaborative design proposal for the Student Innovation Center began with a series of extensive surveys of the campus faculty and administration, gathering the necessary information about what spaces were currently lacking on campus grounds. Following the study, special requirements were identified for a center that is a converging nexus of the schools of business, engineering and design, providing collaborative spaces for students to work together on interdisciplinary projects.

The Center is located in a very visible spot on campus, providing an ideal meeting grounds for students and faculty from different university departments. Mindful of the existing connecting routes between destinations on site, the Center has been designed to retain the existing paths and views. Transparent and porous materials were used to provide maximum visibility outward.

The Center contains flexible spaces, designed for changing use, rooms for visiting faculty members, bar/lounge and F7B services to create a truly welcoming environment for all.

Date of competition entry: 2009