Wolf cofounder Brandon Liu was drawn to Singapore to explore workplace design in a city where established corporations rub shoulders with tech startups. In the following interview, More Space and Liu discuss Netflix, Uber, Toyota and Bytedance, and the cultural changes to the workplace status quo that are opening up new possibilities for design.
Growing up in Sydney, Australia, Brandon Liu studied architecture at the University of NSW and worked for local design studios to hone his skills before heading to Singapore in 2007, drawn by the possibliites the city offered in the fast-paced world of workplace design. Now juggling the demands of a young family and a thriving design studio, Liu heads up Wolf with Chrisandra Heng and credits their four-strong leadership team with shaping the design company as well as its early success.
“Chrisandra Heng has been my business partner for the last 10 years and she was the one who gave me the opportunity to come to Singapore”, Liu explains. “Along with Mervin Geronomi and Micah Valenzuela, we are the core leaders at Wolf who from the start have been aligned in terms of how we build our team, treat our people, and how we go about our business”.
In four short years, that success has seen Wolf develop a long list of corporate clients who have trusted the team to design complex headquarters that meet the needs of their local offshoots and tick off the demands of an international brand strategy, while, most recently, helping companies to rethink their workplaces to address employee happiness, wellbeiing, creative interaction and culture.
More Space: Brandon, when did you launch Wolf and what is the story behind the name?
Brandon Liu: Wolf launched in 2017 so this year marks our fourth year in business. We have grown fast and today we have a team of 25, with a couple of members based overseas. Our story, however, began 10 years ago, when our leadership team formed a creative and entrepreneurial bond that has led us to the top of the workplace design industry in Singapore. People often ask us. "why the name ‘Wolf’"? Well, there is no other animal that better represents our never-ending curiosity, desire to work as a team, and unwillingness to quit. Wolves go everywhere together in packs; they sleep, hunt, eat, and even play together; they are by all accounts a perfectly aligned team, which is what we are.
Please tell us about your design philosophy and the kind of projects you take on.
Our philosophy is pretty simple. We believe in helping to create a world where everyone loves going to work. Every project is an opportunity to do our part, transforming one office at a time into places that bring joy to people at work, and in turn, strategically helping organisations to grow. We focus on designing great workplaces while making the journey for our clients a delightful and successful one too. We take on commercial office projects only, we are highly specialised in what we offer and that is our strength. Every company has a unique story to tell and spirit and culture they want their home to reflect so it’s our job to bring that to life.
"Our philosophy is pretty simple. We believe in helping to create a world where everyone loves going to work. Every project is an opportunity to do our part, transforming one office at a time into places that bring joy to people at work, and in turn, strategically helping organisations to grow."
Brandon Liu, Wolf
The open planned Oath offices in Singapore, here and following. Photos c/o Wolf.
The dynamic Wolf team now includes 25 members who (except for 2020) head overseas on holiday together every year. This shot was taken in 2019 on a skiing trip to Korea. Photo © Milton c/o Wolf.
Uber Singapore designed by Wolf, here and following. Photos c/o Wolf.
The Heineken headquarters in Singapore, here and following. Photos c/o Wolf.
Homeaway by Wolf, here and following. Photos c/o Wolf.
"... we are seeing a new paradigm of organisational policies adopting a work-from-anywhere flexibility, Rather than get rid of the office, there is now even more focus on it as the key driver to strengthen culture and community for our clients' organisations."
Brandon Liu, Wolf
What is the best thing that happened to Wolf in 2020?
The reminder that we need to come together. I think the circuit breaker made everyone realise how much we need that physical connection and how important it really is to our studio culture and team spirit. It also built a stronger team bond that we were able to go through such an external shock like that and bunker down as a team and work hard to get through it... and thrive on the other side.
The pandemic has given the design industry a lot to think about. How is it impacting your approach to design and what long term changes do you see?
As we tread our way through and out of this pandemic, we are seeing a new paradigm of organisational policies adopting a work-from-anywhere flexibility. Rather than get rid of the office, there is now even more focus on it as the key driver to strengthen culture and community for our clients' organisations. We are now exploring a number of different workplace models and scenarios with our clients in Singapore with varying levels of work from home policies, some more aggressive than others, but I would say all with a new-found focus on employee wellness, happiness, creative interaction and culture. We are going down a path that is exploring how the physical office will be able to support this and enable these things to thrive. Ultimately, offices are more than just a place to do business, they are meeting points for social and cultural exchanges and we humans are social animals, we need the physical interaction and connection that our workplaces provide.
How are these ideas taking shape in your design projects at Wolf?
We are embarking on a new journey with all of our clients in this new post-pandemic world. The workplace is evolving into hubs that a company and its people call home for open communication and creativity. We are just one of many companies at the forefront of bringing this change to life, and, personality, I am really excited to see how the workplace landscape will evolve now into the next generation of commercial spaces for business.
And finally, what projects are keeping you busy right now?
It’s a vibrant market right now with pent-up demand from projects that were on hold last year, combined with companies now realising they need to put more effort and thought into how their workplaces are designed. We recently completed the new 380,000 square foot UBS office inside their new building on Penang Road in Singapore, we are helping Netflix expand in Korea and Singapore, and working on the Bytedance expansion in Singapore as well, and designing new, larger workplaces for companies including NETS, Foodpanda, Toyota, AXA and Boston consulting.
Thanks so much for your time Brandon and for the interesting discussion.
