Meeting designer Kian Liew late last year, the Vice President and Head of Global ID and Technical Services at The Ascott is upbeat about his dream team of designers and a swathe of projects around the world. With its headquarters in Singapore, The Ascott is one of the world’s largest accommodation groups with residences and hotels in more than 30 countries. Ascott’s first serviced residence, The Ascott Singapore, opened in 1984 and since then the group has established thirteen brands that include Ascott The Residence, Quest, Lyf, and Citadines Connect. Describing the most exciting part of his role as "people development”, the interior designers and engineers who join Liew’s design studio develop talent and tenacity across projects from Tokyo to Paris and Mumbai, and a design approach that is reshaping both home and work life.
MS: Where did your design journey start and what was your first big break?
KL: It’s interesting because I never really thought that I would work in design. When I did my A Levels, I was studying business management in Singapore and after that I did my national service. I then decided I would get a job and chanced upon an opportunity to join a developer. I worked in real estate sales and spent a lot of time in what we call 'show suites’ where I was exposed to lots of beautiful interior spaces. I love beautiful things so that got me thinking about going back to school. I then spent six months putting together a portfolio for Chelsea College of Arts in London. When I graduated I thought about staying in the UK, but it was 2002 when the financial crisis hit so I came back to Singapore and started from the ground up.
How did you and Ascott meet?
I went to pitch for a show unit project and I was awarded the sales gallery as well. They liked my work and one day, out of the blue, I got a call. I was really lucky. What I like about hospitality design is that it’s a holistic approach, and you can tell a story that is inspired by anything from the topography to the culture of a place. Working in hospitality, I am involved in the soft bits, the art, right down to the uniforms, the crockery and the cutlery for every room. Great design is always in the detail.
Designer Kian Liew in his Singaproe studio where he and his team of eight are working on 75 projects around the world, from Tokyo to Mumbai and the Philippines.
What does a day in the life of Kian Liew look like?
I start my day at 5am with 70 pushups. I used to have a coffee and a cigarette but I have given up smoking. I also did cardio sets but I am a bit lazy now (laughter). I then meet with the team for a studio session at 8.30am when we run through all of our projects. Right now, we are running about 75 projects in different parts of the world. Our interior design team includes Fernando, who looks after the Gulf countries, Thailand and Malaysia; Cher Lynn who looks after Indonesia and The Philippines; May looks after Japan and North Asia, excluding China; Abel looks after Indochina; Hazel looks after Singapore; and Glynis looks after our interior design services. We have a project update on every single project because I don't like my teammates to work in silos. I like everyone to be involved, even if they're not working on a particular project because there are always learning points and insights. By the time we finish it's lunchtime, and lunch is the time I also like having everyone together because I have this idea that people who eat together, stay together. After lunch it’s working through the projects, looking at FFE, meeting suppliers, reviewing material boards and running through design questions and resolving them as a team. We are also custodians of The Ascott brand guidelines so we are constantly reviewing, updating and developing new ones.
How do you describe The Ascott design approach?
We talk about an understated luxury. I like the word "understated" because I think people are a lot more refined today in terms of taste. Of course you do have people who like really garish interiors, but I have always believed that the home is a sanctuary and it needs to feel comfortable. If you ask me how I would describe the interior for The Ascott brand, it would be an understated, luxurious sanctuary. I think it’s so important that when you come home you feel a sense of peace.
Do you feel that there has been a shift in the meaning of luxury?
Yes, we are in the technology generation and everything is very fast-paced and all new, new, new. We need to decompress to be able to breathe. I think luxury is no longer just the visual. Luxury now is more about texture and it’s not ornate. Instead of gold it would be bronze, so a kind of quiet luxury. Wood as well, we now use raw timber so you can feel the texture. With stone the polished finish we once used is now treated so that it feels rough and natural. We are going back to the basics.
The Ascott Marunouchi Tokyo defines luxury through texture, with wood, stone and natural fabrics that go back to the basics.
"If you ask me how I would describe the interior for The Ascott brand, it would be an understated, luxurious sanctuary. I think it’s so important that when you come home you feel a sense of peace."
Kian Liew, Vice President and Head of Global ID and Technical Services, The Ascott
Ascott describes itself as a "home away from home". How do you and your design team create that while also responding to the spirit of a place?
Our guests are all International, so I don't know where my next guest is coming from. We want to give them a sense of familiarity in terms of local touches, but at the same time, and, especially for serviced apartments, we have guests who stay with us for three months, six months, a year or more. Our longest guest stayed with us for 25 years. So for all the local touches, we like to create a more abstract interpretation that might be found in the artwork or the fabrics. We hint at it because we also want guests to have the freedom to express themselves. If I was going to be in Australia for three months, I would probably be intrigued by some of the local Aboriginal artwork so I might purchase one and bring it into the apartment and enjoy it before taking it home. Essentially we want to give our guests a blank canvas to layer and make their own.
I'm interested in the research you do. How do you approach a new project that could be located in Paris, Tokyo, Dubai or Manila?
We also offer a consultancy service and for one of our new Ascott brands located in Manila, we decided to take on the concept of weaving. It is technique that’s part of the local culture and you find it in furniture, fabrics, actually everything. Manila is quite a cosmopolitan city so we looked at how the layers would come together to reflect the different cultures. We looked at techniques including fishing nets and pots made by local fishermen, and we commissioned pieces for the lobby. So culturally it is very connected to the place. Earlier this year we won two design awards for Ascott Marunouchi Tokyo, a Covet Award for 'Best Hospitality Interior Design’ and 'Best Interior Design' at the Serviced Apartment Awards. The Marunouchi district is just across the road from the Imperial Palace so we took on an abstract interpretation of the transition of time and how time changes across the four seasons. We designed screens so that change of time is now measured by the shadows cast inside.
With your Ascott apartment model, is design the opportunity to engage with a new group of people?
Yes, that’s why we also operate a design consultancy which is quite unique within the serviced apartment sector. For example, if a guest comes in and wants to personalise an apartment, we can help them. At the end of the day you can’t possibly cater to everyone's taste, so to develop our design standards we do run focus groups to understand what is important, what are the touch points and how we can add value for our guests. We identify those key points and then do them really well. When I stay in luxury hotels there are things I look for. Some hotels invest a lot in very complicated touch screens and if I am there for two nights, I am never going to learn how to use it. What is important for me is a really good shower, a comfortable mattress, quality linen, a well thought-out ergonomic desk. It comes down to being very comfortable.
Lyf Funan in Singapore includes communal living spaces, social kitchens, and a diversity of integrated spaces.
Kian Liew with members of his design studio team in Singapore.
A diversity of room types at Lyf provide variatons for a work/life balance, with high speed Wi-Fi, comfortalbe beds and high thread-count linen.
Lyf Funan in Singapore includes social kitchen and dining rooms for guests who prefer not to cook in their rooms.
A Lyf Funan meeting room designed for hotel guests to share with their clients.
Larger Lyf Funan rooms include private kitchens and dining areas for guests who like to cook.
"We talk about an understated luxury. I like the word 'understated' because I think people are a lot more refined today in terms of taste."
Kian Liew, Vice President and Head of Global ID and Technical Services, The Ascott
The Ascott Marunouchi Tokyo won a Covet Award for 'Best Hospitality Interior Design’ and 'Best Interior Design' at the Serviced Apartment Awards in 2019.
We are all living and working differently with so many overlaps between the two, how are you addressing a more live/work scenario at Ascott?
We have developed a new brand called Lyf which is not just another hospitality brand, it was developed in response to how the world is changing. Like a membership, you can move from city to city which obviously depends on how far we expand. The design of Lyf includes communal living spaces, social kitchens, and we looked at how spaces could be better integrated. For example, a gym is no longer a space just for machines, resistance training might use the stairs instead. For the brand we made sure that we had identifiable touch points. The rooms have very high speed Wi-Fi because many guests did not see the television as important, a good shower and bed. Even for the millennial generation we are talking about sprung mattresses and high thread-count sheets.
Has social media shifted the behaviour of your guests?
Yes, I think it can largely be attributed to social media. When we designed the social kitchen for Lyf, we approached it with Instagram in mind and our guests can now share those experiences. I often go onto Trip Advisor to read our reviews and see if there is feedback on design or service. I want to understand if there are any issues. It’s also fun to visit our properties and have a conversation with a guest about design because you learn so much. Over a coffee you find out a lot more than from a questionnaire. I was in Tokyo and we had a guest from China who needed a laundry service, we also learnt that her pillows were too soft, so we were trying to find a solution for her. That conversation also gave me the opportunity to learn that she could potentially be a regular guest because she comes to Japan all the time. The fact that I had the opportunity to speak with her and find a solution, I could then bring that knowledge back to Singapore and share it with our procurement team.
What projects is your studio working on, and what are you excited about right now?
There is a famous quote by Karl Lagerfeld who was asked about his best collection and his response was, “my next collection”. We have projects in The Philippines, Malaysia and Japan, but what I also find exciting is people development. Of course it is really encouraging to be winning awards and being featured in design magazines, but the greatest joy for me is to see the development within our team. Some come to us with no experience so to see them grow, I find that very satisfying. So far, the shortest stint in our studio is five years. One member of the team went back to New York to finish her masters in design. I kept in touch and convinced her to come back, this is now her seventh year and she is managing a team of six. For me, it is not only about putting beautiful things together.
Thank you Kian!
