CHINA SONANGOL OFFICE

Singapore

As part of its holistic design philosophy, MDL has strived to achieve a sort of harmony between the exterior and interior elements of its designs, aiming to make them complement rather than compete. As such, MDL views the two not as different disciplines, but a unified solution to a client’s specifications.

The China Sonangol Suntec City Office is an exception to this, being exclusively an interior design project. It serves as an interesting “experiment” of sorts, attempting to combine MDL’s penchant for one-of-a-kind designs—in this case a spacecraft’s interior—with a client who wanted a slightly more “rational” look for the office. The project shares the same client, philosophy, and design timeline as Indonesia One; thus, the CS Suntec City Office has the same squarish lines mixed with wood as well as brown and beige tones.

However, it also has a distinct flair, such as a large onyx wall at its entrance lobby. Additionally, some of the doors are also made of onyx, making them quite heavy and giving off the vibe of opening up a stone façade. Repeated patterns that form the number eight—a symbol of good luck in feng shui—also decorate the onyx walls and doors, adding an auspicious nod to Chinese culture to the interior.

Additionally, the project has a large, open floor plan, which comes with plenty of greenery, such as planter boxes that serve as dividers between the interior office spaces as well as numerous potted succulents. All of this aims to imbue a more “natural” air to the office, softening its seemingly corporate look with a touch of green—a key element of MDL’s biophilic design philosophy.