Cover The grand event hall features eye-catching geometric forms overhead that reference the company’s industrial roots and its angular logo
The grand event hall features eye-catching geometric forms overhead that reference the company’s industrial roots and its angular logo
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Design Intervention dreams up a beautiful vision for the Sapphire Windows showroom to create a luxurious, homely and stunning space that illustrates the beauty of windows and doors
It took a fateful first project between Sapphire Windows and Design Intervention to kickstart their now long-standing collaboration. Nikki Hunt, founder and principal of Design Intervention, was working on the renovation of an apartment that needed customised windows. These were to feature different colours for the exterior and interior: the exterior frame of the windows to match the existing facade colour, while the interior needed white window frames to match the apartment’s design scheme. The Singapore window company was able to create bespoke windows that matched the brief to a T, resulting in a fruitful team-up that continues today.
Years after that first collaboration, Sapphire Windows turned to Design Intervention to realise their ultimate project: the renovation of the local firm’s new showroom, to be designed as a space that would impress and highlight all of the beautiful and functional qualities of their window and glass products.
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An evening view of a lounge area in the Sapphire Windows showroom
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Founded by managing director Jeffrey Liew in 1989, the family-run Singapore company manufactures and retails glass windows and doors that would provide beauty, durability, and convenience. The company firmly believes in its motto “do it right, do it proud”, brought to life with its innovative and thoughtful solutions for its clients. Today, the firm continues to be led by Jeffrey; his wife Lee is the sales director, while his sons Sean and Ken work respectively as the general manager, and the sales and marketing manager.
“We’ve created an interactive experience that will fill customers with curiosity and excitement—one that many would never expect from a showroom that specialises in the windows, doors and glass business. This experience will engage all their senses,” says the founder, commenting on the showroom concept.
The blue kitchen leads out to the welcoming outdoor dining zone
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The design firm was given a blank canvas—the fourth-floor of a new building in Loyang that now serves as the window brand’s headquarters. The lower floors are utilised as factory space with precision machinery that produces its signature window and glass products, while its fourth floor comprises a footprint of over 10,000sq ft, excluding the indoor badminton court also purpose-built for the premises.
“The brief was that they didn’t want it to feel like a factory. We needed to create something quite spectacular to transport the visitor away from the mundane industrial heartland outside, and into an inspiring world of elevated design to reinforce the brand image of a high-end, quality product,” shares Hunt. “Sapphire Window sells mainly for residential landed homes so we needed to create a welcoming ambience and make the space feel cosy so customers could imagine the windows in their own home.”
With its 6m-high ceiling, the lofty space enjoys an abundance of natural light. Quips Hunt: “Usually our challenge is to make rooms look bigger. The place was so vast; here we had the opposite challenge!”
The fourth floor of the Sapphire Windows headquarters houses not only the expected workspace and meeting rooms. Like a dream house, it also features various entertaining facilities that include a grand living area, a karaoke room, bar area, and even a badminton court that can be used by staff members and guests. An upcoming area that is in the works is an experience zone that will showcase various applications of Sapphire Windows products to architects, designers and homeowners.
The “Welcome Vestibule” of the Sapphire Windows showroom
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Chief among its key areas is the entryway, which Hunt dubs the “Welcome Vestibule”. “I knew from the start that we needed to create a magnificent sense of arrival. We needed a design so unexpected that when visitors emerge from the lift lobby, the sight would take their breath away and they would forget that they were in the heart of an industrial estate,” she shares. “The design intention was to create a dark and dramatic space, leading guests along a tunnel that opens up to the jewel tones in the event hall.”
Hunt designed the entryway as a “tunnel” of surprises—the laser-cut graphic applied to the glass window creates enchanting shadow play throughout the day while referencing the chiselled form of the Sapphire Windows logo. The tapered ceiling design is made even more dramatic with up-lighters and two layers of LED strips that run along the perimeter, illuminating the striking angular form of these architectural elements. Additionally, storage is cleverly concealed here, with the cupboard doors dressed in the same wall finish, and are seamlessly concealed within the wall feature when closed.
The emerald green sofas provide ample seating for bustling events
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In the main hall, furnishings and design elements in the brand’s signature gemstone blue hue are accompanied by vibrant accents of tangerine orange and emerald green sofas. A striped blue grand piano is the area’s focal point, dressed in stripes and motifs inspired by the logo to heighten its visual impact.
Overhead, an eye-catching array of perforated powder-coated metal forms in various geometric shapes, with LED strips inserted to enhance their angular forms come nightfall. “It draws the eye up to highlight the majesty of the 6m-high space. The construction material lends an industrial vibe to the design,” says Hunt.
Founder Jeffrey Liew’s office is a handsome space enlivened with tangerine orange accents
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Various adjacent lounge areas provide plush and inviting environments for meetings with clients and catch-up sessions with the team. A blue kitchen features a pair of bar counters to create a convivial atmosphere between colleagues and guests. It leads out to an outdoor patio furnished with an al fresco dining area.
“The design is very much a manifestation of the brand itself,” sums up Hunt. “The starting point for the entire design was the logo, both the colour and the crystal-like shape. We have tried to infuse the company ethos into the design too. They offer a calm and reliable service and throughout the design we have used chunky shapes and strong lines so that showroom resonate with a feeling of reliability and trust.”
Sapphire Windows is located at 2 Loyang Drive
