Space Makers: how Atelier V&A reframes Singapore design through craft, restoration and material memory

Meanwhile, Hillary-Morgan’s trajectory unfolded differently. Her background spans the performing arts, fashion, brand strategy and product design, alongside years leading communications for global media and technology companies. Through her Australian practice, Hills & West, she has delivered residential and commercial projects informed as much by narrative and culture as by aesthetics.

Together, the pair operate in productive contrast. One gravitates toward making and execution, the other toward storytelling and conceptual direction. The resulting work sits somewhere in between: tactile, layered and emotionally attuned to how spaces are experienced.

“Atelier V&A was founded by two founders, two worlds, one shared conviction that Singapore deserved a different kind of design studio,” they succinctly sum up.

Rather than separating furniture, interiors and objects into distinct disciplines, Atelier V&A approaches these moving blocks as part of a continuous design language. The studio functions simultaneously as atelier, gallery and creative practice, producing custom furniture, developing original collections and designing residential and commercial spaces. Their showroom doubles as a living environment where pieces are encountered in context rather than staged as standalone objects.

Collaboration forms a major part of that ecosystem. The studio works closely with local and regional artisans across materials including wood, brass, textiles, yarn and glass, drawing on a wider network of makers to shape each project. Access to an active workshop remains central to the process, allowing design ideas to evolve directly alongside fabrication.

That connection to actually creating also underpins Atelier V&A’s restoration work, which has become one of the studio’s defining signatures. Drawing from an archive of vintage and inherited furniture accumulated through Gu’s family business over more than 45 years, the practice restores and reworks overlooked pieces into contemporary settings.

For the founders, restoration is not simply about preservation. It is about recognising the embedded value in materials and craftsmanship that already exist.

“An enormous amount of considered, well-made furniture is overlooked or discarded every year in Singapore—pieces with real craft and character, waiting to be seen differently,” the pair notes. “Restoring and reimagining that work, bringing it back into contemporary spaces, felt like something worth building a practice around.”

The philosophy extends into how the studio defines luxury itself. Rather than excess or rarity, Atelier V&A frames luxury through time, intention and longevity. “It is about pieces that are made well, designed with care and able to last. It is also about how a space makes you feel, calm, grounded or inspired. In a world increasingly driven by speed and automation, luxury is the return to something more considered,” they say.

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Officially launched in September 2025, the Atelier V&A showroom serves as the clearest expression of the studio’s identity to date. Conceived as both a working studio and experiential gallery, the space invites visitors to move through a sequence of layered zones where furniture, objects and materials unfold gradually.

Instead of presenting pieces in isolation, the showroom frames them within lived environments. Sculptural seating sits against strong material contrasts of stone, timber and textiles, while vintage furniture sourced from the studio’s archive is restored and reworked into contemporary compositions.

The atmosphere shifts throughout the space, balancing restraint with moments of boldness. Material transitions and circulation paths create rhythm without feeling overly choreographed.

Collaborations and creative contributions spanning Peridot Interiors, Hills & West, Beeyarnd, Lavavella and Maneknya further reinforce the showroom’s role as a creative platform rather than a static retail environment.

If the showroom captures the studio’s spatial philosophy, the Atelier One Collection distils it into furniture form. Designed as a series of sculptural yet functional pieces, the furniture collection establishes many of the visual codes now associated with Atelier V&A: generous silhouettes, mixed materials and forms that hold presence without overwhelming a room.

Marble, brass, timber and textiles recur throughout the collection, often layered together in unexpected ways. Pieces are designed to work individually or as part of a larger composition, with full customisation allowing clients to adapt scale, finishes and material combinations to their spaces.

That same language extends into the studio’s pet furniture collection, which translates Atelier One’s sculptural forms into objects designed for animals within the home. Rather than treating pet furniture as an afterthought, the studio approaches it as part of the broader spatial environment.

For a residential styling project at a Blair Road shophouse, Atelier V&A turned its attention toward heritage architecture, layering the historic home with texture, custom furniture and sculptural interventions.

The brief called for a space that functioned both as a liveable home and an expressive environment, while remaining sensitive to the building’s original character. Instead of competing with the shophouse’s architectural details, the studio amplified them through material contrast and carefully placed focal points.

Custom furniture anchors the interiors alongside handcrafted rugs, layered lighting and sculptural mirrors that introduce depth without overwhelming the narrow proportions typical of traditional shophouses.

Throughout Atelier V&A’s many projects—including this one—they approach cultural references by paying attention to subtler cues: proportions, joinery techniques and material relationships that nod to regional histories without becoming literal reproductions.

“Singapore sits at a genuinely rare intersection of cultures, craft traditions and material histories,” the founders explain. “That is not just a backdrop for us. It’s the starting point.”

As Atelier V&A continues to evolve, the founders are focused on building something that extends beyond individual collections or commissions. Through their showroom, collaborations and restoration practice, they hope to create broader visibility for Singapore’s makers and craftspeople while contributing to a stronger international understanding of the region’s design identity.

Atelier V&A’s ambition is rooted less in trend cycles than in longevity. The studio’s work may span furniture, interiors and objects, but beneath it all sits the same impulse: to create pieces and spaces that carry memory, material integrity and a distinct sense of belonging.

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