Knowing that restoring and refurbishing a 60-year-old building while maintaining its delicate fixtures and audio-fidelity in its voluminous space, the current owner turned to Evocateurs. With this interior design firm’s intimate and experiential approach to designing that evokes the feeling of reminiscence through our senses. 

In fact, co-creative director Lian Miew Ching would explain the firm’s design philosophy like this: “We chose the name Evocateurs as it was a perfect description of our design approach. It is designing through evoking memories—which is inspired in us through sensations and experience of a physical space.” 

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Despite the 60-year-old building’s magnificence on its own, which Lian has noted as ‘truly a hidden gem with its impressive spatial volume’, it still presented a unique challenge for her. “It came down to two main things: working with the conditions of a 60-year-old and recreating the industrial aesthetic for my client, while still achieving a polished and modern living space,” says Lian, summarising the factors she had to workaround. 

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However, with challenges come often come prospects for change. In the process of removing asbestos—which was done properly with a licensed contractor—from the main living area, it presented the building original timber beams and pitched roof. This was a brilliant discovery for Lian and her client, as it presented the opportunity to evolve the space further with the increased volume.  
 
“The thing about creating an industrial-esque aesthetic is that even though it looks simple, it paradoxically takes meticulous artistry, engineering and attention to detail to recreate,” Lian states about the Soho loft aesthetic.  

Alongside the classic element of Soho district lofts that have its wiring encased in beautifully in cast-iron fixtures that run along the walls, the scene was set. Lian had realised her client’s vision: home theatre building and living space stylised after the lofts of the Soho district. 

Looking at her project now, Lian is proud of what she has accomplished with her close working relationship with her client. In fact, it was due to this close relationship that gave rise to hers and the client’s favourite furnishing: the custom kitchen island that doubles as a dining table.  
 
Initially a simple kitchen island, it was outfitted with a tabletop that can be lifted on-and-off the island through hydraulics, a marvellous ingenuity brought about from the client’s love for hosting gatherings. 
 
“The kitchen is the nucleus of the home, and by extension the island counter. It is the (centre) that everyone gravitates towards. Not only functionally, it becomes an intersection for the kitchen, bar, living room, and the entertainment space, tying the spaces together,” says Lian.