Exquisite May 2017

COVERFEATURE
(From left to right) Michael San Pedro, Crisanto Raneses, Arlene Valdez, Melissa Peh,
Cholatorn Jamjan, Tran Thi
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How do you usually solve disagreements in
your design team during a project?
We rarely have disagreements within the HBA design team. Our
projects are often very large, so we cannot afford big, primadonna
designer egos to get in the way. We respect each other’s
input and skill set, augmenting off of each other’s strengths to
achieve a united vision. Anyone who is so stubborn to insist
their idea is the only best solution to pursue typically does not
last too long at HBA. The greater and more frequent challenge
is actually resolving disagreements between the owner and
the operator in their vision of the property! In such cases, HBA
is sometimes caught in the middle, being forced to side with
one or another. We therefore try to keep our communication as
transparent and open as possible between both parties to avoid
this problem.
What advice would you give a young girl who
wants to become a senior associate interior
designer at a well-respected global design
company such as HBA like you?
The exact same nugget of wisdom that Michael Bedner (HBA
co-founder & former chairman) gave me when I was a young
intern at HBA San Francisco 20 years ago, yearning to become
an HBA associate one day:
If you are in this business just for the money, get out now and
become a banker or a lawyer. Design should be fun, never a
chore! Have fun and be passionate about what you do, and you
will go far here.
And nothing could be more true.
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What questions would you ask to discover
your client’s requirements?
Most major hotel operators have very clear brand standards
and area programme requirements, which eliminates the
mystery of their expectations. For F&B outlets, they will often
also have a design brief. HBA often requests for this information
at the start of every project. For owner’s requirements, it is a
bit different and very project-specific. On some projects, the
owners can be very involved, as if the hotel is their personal
home. We usually show different mood and style options to
gauge their taste while still engaging with the operator to see if
their taste aligns with their brand identity. On other projects, the
owners may only be interested in the bottom line and achieving
the highest return on their investment, in which case, we work
very closely with the appointed hotel operator.
As you are based in Singapore, and have
been living here for some time what are your
favourite local foods?
Oh, I am such a foodie! So the list is rather long. Here are some
of my favourite local foods:
Chicken rice (roasted, breast cut preferred)
Kway chap (“angmo” style – without spare parts)
Bak ku the
Mee siam
Char kway teow
Laksa (Singapore version)
Duck rice (dry, without sauce)
Char siew rice (dry, without sauce)
Tsu-yok (dry – Hong Kong style with hot mustard)
Yong tau fu (soup with beehoon)
Popiah
Fried beehoon
Nasi lemak
Chilli crab
Roti prata
Sardine puff (extra spicy)
(Top) Paula’s design team at HBA; It has to be the
Singapore version of laksa.
(Left) Photo 1,4,5: Four Seasons Singapore’s
Jiang-Nan Chun restaurant is inspired by the
verdant land south of the Yangtze river in China.
Photo 2,3,6: Siam Kempinski Bangkok is designed
around the historical royal lotus gardens.
www.hba.com
Photographs courtesy of Hirsch Bedner Associates;
laksa photo by Susanna Fong
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