Spaces Dreamer

Penang-born architect and interior designer Ch’ing Sao Inn believes design is about understanding the people and their connection with a place.

“I think design is not just about selecting beautiful materials or furniture,” said the founder of Sao Inn Architect.

“Through history, we know that style changes over time. What is more important is the solution that evolved under different circumstances.

“A good design process grows from a comprehensive understanding of multiple aspects and their relationships. In design, I always try to resolve something elegantly with the smallest amount of resources.

“This approach ensures that a design withstands the test of time regardless of trends,” added the award-winning achiever, who holds two architectural degrees from the University of Malaya.

His design studio cum house in Bukit Gasing integrates the old and new.

Sao Inn has just completed The Royal Press project in Malacca, restoring the old building in the Unesco Heritage City into contemporary spaces.

What inspired you to become an architect and interior designer?

When I was young, my curiosity led me to reading from comics, fiction, literature, history to arts and science.

During admission to university, I opted for architecture when I found out that the course covers culture, economy, sociology and technology.

What is your approach when it comes to designing a house?

I start by understanding the people. It’s an interesting process. By rethinking the experience of everyday living, both the client and I filter through the needs from the wants.

This is then combined with a study of the environment surrounding the house. The design evolves from there. By doing it this way, it can bring about a lovely surprise in design that is both beautiful and practical.

Building a house involves resources, money and time. It shouldn’t be just instant gratification. It should be planned intelligently and must last through time.

Do you have any projects that you are proud of?

Every project is special in its process. The Royal Press in Malacca was one of the recent projects.

It is one of the oldest surviving polyglot letter press printing houses located in the core zone of the Unesco Heritage City.

The building was restored and retrofitted painstakingly. The design process involved an in depth study of how the shop house building typology takes place through history, followed by an understanding of the relationship between the people and the place, and finally imagining the future of the building.

The shop house was built over different periods of time and comprises two sections in longitudinal. Through new space planning, we created pockets of space with new voids at different intersections and revived the old courtyards that were once all covered.

This brings natural light and cross ventilation into the long narrow layout and minimises the requirement for air conditioning and artificial lighting.

The experience of walking through the spaces becomes richer with indoor and outdoor gardens.

The traditional shop house is a green building on its own, in the way it responds to the climate and the use of cooling materials.

In this project, we reinvigorated this wisdom of building that has existed for generations. It reminds us to look at a heritage building beyond its facade.

What projects are you working on now?

Currently, I am working on a house in Janda Baik, with an interesting contour and a small valley in the middle.

In this project, I try to explore a way of constructing on a slope with minimal columns while still maintaining stability of the house. Together with the engineer, we made use of the higher side of the slope to create two-points of anchor, so the main house is suspended over the valley with a nice elevated view.

Another project is a small housing development near Lake Gardens in Taiping. It’s a single storey semi-detached house with high ceiling and a loft with roof top gardens.

What are your future plans?

I am open to exploring anything that makes good design. Besides buildings, I have designed an art exhibition in New Taipei Gallery in Taiwan featuring furniture, lighting, and handle-and-lock sets. It’s fun to work at different scales, it cultivates a holistic understanding of design.