Assistant Designer: Jason Chua
Graphic Designer: Gerald Tan
Kingsmen Exhibits Pte Ltd
Client: Karsono Kwee
Trans Eurokars Pte Ltd
Design of the Year - President*s Design Award 2006
The project is the first freestanding, experiential hub for the MINI brand that takes showcasing cars to a new level by incorporating lifestyle into the buying experience. The showroom skillfully draws on the interior architecture to articulate the philosophy and visual experience of the MINI brand to a niche market. The resolution of the interior design uses appropriate materials and demonstrates comprehensive and consistent design detail throughout. Natural and artificial light is used in an innovative way. As the first of its kind in the world, the MINI Habitat in Singapore is now used by BMW Group worldwide as a benchmark for how the MINI brand should be presented, and amply demonstrates the success of design as a tool for competitive advantage.
It was his own experience of habitat that made him aware of design. At the age of 7, his parents created a three-level bedroom completely of timber. To a great extent, we sense that child-like awe and wonder is the same freedom to play when one enters MINI Habitat at Leng Kee, where retail is redefined by Brett Cameron and his team at Kingsmen Exhibits.
"I believe everything we do should have an underlying contribution to our sense of satisfaction, or be ideally fun," expressed Brett Cameron.
"MINI Habitat is an almost complete expression of this philosophy. I say almost because no experience is complete without the human element. My intent for Habitat is truly realized when the doors are open, the customers can engage with the space & interact with appropriately trained staff and, perhaps, engage in a typically MINI event, such as sunset cocktails on the roof terrace, lazing around the fountain and listening to some chill out sounds served up by a visiting DJ."
"I am very focused on this theory of retail design moving into the realm of being presented as a permanent event space; an everevolving dynamic experiential representation of the brand. It becomes a destination to visit over and over again."
"The inimitable qualities of a MINI owner were my main inspiration. These are a very passionate and unique group of people, as distinctive in their like-minded attributes as they are in their differences."
The project was not without small challenges. "Despite a number of expensive & exotic materials being used throughout, I wanted a very raw concrete floor under the cars to contrast with the surrounds. We made all types of samples to try and convince the owner, but he didn't agree until a guarantee was provided that if he didn't like the final result, we would replace with tiles free-of-charge. I'm happy to say that he loves the raw concrete."
"I'm motivated by the fact that a Singapore design house is providing such an integral strategic support to a company like the BMW Group. The fact that we are influencing the way the BMW & MINI brands are presented around the globe, that our designs are used as 'best practice' examples and that we are designing for markets in the east and west alike, including Australia, New Zealand, Mongolia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, France, Mauritius, Tunisia, Guam, Bangladesh, and India.
Advice to emerging designers:
"You will never enter a space again without dissecting the smallest element that is contributing to that environment. It is an extremely emotional ride, but an extremely rewarding one. Learn how to verbalize your ideas."
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