CAREERVOL. AUG 14

“Interior design is making the best possible use of the available space”

INTERIOR DESIGNER AR. CHONG VOON WEE

THE

TAYLOR’S MAG.COM

CONTENT

-Company Profi le 1-2-Interviewee Profi le 3- Project: •Allianance Bank 4 • Austrian Embassy 5-Role & Responsibility 6-Challenges & Solutions 7-8 -Design Process 9

RDO Sdn Bhd is one of gigantic fi rm that located in Kuala Lumpur. This fi rm involved in many scope of projects such as in architecture, interior design,master planning, tenant fi t out coordinator and in green sustainability. For this edition, we will be focusing more on interior designer. RDO Sdn Bhd has design many place such as corporate building, bank, residental, retail mall, F&B,hospitality, institution, and showroom.

The Company

1____

REDD DESIGN OFFICE SDN BHD

COMPANY MANAGEMENT

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PROJECT DIRECTORS

FINANCE / HR / ADMIN

PROJECT LEADER(ARCHITECTURE / INTERIOR DESIGNER)

ASSISTANT ARCHITECTS+

INTERIOR DESIGN

3D VISUALIZERS TECHNICIANS ADMIN ASSISTANT

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Company’s Organization Chart

Ar. Chong Voon Wee

Elliot Chan Chua Seng Lim

Kio Fook Khan

(Principal) (Principal) (Principal)(Principal)

Justin Kok

(Principal; Kuantan Branch)

Marvin Chan

Stephen J. Hoare

Annie Wong BahrulamiriKatiman

Saifullizan B.Abd Ghani

(Associate Director)

( Finance + Admin Manager) ( 3D Manager) ( Project +

Design Architect )( Head of

Interior Design Department)

The Company

____2

Profile Background

Name : AR. Chong Voon WeeAge : 47 years oldTitle : PrincipalEducation : B. Arch / Curtin University / Australia - APAM / ALAM (Malay sia)- APMP (UK) - LEED AP (USA) Experience : 25 years

Chong Voon Wee is a Professional Architect registered

with the Board of Architects, Malaysia (LAM), with a Bachelor of Architecture from Curtin University of Technology, Australia (Graduated c. 1990).

After he came back to Malaysia, he started working with Setia Danyang Company. The company had a project which involved interior architecture. Then he end up working as interior designer. He joined Redd Design Offi ce SDN BHD ten years ago. AR. Chong started practise with his three other partners who also were architecture and interior designer for consultant services.

AR. Chong have being responsible for a diverse and complex project such as Alliance Bank project and Austrian Embassy Offi ce. Now, he is doing a lot of interior design work. He and his colleague got commision work from Royal Selangor Golf Club. He also do interior design work for Metrojaya and certain hotels project, retails projects, banks and fort.

The Interviewee

3____

Alliance BankAlliance Bank Berhad is one of the client of RDO sdn bhd. RDO has design around 50 branches and offi ce of Alliance Bank around Malaysia since 2006.

The Project

____4

Austrian Embassy Office

One of the offi ce that use the interior designer services

from RDO Sdn Bhd is Austrian Embassy. This project is located at Bukit Tunku, Kuala Lumpur. The Austrian Embassy offi ce was designed in year 2005.

Design of the offi ce

Wall around the Austrian Embassy

The Projects

5_____

What interior designer Do?

• working to a brief, which details what the space will be used for.• inspecting and surveying buildings• negotiating fees and setting schedules for the project.• Researching and drawing up rough plans• developing detailed designs and choosing materials• supervising the work as it is carried out.

Role of an interior designer:

Every interior designer has their role and responsibility in a project. Same goes to Mr. Chong. In Alliance Bank project, Mr. Chong acts as a project manager. He try to develop the hard and soft set skill of his staff. Then, the responsible of managing the project and handling the site are given to his staff. For Mr. Chong, his important roles will be at the beginning of the project. He has to make sure the relationship between the client and his staff also the transition will be in smooth and good condition. He will also has to check his team’s condition and the harmonising between the group’s members.. While in Austrian Embassy project,

Roles & Responsibility

____6

personally involved with the client’s representative in the formulation of designbrief, concept design, and directing his project ID, designers and drafters, in design, detailing, coordination and management of the project.

Personal Issue

Certain parties cannot perform

Get bad contractor, client or

consultant

Too busy with other

project

Client give insuffi cient budget

Client has insuffi cient time the

staff make mistakes

Ego got in the way

Common Problems faced by interior designer

The Challenges & Solution

7____

1 2

3 4

5

67

8

Here is some tips from Mr. Chong on how to face the problems : • Approach every single project with open mind.

• Need to adapt• Show sense of professionalism when working.

“If you have all this few criteria i think no problem is as a markable.” - Mr. Chong Voon Wee-

Problems Faced In TheProject

We all experience major and minor challenges in our life. Either it is personal or work problem. Like Mr Chong, in this two project, Alliance Bank and Austrian Embassy, he had to deal with many obstacles to make the project success.

In Alliance Bank project, Mr. Chong and his team had a new brief calls and need to come out for the creation of a fresh new branding design of the bank. Luckily, they won the competition based on a contrarian approach of using retail and F&B as the core design metaphors for the bank’s public spaces, themes and ambience.

While, in Austrian Embassy project, they faced problems in client decision making.

As the client’s representative based in Austria and visit Malaysia every few months; so the reporting and decision making structure was a bit time consuming in requiring end-user’s approval followed by the Austria’s approval. Besides, there was a change in Ambassador before the project was complete. So, they have to re-briefi ng the project’s design and intent. To deal with it they have to be resourceful in managing and interfacing with the client’s different parties.

The Challenges & Solution

____8

The Process

Design Process

Interior design service create interior settings to accommodate a client’s intended use of particular space. The design process closely parallels the building design process in that it encompasses identifying and solving the problems for the built environment. So, what should be considered during this design process?

From Mr. Chong Voon Wee perspective, the most important thing that should be considered during the design process is to understand what the client’s

need. From there, we know what kind of design can we make. Mr. Chong always form a team between four to fi ve member to handle a project. Every members will be involved and start off with the set on what the client’s need.

Second, it is very important to keep the client close. Make sure the design you make follow the clients’ requirement.

Lastly, do not forget that the design that you make is productive and safe for everyone to use.

9____

Publish by : • Lau Mao Hua 0320249 • Lam Wee Wee 0320129 • Hazel Razon Crisostomo 0320152 • Nur Azreen Bt Samiu 0321370 • Nadhirah Bt Mohd Zain 0321366

simple design for today & tomorrow

Publish by : • Lau Mao Hua 0320249 • Lam Wee Wee 0320129 • Hazel Razon Crisostomo 0320152 • Nur Azreen Bt Samiu 0321370 • Nadhirah Bt Mohd Zain 0321366

simple design for today & tomorrow

WM RM21.00 EM RM21.80