Set Design

LAWYER U SHAUN LIM spent over a decade not just studying and working in London, but also growing his designer furniture collection. The latter has partly to do with his buddy in crime - his architect friend Timothy Tan, whom he met when he had just started work at a law firm, and Mr Tan was a newly graduated architect.

"As a university student, I had the interest but not the means to buy them," recalls Mr Lim. So the two of them would keep an eye out for manufacturers' clearance sales. "You do need a bit of luck, time and patience at these events, but the effort is worth it. I managed to get pieces that were 80 to 90 per cent off."

Their first real collaboration was a desk that Mr Lim asked his friend to design for him. The result was The Walnut Writing Desk, which is currently available from notable Brighton-based designers and makers, Millimetre.