A Singapore designer’s technicolour home

AS A partner in Spark Architects, Lim Wenhui leads a team whose work is characterised by movement, energy and vibrancy.

Just think of the electrifying pulse that permeates Singapore’s Clarke Quay, the cyberpunk sensibilities of Grid in Selegie, or the dramatic jewel-like form of Kuala Lumpur’s Starhill Gallery – all projects that the firm lays claim to orchestrating.  

One might be tempted to think that Lim’s own home would be a haven of tranquillity as a counterpoint to all that vivacity, but the opposite is true. An unabashed devotee of all things bright and beautiful, Lim’s 132-square-metre apartment is a riot of colour. 

It variously resembles a Wes Anderson set, a 1950s American diner, a Piet Mondrian museum exhibit, and Dylan’s Candy Bar in New York City. None of those were direct influences, says Lim, although references to the cinematic world came up during the conversation. For instance, she admires the work of surrealist directors such as David Lynch, the dark humour of Tim Burton, and the exquisite mood-setting flair of Wong Kar-wai.

“When architects produce their elevations, it’s always (two-dimensional),” explains Lim. “But when we experience a space, it’s three-dimensional. It’s like going through a movie set. There’s this term (in architecture) known as serial vision, which is about a progression of views as you move through a space. So (my apartment) is more about that.”  

She shares this polychromatic nest with her partner in work and in life, Stephen Pimbley, who founded Spark in 2008. The couple moved into this unit in Upper Bukit Timah at the end of 2022, having outgrown their previous apartment in Joo Chiat, where they had lived for a good five to six years. 

Lim was clear about what she wanted – an older property, given the spaciousness it would afford compared to a new build. It needed to be ripe for renovations, seeing as she wanted to completely gut the interiors. And it needed to be a light-filled space.

This three-bedroom unit in Sherwood Towers, a brutalist-style condominium constructed in 1980, was a perfect fit, blessed as it was with a high floor and panoramic views. “In the morning, I can see all the way across MacRitchie Reservoir to Bishan. I can also see the Clementi forest and Marina Bay Sands.” She placed a deposit on the very same day of the viewing. 

From drab to fab

After removing all the internal walls – leaving only the structural shell – Lim carved out three main zones in the layout. Living, dining and kitchen would read as a single social space. Her studio/bedroom followed, separated from the social zone by two sliding “gallery walls”. The third and final zone, sequestered behind a bank of full-height cabinets, was reserved for her walk-in wardrobe and bathroom. 

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Then, with child-like nonchalance, she began her experiments with colour, first testing the results on digital architectural models before trialling the different samples of laminates and swatches of fabric on the actual site.

Recounting the process, Lim shares: “I just started by putting this colour with that colour, and seeing what kind of composition that evoked. And then I just went with the flow and how it felt.”

While green is her favourite hue, she feels that every colour has its merits.

“I just love seeing a lot of variety in the apartment, a lot of contrast. Every corner you turn, there’s an element of surprise,” she says. “As someone who works at home a lot, the colours have a calming effect. If I’m feeling a bit down or upset, the space supports and lifts me up.” 

Not everything went to plan, however. Some of her design intentions were foiled by practical constraints. For instance, she wanted her island kitchen to be clad in a single finish, with no join-lines, but as her island was longer and wider than the lift was tall, nothing would fit. As a compromise, she used white ceramic tiles instead. 

Adding layers of interest to the kaleidoscopic backdrop is an enviable collection of designer furniture, lamps, artworks and tchotchkes, the result of a 20-year journey of collecting. A roll-call of the who’s who in modern design, there are pieces from manufacturers Artemide, Cappellini, Carl Hansen & Son, Cassina, Erik Jorgensen and Flos; alongside designers such as Hans J Wegner, Isamu Noguchi, Marcel Wanders and Singapore’s own Nathan Yong. 

Express yourself

It is said that creative individuals are the ones most in touch with their inner children. With her lilting pattern of speech – you can almost sense the youthful glee in her voice – and her uninhibited approach to design, Lim fits this bill to a T. “I guess what’s important for me is to practise self-expression in whatever I do. And whatever that creates the most amount of happiness.”

Happiness, in this case, meant designing a home that is the purest expression of her personality. Besides the explosion of colour, a visitor would notice that the kitchen is unusually bereft of a hob or hood, because she doesn’t fancy cooking on a stovetop. “If I do cook, I use my oven for baking.” 

Another point of intrigue – there is no sofa, just a few choice pieces of seating artfully placed around the living and dining area. A sofa suggests formality, and would be at odds with the free-form, fluid nature of the apartment, and by extension, Lim herself. She also doesn’t have a bedroom in the traditional sense; the space, which houses her work desk and storage cabinets, happens to have a bed in the corner.  

Working at home, in an apartment with an abundance of windows, Lim gets to enjoy the transition from day to night and the accompanying shift in light levels and ambience. “The light conditions change with the weather. I can see the sunrise and the sunset. And it’s really very beautiful. I can also see the mist rising above the forested areas. It looks like one of those ancient Chinese paintings. I thought to myself, wow, Singapore looks like that?”

As for those who are contemplating colourful homes of their own but are uncertain of how it would turn out, Lim’s advice is to start small. “Try loose furniture, because you can always move it to a different spot to see how it feels, and then change it after a certain time. Or accumulate colourful objects that are to your liking, place them together and see where you gravitate to in the house.”