The new Space Furniture showroom in Kuala Lumpur by MLA Design is characterised by natural light-filled spaces, an open mezzanine and a breezy outdoor courtyard; its layered interior providing a relaxed way to explore the collections and an opportunity for each design brand to share its story.
For designer Matthew Lim, form and function work hand in hand and harmony is established when materials and textures come together. “We believe in telling a great narrative through our own design language”, he remarks. “We take on design challenges to create a people-centric immersive experience.” Lim established design studio MLA in 2015 and has recently completed Space Furniture’s new Kuala Lumpur showroom. It’s this philosophy and experience working on projects from Myanmar to Singapore that informs the design studio’s approach.
Inside an existing character cottage in the thriving area of Bangsar, with its high-end residential apartments, fashion boutiques, wellness centres, bars and restaurants, Space’s new 4,000 square foot showroom marks a departure from the traditional retail experience in Kuala Lumpur. Instead of a large, gallery-like interior, Lim and his team have teased out the personality of the building, a former fashion boutique, allowing its domestic scale and layered interiors to frame a new and more engaging experience for clients, and allowing Space’s key brands to share their individual design stories.
“The building is not contemporary but it’s not historical either,” explains Lim. “Its triangular form is quite iconic so we wanted to keep that and we added a contemporary overlay by painting it all white. What is interesting is there were two levels and an existing mezzanine a few steps up, so we were able to create specific interior zones for the different brands”. The materials Lim has selected are minimal, with colour used to create contrast and to allow the furniture collections to take centre stage. “What furniture companies generally do in KL,” Lim explains. “Is to have a big open space where they put the collection. So it’s more like you are going to a design exhibition. Here we have created a journey.”
“We really wanted to create the feeling of home and that came through in the detail. On the first floor we have exposed the existing roof trusses and that area now creates some surprise. If you look at the overall interior now, there is a different floor level to define each of the zones.”
Matthew Lim, Founder, MLA Design
The project involved some key design manoeuvres that, on the one hand, were delicate and restrained, and on the other, bold and transformational. Retaining the existing street facade and painting it white to emphasise its form, they then peeled back the interior to its original architectural elements and used an earthy colour palette in contrast with the exterior. The entry level and its double height volume announces arrival and natural light from new and expanded openings to the facade wash the interior and draw you through the levels. It is a move that transforms the interior and connects it to a previously unused courtyard that now features Space’s collection of outdoor furniture.
“The big change to the building was maximising the size of window panels so that we have more daylight, with views and access to the outside patio,” enthuses Lim. “We really wanted to create the feeling of home and that came through in the detail. On the first floor we have exposed the existing roof trusses and that area now creates some surprise. If you look at the overall interior now, there is a different floor level to define each of the zones.”
Matthew Lim and the MLA Design team during the design development of the Space showroom in Kuala Lumpur.
“We believe in telling a great narrative through our own design language... We take on design challenges to create a people-centric immersive experience.”
Matthew Lim, Founder, MLA Design
Poliform kitchens and B&B Italia nestle together on the ground floor and have direct access to the new patio area. While the journey through the showroom reveals brands from Moooi, Kartell and Giorgetti to Edra, the newest furniture group to join the Space collection in Asia. Like the interiors of the Space Asia Hub HQ in Singapore and showrooms in Australia, the Space team can work anywhere on the floor with client meetings held in a B&B Italia dining space or over a coffee in a Poliform kitchen. It’s an immersive design experience that Lim describes as casual in approach and all about lifestyle.
“The environment is friendly and has a welcoming feeling”, Lim reiterates. “A typical showroom in KL feels a bit corporate, a bit serious. We wanted to create a place that was very relaxed and casual, and would take clients on a real journey.”
Space Kuala Lumpur is part of the Space Asia network that includes Space Singapore. The new Space Furniture Kuala Lumpur showroom is located at 106, Jalan Maarof, Bangsar.
