Recognized at the Singapore Furniture Design Awards, the Koi Chair is a deeply personal reflection on tranquility and cultural heritage. Its design draws direct inspiration from the ornate koi motifs featured on decorative gates found throughout Singapore. These captivating patterns, intricately rendered in wrought iron, are reimagined as the chair’s flowing lines and fish scale details, capturing the interplay of shadow and light in a manner both structural and poetic.

The Koi Chair pays homage to the vanishing tradition of wrought iron gate-making in Singapore—a craft that has been steadily disappearing in the face of modernization. For this project, the chair was manufactured by one of the last remaining wrought iron workshops in the country, bringing a piece of local artisanal history into the contemporary design landscape. At its conceptual core, the chair explores the idea of transformation: taking a gate or fence—objects typically intended to define boundaries and keep people out—and reinterpreting them as welcoming, inviting forms. In doing so, the Koi Chair becomes not only a functional object but also a symbol of openness, connection, and the enduring artistry of Singapore’s built heritage.