Asia Designers Directory - Empt Studio: Designs that Stand the Test of Time

Malaysia-based Empt Studio is a young interior design studio founded by four creatives who studied design together and are now navigating a career with a shared vision to craft interiors that breathe soul, form and connections. The team introduces life and purpose to space, allowing it to mature gracefully over time. Spotlighting the “Tangga” collection, Asia Designers Directory speaks to the team to learn more about their designs.

The studio has recently exhibited the “Tangga” collection, a sculptural furniture series in Singapore. What inspired you to create this series?

Being one of the three selected studios from Malaysia for the Emerge @ Find Singapore programme, we’re looking into what could best represent Malaysia. We ended up going back to what resonates the best with us, which is the architecture we’re surrounded by here on Penang island. Penang has such a great architectural background given that it has been colonised by several countries. Tangga takes cues from the architectural design language, capturing impressions and solidifying them in different matters and forms.

: Tangga Designer – Alvin Ong

: Tangga armchair (Photo by A Warm Window)

: Tangga stool (Photo by A Warm Window)

: Tangga details (Photo by A Warm Window)

: Tangga details (Photo by A Warm Window)

Empt Studio was founded by a group of young interior designers. What are the challenges of setting up and running a studio?

It comes pretty naturally for the four of us to collaborate and work on projects together since we’re used to that when we’re in the academy. The real challenges would be having a steady clientele base and balancing client needs and our design preferences since we don’t have many portfolios at the time. It takes time and patience to slowly gain the trust of our clients from the beginning design process, project management, and towards the handover process.

: Empt Studio’s designers (from left to right): Alvin Ong, Jamie Kok, Jo-vern Kang, Suan Wei Goh, Zhi Hau Phuah

Can you share with us your design philosophy and preferred materials to work with?

Our ultimate goal is to give life and purpose to space – a space that makes sense to the user experience depending on the function of the space, be a private residential or a commercial F&B project. We’re currently drawn towards textural materials that work well with natural light and also materials that are able to age well over time, such as locally-sourced timber and different types of stones and steels.

What are you working on at the moment?

We’ve recently completed two different drinking bars, Over and Above located in Georgetown, Penang, and Tap Tap Cocktail bar located in Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur. It is challenging getting the lighting ambience and user experience right since we’re quite new in designing bars, but we’re very excited to see how people would react to the space.