The week that was May 25-29
Singapore, weekend 30-31 May 2015 –
Monday 25 HCMC, Vietnam – First impressions I am in HCMC to meet my client for the first time. After months of negotiations in regards to the contract, kick-off meetings with the lead consultant and operator in Singapore, we are finally in Vietnam to meet this new client. The actual project is a high end resort somewhere along the coast an hours’ flight away, but we are meeting in HCMC where they have their HQ. As another added benefit the mock-up room will be built in the concrete structure next door where they are building some huge residential towers. I have seen pictures of the beach site where our resort is to be taking shape, which is a new to develop beach tourist destination which shows a master plan with a beach promenade with a dune landscape along which some 10 to 15 hotels are to be built including all related infrastructure. Potentially more projects ahead? While I have known the Singapore based consultants and operator, the client is new to me (and we new to them you can say) so these kind of kick of site meetings provide you with some first impressions that may be indicative of the project to follow. First of all they have been at it for more then 5 years, but funding issues had halted the project previously…a worrying sign? But now they seem back in the money; our appointment fees were duly paid before the meeting…a good sign? They are in a hurry because their government approval to build seems to be subject to some time limits for completion…sign? They seem however to have little understanding of project schedule, planning, sequence of work, inter-relationship between the consultants in terms of needs and information…potentially a disaster waiting to happen or a blessing? I guess time will tell, for now the first impression is to give them the benefit of the doubt, they seem eager and full of good will…
Tuesday 26 HCMC Vietnam – Market potential Vietnam seems to be a country with an economy on the rise and hence potentially a country with project potential. Yesterday’s kick off meeting looks like a first tip of the iceberg as I had some further meetings with potential clients today, one of them having no less than 12 hotels in their planning books over the next few years. It is quite interesting to see how economic growth shifts around in the region. Yesterday’s powerhouses China and India seem to have slowed down considerably noticeable by the stark reduction in projects and the slow payments, even though their economic growth is still hovering around 5-7%, certainly not a bad figure. Meanwhile Australia is feeling the pinch with the mining boom coming to a halt, affecting projects in its wake. Star countries now are Indonesia and Malaysia with Vietnam looking at following in their footsteps. For a practice like ours it is therefore important to keep a finger on the pulse and understand the market forces at play and shift our focus accordingly. Vietnam is definitely on our radar at the moment…
The vibrant HCMC night market…
Wednesday 27 Singapore – Corporate identity Our lighting design approach is much directed by the client…obviously. A big part of the design considerations are stemming from a client’s corporate identity it wants the property in development to reflect. Hotel operators have their “design manual” and corporate guidelines to which the property has to comply. However there are some down sides to it if left to individual interpretations. First of all it is our experience that many corporate guidelines are outdated, to basic or open to a multitude of interpretations. True, you need to allow the designers some leverage and freedom of interpretation, but without some basic quality parameters the manuals may have well not have been written. Many of the operator manuals today struggle with the integration of LED lighting technology in their corporate guidelines, simply because they have no fundamental understanding what to look for or use a standard minimum quality criteria. Few have the insight to actually hire a professional lighting consultant to help them put a meaningful lighting document together, preferring to draw on past experience to formulate their guidelines. Hence in a way it is always behind the facts. We have just engaged on a corporate client project, a bank, for which we are designing the lighting of their corporate visitor floors. They have however taken the corporate identity to a whole new level. They had redesigned their head office just recently, liked it and now have instructed each of their worldwide representative offices to look identical. Corridors, meeting rooms, reception…just copy and paste, even the light fittings have already been specified. The only thing left for us to do is to adapt the layouts and quantities to the actual building fabric. I don’t think our creativity is going to be tested to the limit, though we may have a hard time beating some of the weird down lighting configurations we found! J A room with a view…
Thursday, 28 Kuala Lumpur – Solving site issues Quick daytrip to KL today to look at some site issues and hopefully come to a consensus on how to solve them…also called keeping my client happy…While I have left this project largely to my team to run and had not physically met the project manager for nearly a year coming down personally in times of need was a show of our commitment and dedication to bring this project to a successful end. Our attitude in this project has paid large dividends with our payments never in discussion and gradually our scope extending to now encompassing the full project including all additional works. Where other consultants have fallen by the wayside (we are now dealing with the 3rd Interior design consultant) we are still standing proud and with a happy client it is easy to make yourself available for support as the efforts are appreciated. It takes two to tango…The interesting part of today’s site visit was not the lighting effects being in question but its integration in the architecture. The design details were signed of a long time ago but now the client feels that lights should be even more recessed in the ceiling trough. We looked at ways to achieve this with the architect and client and found a way, it may however mean exchanging the fitting for a different type bringing cost issues to the fore. Creative thinking however lead us to reusing the now “redundant” lights in another area where lights are yet to be ordered…perfect, we just swop the budgets… A fruitful day in the office with satisfied clients and consultants, amazing what a small trip to site can achieve…
Pic above: yes, someone decided to do some fogging (pest control) as we were doing our rounds…great! Corridor with double focus down lights.
Friday 29 Singapore – Do you mind a bit more… If yesterday’s trip was a good day in the office, today certainly topped it by all accounts! I had hardly settled behind by desk in the morning when the telephone rang…one of our potential clients calling to confirm our appointment for a new high end resort project. Great! Oh and by the way, could I please sent in the invoice for our appointment today so they can process that straight away, they want to get cracking soonest. Oh and by the way number two, can you please make the invoice 50% of your fees, the client is serious and want to show their commitment!?!…Really, are you sure? What about our proposed payment schedule…? Why was I asking that! For once a client who shows commitment and appreciation offering to pay more than you ask rather than one (like most!) trying to negotiate less! I have no idea what lays ahead but it is certainly a great way to start the relationship and a great way to finish of the week!
I leave you with a look towards a “bright” future. Midweek I attended a function organised by Lutron one of the leading lighting control companies in the market. Lutron was proud to announce not only their new Paladium control system but also that their lighting control app was one of the features available on the new I-Watch from Apple. It was a nice social networking night with many of Singapore’s leading lighting designers in attendance…
Have a great weekend
The week that was…
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