A graduate of the prestigious Architectural Association, Tan Kay Ngee established his architectural practice in London in 1990. For the past 17 years, he has been involved in many architectural and design projects involving the Arts such as theatre set design, literature and craftwork.

The diversity of his portfoilo includes Interior Design for Canelé Paragon, Cok Cok Café, the Kinokuniya and Page One bookstores in Singapore, Japan, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Hong Kong, USA, Sydney and Melbourne, while his portfolio for Art includes the AA Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei for ‘The Rumour of China Towns: Chinese Architecture 2004’, Venice Biennale 2004 for the ‘Second Nature’ exhibition and the recent ‘HYBRICITY: SINGAPORE’ at the Singapore Season in Beijing and Shanghai in October 2007.

His architectural projects include the Singapore Management University, 1 Corfe Place, 17 &19 Jalan Puteh, 3 Houses @ Burghley Drive, 8 Cluny Park, Corner Green @ Botanic Gardens. He was chosen as one of the ‘World 581 Architects’ by Gallery MA Tokyo in 1996. Kay Ngee’s talent also extends to journalism where he writes regularly as a columnist for Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao and the China Post in Malaysia. By incorporating all these other aspects into his practice, Kay Ngee believes that the activities will serve to enrich and inform one another.

Page One VivoCity occupies an enviable location in the newest and largest waterfront shopping mall in Singapore. The seaside context of the bookstore, as well as the architectural backdrop of Toyo Ito’s naturalistic and amorphous building inspires a bookstore that looks towards natural forms and environments. Kay Ngee and his team were moved by some ideas in Tao Yuan-Ming’s novella, ‘Land of Peach Blossoms’. They saw the environment they created as being parallel to the Utopia that Feng Lai Island represents in Tao’s well-known story. In this poetic space, knowledge allows one to transcend into a new Utopia.

It is here that images of sea life can be seen – corals, drift wood, sea anemone, starfish, shellfish, manta rays and octopus. These inspire unique designs for the furniture both in terms of form, colour and materiality. The face of water is ever changing depending on the time of the day and the movement of winds across it. They attempted to re-create that changing beauty of water in the ceiling design of the store.

“Retail chain outlets have always relied on a ‘cookie-cutter’ approach to design. This produces recognisable branding but also creates bland environments that are duplications of each other. One designer is resistant to this approach in his designs for the retail chain of books, Page One. Each Page One bookstore designed by Kay Ngee Tan Architects is unique from each other. The designs take into consideration the specificities of its physical and cultural context. The stores in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other locations each have their own unique identity, yet are consistent in spirit. The experimental use of forms and crafting of spaces are complemented by a thoughtful attention to details,” cites Tang Guan Bee, Principal Architect of Tang Guan Bee Architects.

Page One VivoCity is an emotionally significant project to Kay Ngee Tan Architects. It recollects the playfully memorable interiors of early Page One bookstores like the first store in Marina Square which features unique tilting bookshelves. It also re-looks the sculptural forms seen in the Page One bookstore at the Design Centre. Yet, this new flagship Page One bookstore also reflects on the scenic Chinese landscapes created in the Page One bookstore at Taipei 101, where sculptural forms are hidden but slowly revealed as one navigates this sea of knowledge.

The environment in this bookstore is filled with the same surprises that nature offers. One will not complete the experience with a glance but is encouraged to make an adventurous journey of discovery.