Interior Design: A worthy vocation for humankind?
A ‘noble’ cause
When I first started the upward climb to learn how to design and build homes, I remembered consoling myself to push on as the vocation felt as ‘noble’ as what teachers and doctors do - empowering the young and healing the world.
BuildBuilt in its bb days. Recognise any familiar faces?
Almost 10 years on, I still strongly believe that my work in designing and building spaces is truly amazing! I’ve seen relationships grow and blossom, families being safe and secure, and pure joy spring out from the spaces that we’ve had the privilege to work on.
Done right, a space can inspire, motivate, uplift and positively influence people. I definitely do not regret all the time and energy that I’ve spent in this field.
Our fallen world has unfortunately conditioned us to say that design is often reserved only for the rich and wealthy.
In reality, there might be some truth in that as good design requires qualified or experienced eyes and hands to form. This usually comes at a cost.
We are growing at BuildBuilt, and everyday, we’re trying to resist cost creep, and find creative ways to suppress high prices to ensure that design will be accessible to all. When I say ‘all’, I do mean people who:
appreciate good design
live in a space
love our (BuildBuilt’s) approach to work, design and project management
are in need of our service
Good design should also be accessible to the young-ins!
So, how now, brown cow?
Our existence at BuildBuilt is to come up with a solution for the above problem. On top of this, we endeavour to keep our focus on making design accessible, and making a comfortable and safe home a right for all.
Through this journey, we found a like-minded parter in Habitat for Humanity Singapore. We’re excited to be a part of their mission, to ensure that everyone in Singapore and Asia Pacific, especially the vulnerable, deserve a good home.
At BuildBuilt, we work terribly long hours. We cannot devote as much time as the good hearted Samaritans at HFHSG! So, to be intentional and deliberate in our mission, we are pegging a part of our income to give to this great need.
Our unique Design & Build guide is a bespoke manual to our clients’ home - through this guide, clients will understand how their new home should look, feel, cost, and even how long it should take to build! As this guide is an effortful put together by our team, we do charge a small fee for this huge effort =)
Come 1st August 2021, aside from our other financial commitments to HFHSG, we’re excited to part with half of our Design & Build Guide fee to our new mission partner, Habitat for Humanity Singapore.
We are excited, for when this Covid-19 pandemic eases, and the safety measures wane, we hope to get our boots on the ground! With the #bbfam working shoulder to shoulder with HFHSG on selected volunteer work, we hope to create a better future for the marginalised among our community.
We cannot wait.
And to those who have been coming to us for work, thank you for your support! Together, we can expand this greater good for humanity through interior design.
For more information about what Habitat for Humanity Singapore does and the programmes run by them, do check out their website!