The Next Frontier

Foreign Policy Design Group is searching for new ways to harness the power of design, co-founder Arthur Chin tells Hong Xinyi.

- Hong Xinyi

IT’S NOT EVEN A YEAR OLD, BUT the National Gallery Singapore’s museum store Gallery & Co is already a hotspot for local creatives, who can often be found tapping away on their laptops or taking meetings in this airy 8,800 sqft retail and dining space.

“Maybe that’s a side effect of the design. We set out to create a space that would not be intimidating or austere,” says Arthur Chin, who co-founded branding studio Foreign Policy Design Group with his wife Yu Yah-Leng. The couple is part of & Co, a collective (also comprising entrepreneur Loh Lik Peng and Luxasia managing director Alwyn Chong) that conceived and manages Gallery & Co.

As part of their research process, Arthur and Yah-Leng took a study trip to Paris and London, where they checked out the stores at iconic institutions such the Louvre Museum and the Tate Modern. In the end, however, it was New York’s Central Park that provided a spark of inspiration.