A Visit to Pomeroy Studio

Pomeroy Studio is a Singapore-based leading architectural firms. It has planned and designed quite a number of impressive eco-friendly buildings throughout Asia, making the firm widely seen as the forefront of the sustainable built environment. The firm was founded by Jason Pomeroy in 2012.

Today, I've given the chance to visit his studio, located at 8 Eu Tong Sen Road, which is very close to my campus. The purpose of having this field trip is for the student to receive professional practice advices from Jason Pomeroy.

Jason Pomeroy greeted us inside his studio and started with a small introduction about his company. He then also presented the projects done by his firm. Most of it are big scale projects, such as hotels, resort, and residential that are designed carefully by considering the sustainable factor. The most notable project of the Pomero Studio is the 'B House' located in residential at Bukit Timah. The 'B House' is an award winning and the very first carbon negative house in Singapore.

Next phase, Jason shared his knowledge and real life practice of running an architectural firms, what we as a employer or employee should and should not do. Jason believed that our jobs does not end right after we handed over the completed building to the client. We must continue to do marketing collateral. The good work that have been done, if it is really outstanding, shall be spread through media, so the world knows. For example, in Pomeroy Studio's case, it is the 'B House'. After receiving success from the design, Jason wrote a book about the house and tried to get his work published on the media to expose the idea to many people. This method gains the studio another zero-carbon residential project in Philippines. That is one way to keep the projects coming in.

For those who are new in the industry, Jason advised that we need to be more multi-interest. By picking up a lot of interest, maybe we could find that one thing we are passionate about. Every person is different, some are a good planner, some are good in design, some are excellent manager and some are great talker, just like Jason Pomeroy himself. Jason realized that he has skill in talking and engaging conversation, which makes him suitable for position as communicator and presenting to clients. We need to keep exploring and find out the aspect that we are good at, therefore we chose the way we express our idea.

For those who are trying to establish own firm, the best way is to go slow. Do not build a big studio with a big group at first, to reduce the rapid cost at the beginning. Usually, in a design firm, only after three to four years, profit are expected to roll in. So, it is good to stay humble and stable on the first and second year. Jason also mentioned that it is good to have a multicultural workers in a team. The diversity created more option and help to build a more solid design.

Jason Pomeroy next talked about his experience before he started his own firm. Do not leave a company and resign with a bad term. Because this industry circle is quite small, any of our reputation will be easily broadcast. The most crucial tips from him is for us to be a nice person, even though you are already at the top because who knows, in the future people might need to get references about you. It is also helpful to have a good image when applying for the next new job. When you are already a boss, be nice to the employee who resign to start their own business. Be helping and supportive, then people will acknowledge you as a nice mentor.

All of the advises from I've got today I think are going to be very useful in the future. It is an important input from a person who had already has so many experience out there. I am glad that my lecturer, Mr. Franz Gonzales arranged this field trip to help the student gaining real life professional practice knowledge.