Beyond the Tour: Sol Luminaire’s co-founder, sheds light on his home’s lighting and furniture pieces

As the co-founder of Sol Luminaire, it comes as no surprise that the homeowner is very much into design. Not just architecture, furniture and lighting, but fashion too. He prefers dark colours like grey and ash, but black is his favourite, be it clothes or cars. Even one of his Siberian cats is black.

Fashion Influences

Question: What is it about dark colours that appeal to you, especially the colour black in particular, be it in a home interior or in fashion?

Sol Luminaire Co-Founder: I don’t really like sterile, white, boring walls. I prefer something that carries depth and also offsets intimacy. Dark colour with appropriate lighting layers when done right can promote coziness. It’s the same when I’m buying clothes for myself. I think I enjoy black with different materials from wool to organic cotton.

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Wassily Chair by Marcel Breur from Knoll

This iconic chair was Marcel Breuer’s distillation of the club chair into something lighter, more transparent and elemental. It is where the homeowner sits and listens to music in the living room.

Question: What do you like about the Wassily chair (other than because it is black)?

Sol Luminaire Co-Founder: I’m surprised that it’s so comfortable and that it only uses two main materials.

Question: What genre of music do you listen to and who are some of your favourites?

Sol Luminaire Co-Founder: I’m into melodic techno right now. Anyma, Kevin de Vries and Innellea just to name a few.

Question: Describe how you feel when you are sitting in the Wassily chair listening to music.

Sol Luminaire Co-Founder: I will usually seek energy and momentum while listening to the above artists at home.

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Custom designed dining table by Viewport Studio in collaboration with Industryplus

Based on their Essential series, the dining table features upcycled timber in irregular shapes and with live edges that celebrates its natural imperfection and exemplifies the sustainable design ethos.

Question: What does sustainability mean to you, on a personal level, as well as from a business owner and Sol Luminaire’s point of view?

Sol Luminaire Co-Founder: From Sol luminaire’s point of view, we always strive for product design sustainability. Our product designs do not change drastically, just like the Porsche 911. Instead, they undergo minor upgrades and refinement from time to time, tapping on technological improvements. In this way, we not only cultivate design growth and acceptance in the eyes of the public, but also develop design history. We try not to roll out totally revised designs for a particular series of lights as that entails a lot of mould structures, sampling and development, which result in unnecessary waste.

Concurrently, Sol Luminaire is always open to adaptation from materials and methods like 3D printing lamps to architectural lamp sampling to reduce wastage and encourage recyclable materials. We work with tech partners who help us explore longer longevity LED technologies and at the same time lowering wattage consumption.

On a personal level, when we were renovating the house, I highlighted that the plywood needs to be low formaldehyde to improve air quality. More importantly, I believe in investing in quality products to minimise waste as a result of replacements.

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Interior designer Jayelle Choo, the co-founder of Spacebar Design shares insight on her light choices for the home.

Boba Chain Pendant lamp from Sol Luminaire

The Boba lamp is one of Sol Luminaire’s signatures. The frosted globes cast a soft, diffused illumination that shrouds any space in a warm embrace. Its name is inspired by the boba pearls found in bubble tea and draws on the imagery of actual iridescent pearls.

The Boba Chain Pendant is a series of Boba lamps suspended on chains and comes as a single pendant, as well as in a set of three, five or nine. It gives the classic Boba lamp a fun and whimsical touch.

Question: Why did you pick the Boba Chain Pendant for the living room and in the master bedroom?

Jayelle Choo from Spacebar Design: I picked the Boba Chain Pendant (set of 3) for the living room because of its steel chain and rounded luminaire that introduce a soft industrial edge against the surrounding hard finishes such as the marble block console and the linear language of the wood stamped textured paint. The luminaire shaped like a pendant weighs down the horizontal lines, giving the overall composition a good balance.

As for the Boba Chain Pendant (single) in the master bedroom, as it is meant to be a cosy, intimate retreat space, I didn’t want it to be too brightly lit. The luminaire cast a soft glow in the bedroom, allowing both the homeowner and the cats to have a restful night.

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Mazha Lighting 5.2 by Mario Tsai

The kitchen was designed around this light. The designer Mario Tsai was inspired by the light coming through construction scaffolding. It has been conceptualised such that the light tubes are akin to building blocks, with a modular system that can be extended without being constrained by the length of wires.

The V-shaped reflector rotates freely on the frame, allowing the user to adjust the range of light.

Question: What is it about the Mazha Lighting 5.2 that appeals to you?

Jayelle Choo from Spacebar Design: It has a clean, sculptural form that holds the space with quiet confidence, anchoring the open concept layout.

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