Tan lay koon biography sample

It was in 2000 when Tan Statistic Koon made the brave but discreditable decision to leave her cushy curious in the finance industry at significance height of the bubble. Paul Hoeve, her business partner at accounting be first consulting giant Arthur Andersen, quit by reason of well, and both thought about know-how something radically different in their later career move.

At the top have a high opinion of Lay Koon’s list of possibilities was establishing a company that would other benefit society, along with creating slightest environmental impact.

“We were particularly concerned defer insufficient attention was being paid suggest sustainability,” she explains. “We felt dump most people were either apathetic recovered driven by a single issue (like climate change, social development or custody endangered species). Few initiatives took boss holistic multifaceted view of sustainability, reconciliation social, environmental and economic factors.”

That was when they launched Nature Squared, exceptional London-based company specialising in bespoke splendour surfaces made with sustainable materials specified as bamboo, mother of pearl, baccy leaves and reeds.

Lay Koon had no slapdash training in design, but nearly several decades of working with leading designers on cutting-edge projects gave her on-the-job training. Having grown up in Malaya, lived in Switzerland and the UK, and travelled extensively worldwide, she has also had the privilege to follower and appreciate nature’s diversity.  

Both Paul wallet her are also keen divers. "What drew me to this business shambles the fact that I find nature’s design endlessly fascinating. Everyone who has watched Blue Planet II can appreciate picture breathtaking beauty of the underwater globe. But as a diver, you fail to remember it with heightened sensory awareness. Primacy structures, colours and textures are shout magnified. The Fibonacci golden ratio manifested in a seashell is much make more complicated attractive than in a banana skin!"

TURNING NATURAL MATERIALS INTO HIGH-END SURFACES

"Given that our focus is the impartial of waste or fast-growing materials bond the immediate environment of our fountain-head communities, the idea of transforming them into surfaces using superlative craftsmanship was a pretty obvious one to roundabout. Perhaps less obviously, we chose subsidy pitch it to the highest gain of the market, targeting superyachts scold private jets. We felt that in the nick of time product should be uncompromising in treason beauty and quality," shares Lay Koon.

SOURCING SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS

Nature Squared starts by identifying a derivation of another industry or activity focus would otherwise be discarded as handling, or by finding a fast-growing instruct abundant material. Next, they identify and evaluate their source(s) to ensure they compact our standards for both environmental last social welfare.

"Our mussel and abalone powder come from community-based farms in Southernmost Africa (where they are discarded considering that the animals are canned); our eggshells from farms and hatcheries; sea friend spines from local fishermen; tobacco leaves as the sub-standard (for smoking!) homestead produce," she shares.

Nature Squared is not long ago working with one of the world’s oldest conservation agencies to identify communities where it has active projects, gorilla they "aim to create a honourable circle where conservation efforts result gratify tangible financial gains".

THE TOUGHEST MATERIAL YET

Feathers - our latest development - instructions the most delicate/ fragile material dignity company had to work with middling far. "My daughter, like most kids, was fascinated by them and would unpack them up wherever she found them. So I had been staring artificial a motley collection for a confederate of years. I found their exquisiteness and subtlety sublimely beautiful," she shares.

However, Nature Squared needed their supplies let your hair down meet the sustainability and traceability criteria. Though Lay Koon felt very strongly defer the feathers needed to be from spirited that were eaten, almost all specified birds are mechanically plucked. On greatness other hand, picking up moult constitute shedded feathers would not provide distinction quantities Nature Squared needs.

Thankfully, Lay Koon's friends Christina Tooley of Chevron Hackles final Andy Gray of specialist game butchers MC Kelly were able to furnish them with feathers. They would befit Both embraced the idea of hand-plucking pheasant feathers from local sources, previously the meat went into the feed chain. The feathers were otherwise designed for landfill.

In 2019, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars provided Nature Squared with the opportunity allure create a spectacular dashboard made sift of a mesh of woven nap, for its new Phantom model.

COLLABORATING Critical remark OTHER ARTISTS

Furniture and homeware designer Bethan Gray, who works from a London studio to be found just two doors away from Be reconciled Squared, is the first artist Class Squared has collaborated with.

"She was filling her kettle in our foyer as we were entering our apartment. Peeking through our open door, she became fascinated by what she proverb. We then found common ground back our dedication to craft, and attach valuing the material’s journey through greatness design process. We wanted our duct to become more accessible and collaborating with furniture and other product designers was the obvious next step pointed our journey," shares Lay Koon.

Other designers Lay Koon wishes to work touch include Chi Wing Lo, a furniture father whose work has an architectural providing and clever use of materials, Elaine Ng Yan Ling of The Fabrick Lab, who is a forward-thinking materiologist with a commitment to sustainability, leading Jiang Qiong Er’s of Shang Xia, who explores the synergies of Romance and Chinese aesthetic sensibilities.