This is a long overdue review for our Interior Designer, Hugo, from Zenith Arc. Our renovation was completed 1 year ago. By now, we are confident to say that the quality / workmanship is really good. All the carpentries / structural works still look and feel the same, as if it is just handled over to us, with minimal / close to none defects!
The plus points for Hugo is definitely his interior design experience. The communication with Hugo is at ease thanks to his patience, humbleness, responsiveness and transparency. The end to end renovation process, from initial quotation to renovation completion, might take up to half a year. It is therefore important to engage someone that you are comfortable to talk to / deal with!
Interior design experience - Hugo guided us and designed Japandi style for our place. This included 3D drawings, select the type of materials (such as table top / vinyl etc), select / match the colors of material, route the air con / electric trunking / water piping where possible to hide its visibility, prioritize the renovation items within our budget etc. For the ease of day to day usage, he balanced his advices between aesthetics and pragmatism. He advised on the height of the carpentry, such as height of kitchen island, the location of sink / stove, the number of down lights, depth of drawers and many other fine details. We were under the impression that 3D drawing was just for reference and did not expect that the final product turned out to be almost exactly the same as the drawing!
Patience - Hugo did not impose any of his ideas on us, but rather he would listen to our requirements / preferences patiently and then provided his advises accordingly. There was no hard sell or push for more renovation for higher billing. Along the process, he would keep track of a full list of the minor details that we had agreed and follow up on the open points, if any, which assured us that all our requests were being attended. When the unit was handled over to us, Hugo was also patient and sent his team to touch up to our satisfaction! This was part of the after sales service which we were impressed with!
Transparency - The communication with Hugo has always been transparent. The renovation process is bound to have changes for new ideas. Every single changes and the associated costs were clearly communicated and agreed upon. There was no hidden charge that surprised us! For additional costs that he was able to absorb, he would also assess within his means.
No one is perfect. Perhaps the area that Hugo should consider to work on is project management. There was 2 weeks delay of our renovation compared to the original timeline. However, we lent him the understanding that there were many renovation backlogs during covid period constrained by the shortages of contractors. He did escalate the renovation process where possible.
Lastly, this is more towards personal preference. We like to be micro and be updated oftenly, if possible daily updates, whereby Hugo would provide update when the key milestone is completed, or when the carpentries / structural works are more in shape.
Overall, we are grateful to have engaged Hugo! and we highly recommend him for your consideration!