Stephen Pimbley said his original dream was to be a designer for films. But now he is a renowned architect.
"I started my career as a project architect and then never left," he said in his softly-spoken voice. While people may easily label it as an accident, the British architect has his own explanation.
"One's career path is not down to mere planning. It's a combination of what you have learned all these years; a collection with no ends."
Pimbley's collection started at the Royal College of Art London in 1984. His areas of study included design, art and opera, and he dreamed of designing for films after graduation. However, his professional career actually began as a project architect at the London office of the Richard Rogers Partnership, a British design office renowned for their modernist and functionalist designs.
"I participated in the works of Clarke Quay in Singapore which inspired me so much that I decided to be an architect for my whole life," said Pimbley, referring to the historical riverside quay located within the Singapore River Planning Area.
He said he viewed designing the quay as a key moment in his career because he saw how people were happily using something he had helped create.
"For any building or construction, human feeling is most important," Pimbley said. It's similar to the feeling on entering a hospital. It would be a more miserable, even horrifying, experience if the building is neither warm nor pleasing.
To pursue his ideal, he has cooperated with developers and worked on big commercial projects worldwide, including Raffles City in Beijing, Starhill Gallery in Kuala Lumpur and the Shanghai International Cruise Terminal. In 1990, Pimbley joined William Alsop's studio as project architect for the award-winning Hotel du Departement des Bouches-du-Rhone in Marseille. He was then promoted to director of Alsop in 1994 and partner in 2000.
In 2008, Pimbley co-founded Sparch and as a director he helped develop it into an award-winning international architectural and design consultancy with proven expertise in architecture, urban design, landscape architecture and interior design. Currently, he is head of five Sparch studios with a total of 80 employees.
Though big projects have won him fame and fortune, Pimbley said he and his team would also work for small, private buildings which as he said, are equally rewarding. He recently joined Fai-Fah, a youth capability-building programme initiated by TMB in Bangkok.
The view from outside of Fai-Fah Prachautis Centre, a learning centre initiated by the Thai Military Bank.
"It's very meaningful to work for communities; we can participate in the whole process, not only designing," he said.
Fai-Fah is a learning centre where free courses in cooking, painting, singing, dancing and other subjects are offered to teenagers from low-income communities. Currently there are two Fai-Fah centres. The first was opened on Pradiphat Road and designed by renowned architect studio, Bensley Design Studio. The second centre, which was designed for free by Sparch, is located on Pracha Uthit Road in the Thung Khru district of Bangkok.
The design of the Fai-Fah Prachautis centre involved the development of two shophouses into a modern structure. Various arts and creative programmes are arranged over five floors, including: the "living room", an art studio, a library, a dance studio and a multi-purpose rooftop workshop space.
"There are already too many programmes targeting university students or small children. But projects for teenagers are rare," Paradai Theerathada, executive vice-president of the corporate communication group of TMB, said at the opening of the Fai-Fah Prachautis centre. It has a capacity for about 110 children while there are a total of 460 youths in the surrounding communities.
To educate those youngsters who otherwise would be exposed to gambling, drugs and alcohol, the TMB initiated the Fai-Fah learning centre and arranges for its employees to volunteer in the programme.
"We have to let people give; that's the real way to realise corporate social responsibility," Paradai said. Social workers are also involved in volunteering teaching, making it not only a place for teenagers to spend free time but a platform to prepare for their future education and career.
Employees of TMB are also encouraged to donate books for Fai-Fah's library. In fact, among all the 2,000 books, only 10% were purchased items; the rest were donated. Pimbley gave more than 10 architecture books to the library.
To ensure they would like the Fai-Fah centre and be willing to stay, Pimbley held two interactive workshops inviting teenagers to contribute to the design of the building.
"It's very important to know what kind of house they really want since this will be their second home outside of school," Pimbley said.
One boy suggested putting rotating boxes supported by pillars outside of the house. With different designs on each side of the boxes, they exhibit different patterns as they keep rotating around the pillar; another boy wanted ladders connecting each function area while a girl wished the house would be coloured in bright yellow. When the house was completed, they were thrilled to find that almost all their ideas had been made reality.
"We just wanted to ensure it's the house of those children," Pimbley said.
But he did add something. All five levels of the building are linked by a central feature staircase inspired by the yellow brick road with each level clearly defined by its own colour theme. Toilets and services are housed in a new structure named the "Utility Stick". Rising from the courtyard, it bends to form a store for the pottery classroom on the roof.
"Everyone needs it [the toilet] every day. Why not make it a unique design?" Pimbley said with a broad smile.
Impressed by the special design, one 17-year-old girl said she would like to be an architect when she grows up, which, as Pimbley said, made his design efforts feel most rewarding.
Stephen Pimbley at a workshop with kids at the newly opened Fai-Fah centre.
The centre’s library comprises books donated mostly by the staff of Thai Military Bank, which has a policy to encourage the spirit of giving. PHOTOS COURTESY OF TMB
