Nathan Yong’s new collection for British furniture brand Heal’s draws on Singapore memories

Nathan Yong’s new collection for British furniture brand Heal’s draws on Singapore memories The veteran Singapore designer’s six-piece Heal’s collection draws on memories of Tanjong Rhu, tropical living and the shipyards of his childhood. Singaporeans ambling along London’s Tottenham Court Road may spot a familiar name at Heal’s flagship store. Designer Nathan Yong has collaborated with the 216-year-old British furniture business on its AW26 collection, Modern Heirlooms, with his six-piece capsule collection featured in the window display. “Heal’s came across the work and felt that the design philosophy aligned closely with their own vision, particularly with the theme for their AW26 collection Modern Heirlooms,” shared Yong in an online interview from London, where the collection was launched during the London Design Festival in mid-September. The pieces were originally designed for Nathan Home, the furniture and lifestyle brand Yong launched in June 2025 and showcases in a colonial-era bungalow in Seletar. Yong is one of Singapore’s veteran designers. His work is characterised by quiet confidence, simple yet familiar forms and an honest expression of materials. The 56-year-old President’s Design Award winner has designed furniture for international brands including Ligne Roset and Living Divani, and founded furniture businesses Air Division in 1999 and Grafunkt in 2009. This is Yong’s second collaboration with Heal’s, following the Verona collection in 2011. “Returning now feels very different. At that time, I was probably more focused on establishing a design language and making a strong, functional collection. Fifteen years later, I think I am more comfortable allowing personal memories, culture and emotion to enter the work,” he explained. He described the new collection as quieter and more mature. “The idea resonated with me because I have never been very interested in making something look new simply for the sake of newness. I am more interested in familiar furniture typologies, and asking how proportion, construction, material and small details can give them new relevance and allow them to live well over time,” Yong elaborated. He also appreciates that despite Heal’s long history in British furniture and design, the brand “does not feel trapped by that history”. Yong added: “There is still that openness to different design voices and to bringing different cultural perspectives to the collection.” ROOTED IN SINGAPORE The designs draw heavily on Yong’s childhood. “There is much more of my own background in this collection: Singapore, the tropics, growing up near the sea, memories of the 1970s, Asian timber furniture and even the industrial landscapes and shipyards I grew up around,” he said. Yong spent his early childhood around the shipyards and shoreline of Tanjong Rhu. “I grew up in a seaside kampong in Singapore in the 1970s. I remember people sitting outside on simple, trusty wooden chairs doing very little – just talking, resting and catching the sea breeze. So while the starting point has roots in European modernism, I wanted the Coast Lounge Chair to arrive somewhere much closer to home,” he shared. MATERIAL BEAUTY In working out the details, Yong considered how people would interact with the furniture. “I was thinking about the way we actually sit in our climate. It is hot and humid, so I wanted a chair that visually and physically feels breathable, where air and breeze can pass through the seating,” he said of the Coast Lounge Chair. The Rio Sofa draws on Yong’s memories of 1970s furniture, interiors and films, as well as Brazilian modernism, with its generous upholstered forms and expressive timber structures. Memories of “boats, hulls, waves and large timber structures” along the coast and around the shipyards also find their way into its curved timber legs. Such references emerge subconsciously. “I do not normally sit down and say: ‘I am going to draw a boat or a wave’. These things come out later, and sometimes only after designing something do I realise where the shape may have come from,” Yong reflected. The other pieces – the Slot Dining Table, Antera Bench, Antera Bed and a small side table that doubles as a stool – were designed for different parts of the home. They also reflect Yong’s interest in expressing the natural qualities of materials and showing how things come together. “I am not interested in making materials pretend to be something else. If there is a joint, sometimes I prefer that you understand why the joint exists rather than disguising it,” he said. ADAPTING THE DESIGNS Working with the Heal’s team was easier this time around. “There is already a certain level of trust and understanding between us. This makes the conversations much more direct,” said Yong. Most of the pieces were produced in Asia, allowing him to visit the factories during development. The original designs remain available in Singapore through Nathan Home, while slight adjustments to proportions, materials and other details were made for the UK market. Asked what ties the collection together, Yong pointed to one word: “restraint”. “I wanted the details to reveal themselves slowly rather than have everything obvious immediately,” he said. “For me, good furniture should have enough character to be remembered but enough quietness to live comfortably with everything else in the home.”