After launching furniture retail stores like Air Division in 1999 and Grafunkt in 2009, Nathan Home marks his most personal venture yet. It’s a return to independent expression, rooted in Yong’s long-held beliefs about materials, emotion, and the human experience.
This, said Yong, is what he has been building towards his entire life. “I wanted to control the narrative, not just over what I design, but how it’s made, how it’s shared, and what it stands for.”
Teaming up with an investor (Yong declined to reveal their identity, but says they sank a “high six-figure” sum), he spent six weeks converting the building into a space that emanates a relaxed, lived-in feel.
Equal parts gallery, design studio and concept store, Yong was mindful of keeping renovations to a minimum. “It was mostly surface treatment. I wanted this place precisely for its aged patina,” he shared.
FROM BOATYARDS TO BEYOND
Yong’s own narrative arc is deeply Singaporean, yet wholly singular. Growing up in Tanjong Rhu in the 1970s – long before the forest of condominiums and sporting/recreational playgrounds of Kallang sprang up – his early years were gritty but evocative. Back then, the area was a maritime village, the air thick with sea salt and the scent of engine oil.
“The boatyards were loud, raw, and beautiful in their own way,” Yong recalled. “That environment taught me to appreciate materials for what they are – not what they pretend to be. I saw how things were built, fixed, repurposed. It instilled a kind of honesty in my approach to design, one that values simplicity, utility, and soul.”
There was no language for design then. No Pinterest or Instagram, no curated mood boards. But there was instinct. Yong spent hours sketching mythical creatures and religious figures, or tinkering with found objects. He didn’t see it as talent; it was simply how he processed life – through shape, emotion and form.
