Building has always been in Tan Yue Wei’s blood. As the son of the late Er. Tan Ee Ping, who founded TEP Consultants—one of Singapore’s pioneering civil and structural engineering firms—in 1970, he feels his father’s support provided him with many opportunities to explore his creativity.
“My father played a pivotal role in my life and the development of my design inspirations and capabilities,” he says. After completing his Master of Architecture at the University of Newcastle in 2015, he returned and started working at SAA Architects.
However, he’d always wanted to be his own boss. As a result, he was a founding partner of KYDA Interiors and KYX Architects in 2017 until May 2020. He later started YWA Studio around the same time as he was appointed director of TEP Consultants by his father in the same year.
Following the passing of his father a year later, he consolidated TEP Consultants and YWA Studio under TEP One, combining his work with his father’s legacy.
This natural progression played a major role in the development of Tan’s design ethos. His success in balancing spaces of interaction and isolation is largely due to his understanding of the concept of family and how it affects space.
“Architects often have to draw on their own experiences as well as those of others to provide well-thought-out solutions. This has helped me and my team create forever homes for multigenerational families, or for accessibility or palliative care.”
Tan Yue Wei makes plain his inspiration
It is also important when prioritising the requirements of different spaces within a development, where aesthetics and practicality must be balanced.
Tan excitedly mentions Piegare, a private home on University Road that his company completed in 2023. “It stands out due to its unique design, which I developed through hand sketches. It is my favourite way to start a design because there is nothing better than having the lead dance across the paper to connect you to a design.”
A developer’s project, Tan was uncertain about proposing the unique design, but that bold choice has elevated the value of the property. “I had the chance to meet the buyer and he was ecstatic about this house,” recalls Tan. “He wanted something unique and with its own personality. The Piegare fits these requirements like a glove.”
Tan acknowledges that achieving success comes down to finding the right people, something he believes is extremely challenging. Currently, his team is expanding, but he wants to keep certain things in mind as they do so.
“I wish to maintain and improve our capabilities every little step of the way, so it is important that people who join us have their hearts in the right place. I am extremely thankful for the team I have now and I want to make sure that every new member who joins us has the same level of tenacity to reach our common goal.”
Tan looks forward to growing his company and continuing his father’s legacy. He hopes to work on residential projects, such as apartments and condominiums, as well as mixed-use, condominium, and commercial developments.
“We have only just started, so I wouldn’t call any of our humble achievements a big career milestone. Despite this, I certainly want to take a few leaps forward in the years ahead.”
Producer: Adora Wong
Art director: Ed Harland
Videographer: Yvonne Isabelle Ling
Video editor: Alicia Chong
Photographer: Mun Kong
Photographer’s assistant: Hizuan Zailani
Makeup: Keith Bryant Lee using Clarins
Hair: Aung Apichai
