How fortuitous for Robert Cheng, principal of Brewin Design Office, that his maiden full-fledged hotel project is none other than the hotly anticipated, infinitely luxurious and newly opened Capella Kyoto, Japan
First-time experiences are always deeply emotional, the marking of a milestone that forms part of one’s initial steps towards the definition of identity, career, or both. And although Robert Cheng’s Brewin Design Office was established a good 14 years ago, it was only this year that his first full-scale hotel project was completed.
Capella Kyoto, located in the historic Gion district, is mere steps away from Kennin-ji, the city’s oldest Zen temple
Stellar start
If new chapters are anything to go by, it would seem that Cheng hit a home run in his first at-bat with Capella Kyoto.
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“I am still searching for the right words here but, really, it feels surreal that this is our first ‘full’ hotel and to be starting our journey into hospitality this way,” he smiles broadly. (Prior to Capella Kyoto, Brewin’s portfolio revolved around private and developer-driven residential projects, commercial and smaller-scale hospitality work.)
Founded in the noughties by legendary hotelier Horst Schulze, Capella was acquired by Singapore’s Kwee family, which owns Pontiac Land Group, in 2017. Starting out with a single property on Sentosa Island — designed by Foster + Partners, no less — it has since grown to become a byword for flawless hospitality, with a curated rollout of other top-flight hotels and resorts in Shanghai, Ubud, Bangkok and Sydney, to name a few.
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Capella Kyoto, in Japan’s culture-dense former imperial capital, is the latest star. Having welcomed its first guests on March 22, the hotel stands just four storeys high, offering 89 perfectly appointed rooms. And while Cheng’s résumé shows he is more than qualified to take on the Capella job, a little-known fact is that he shares an intimate relationship with the city as well. His wedding was held there in 2018, with both bride- and groom-to-be spending the year leading up to the big day immersing themselves in the spirit of the city.
“I had travelled to Kyoto several times prior to being commissioned for the project, but it is a city with such depth that familiarity is always relative. Kyoto doesn’t reveal itself all at once — it unfolds gradually through presence, seasonal change and time spent observing rather than just visiting. While the Capella project enhanced my understanding in a more focused way, it also reinforced the idea that Kyoto is never fully ‘known’. It’s a place you continue to learn from the longer you stay engaged with it.”
Working in collaboration with the great Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, Cheng firmly states the Capella Kyoto felt less like an opportunity to make a statement and more like a responsibility to contribute something measured and enduring to its context.
“When we were presented with the idea for the project five years ago, our first instinct was to work with intention. Capella Kyoto sits in a part of the city where history isn’t something you reference lightly, but respond to carefully. Rather than asking how visible the design should be, we asked how quiet it needed to be,” he says.
Standing on the site of the former Shinmichi Elementary School in Miyagawa-chō, a historic geisha district along the Kamo River that is filled with traditional machiya (wooden townhouse) and ochaya (teahouse), the Capella Kyoto is also just steps away from the Kaburenjō Theatre — famed for its geiko and maiko dances — and nearby Kennin-ji, the city’s oldest and one of its five most important Zen temples.
“One of the guiding perspectives that was shared with us early on by the Capella team was that this hotel would not be for everyone, especially those seeking stunning views or landscapes,” he states.
“Capella Kyoto does not rely on such obvious advantages but is instead woven into the everyday fabric of a historic, mixed-use neighbourhood, just a short walk from Gion. Miyagawa-chō is an area that has long been shaped by craft and its lived culture, and that context became central to how we approached the hotel.
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“The experience at Capella Kyoto is about looking inward, conceived almost as an inner-city museum... where every surface and wall is considered. The art pieces are produced by makers whose works are deeply authentic and, in many cases, developed specifically for the space they inhabit. Ultimately, we want guests to feel a quiet but unmistakable sense of authenticity and passion behind the creation of the hotel, where the richness of experience comes from depth, intent and care.”
Nevertheless, the proximity of Kennin-ji and the Kaburenjō also shaped the hotel’s overall scale and density at an architectural level.
“The low-rise massing and measured presence were essential responses to the context,” Cheng explains. “Given its adjacency to neighbouring buildings of a similar architectural language, the façade materials and detailing were approached with continuity in mind, allowing the buildings to sit cohesively alongside one another.
Kennin-ji very much embodies a sense of discipline — how space is sequenced, thresholds are handled and movement is choreographed. The temple is not about immediacy, but is defined by pause and measure.”
And despite Kaburenjō’s closeness, he stresses that he was careful not to reference the theatre literally, preferring to draw from its spatial qualities and letting the temple wield its influence in an abstract manner.
Now that the hotel has opened to rave reviews, Cheng is hesitant to disclose his favourite nooks on the property, only going so far as to say, “If there is a moment that best captures the spirit of the hotel, it is the journey from the entry vestibule to the Living Room. That passage — across a human-scaled bridge, flanked by the external courtyard on one side and the triple-height atrium on the other — places you in the midst of the architecture as it unfolds. It is a moment of transition, where movement, scale and light are carefully calibrated, and for me, that sequence embodies how Capella Kyoto is meant to be experienced, not as an immediate reveal, but as a gradual unfolding and sequence of spaces.”
Nevertheless, he is generous with his tips on how to make the most of one’s time in the ancient capital. “I enjoy experiencing the city on foot, observing how it handles the in-between: paths, thresholds, framed views and moments of pause. Kyoto reveals its design intelligence most clearly through careful attention rather than accumulation.”
Among his must-see sights each time he visits are Shinmonzen-dori for a spot of antiquing; the Katsura Imperial Villa for its architecture and “mastery of proportion, sequence and the seamless relationship between architecture and landscape”; and moss temple Saihō-ji, “where the garden and its atmosphere are shaped through abstraction, simplicity and time”.
It's in his blood
With a family that has roots in Hong Kong and Singapore, Cheng was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the US. “My father Edmund was studying at Carnegie Mellon University then, hence my birthplace in America,” he shares.
It was his grandfather Cheng Yik Hung who founded Wing Tai Holdings Ltd in Hong Kong in 1955. The garment manufacturer has since diversified into hospitality and property development, and has been listed on the Mainboard of the Singapore Exchange since 1989.
Cheng was shipped off early to school abroad: first to Cranleigh in Surrey, the UK, and then across the pond to the Rhode Island School of Design and, later, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he earned his Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture in Urban Design respectively.
“I’ve been away from home a lot,” he says wistfully. “It wasn’t easy and, at times, daunting. I have no regrets, obviously, but I wouldn’t have minded going when I was older.”
Following in his father’s footsteps (Edmund was an architect prior to joining the family firm), Cheng interned at Architects 61 and spent the formative years of his career at Tsao & McKown New York and Ateliers Jean Nouvel, Paris. “I realised sometime in my early thirties that as much as I could contribute to the family business, my true interest lay in architecture. To work in a property development company meant giving it up. I wasn’t ready to at that point. I wanted to forge a studio.”
And forge one he did. Now into its 14th year of practice, Brewin Design Office’s raison d’être is not about world domination versus creating meaningful spaces and experiences in collaboration with like-minded clients. “I really find joy and a certain obsession in composing spaces,” he laughs.
For those curious about its name, rest assured Brewin has nothing to do with coffee but rather is a nod to family ties and memories.
“My grandfather’s home in Hong Kong was at Brewin Path,” he explains, of the Mid-Levels location. “My father and uncles grew up there. It was only in 1981 that my grandfather moved to Singapore. Although I was just five years old then, I do have memories of the Brewin Path house. For me, naming the studio gives it — and me — a sense of continuity and grounding.”
Filial at heart, Cheng shares how one of his most memorable career highlights was taking his father to see his first completed project — the Fat Cow restaurant, then owned by Karen Seah (daughter of DBS Bank chairman Peter Seah), located on the ground level of the Camden Medical Centre.
“I was pretty much given a free hand in designing something that was an experimental space. At the time, my father didn’t really know what I was doing. I had returned from abroad and was just renting a small room. The milestone moment was when I invited him to see the restaurant. He brought along one of his close friends — Hervé Descottes, a renowned lighting designer who had done work for Frank Gehry and Jean Nouvel — and they were quietly impressed,” he says.
“From that moment on, I knew he would take my passion for design more seriously.
I get emotional recounting this as I pour my heart and soul into every project. But what stayed with me most was seeing my father’s reaction that night. It meant a great deal to me.”
Building blueprints
Now that the Capella Kyoto is gleaming, gorgeous and open for business, Cheng is hard at work on two more hotel projects in China — and yes, both are Capella. The first will be in Nanjing, one of China’s “Four Great Ancient Capitals”, while the second will be in Shenzhen. And just like his collaboration with Kengo Kuma for the Capella Kyoto architecturally, he will partner David Chipperfield Architects for Nanjing and Foster + Partners for Shenzhen.
“I am actually very excited about Nanjing,” says Cheng animatedly. “First, it is steeped in history. Second, David Chipperfield is one of my favourite architects. I admire Norman Foster, of course, but their two firms are very different. Foster’s, for example, has more than 1,000 employees at minimum, and does everything from airports to Apple stores. Chipperfield’s, while big, has been able to retain a crafted look, be it a Valentino boutique or German museum. Both are so sensitive in their approach to architecture that I am just so humbled to have the opportunity to work with them.”
He also divulges that the interior design work for Nanjing will be shared with Australia-based Layan Design Group.
“They did the PuLi Shanghai and it is truly a great office… way ahead of us,” he says modestly. “Layan will be handling the new section of the hotel while we will be doing up the old maisonettes, which should be ready in the first quarter of 2027.”
At this point, it would be remiss not to mention that he and Pontiac Land scion Evan Kwee are old acquaintances. And despite the adage to never work with friends or family, Cheng had no such reservations.
“I honestly never worried [about working together]. In fact, I felt honoured.” Now, a half dozen projects in, including their first full-fledged luxury hotel together, he muses for a moment before saying with a smile,
“To now be collaborating at this level has all been very rewarding.”
Through his eyes
Citing travel as an important source of knowledge and inspiration, Cheng is upfront and enthusiastic about two of his beloved built spaces in the world: the Institut du monde arabe (Arab World Institute) in Paris and the Fondazione Querini Stampalia in Venice.
“Having worked for Jean Nouvel before, the Arab World Institute is hyper-modern yet rooted in a very analogue way. He designed the building in the 1980s and its defining feature is a long glass curtain wall composed of light-sensitive, metallic screens that function like camera shutters, which adjust their aperture automatically through high-tech engineering to control sun, heat and glare, mimicking traditional mashrabiya screens,” he explains.
“The Fondazione Querini Stampalia, meanwhile, is a small museum set in a historic palazzo which you have to cross a little bridge to get to. Why I chose this building is because of how Carlo Scarpa, recognised as Italy’s pre-eminent architect of the 20th century, brings in the element of water, embracing the tidal movements of Venice’s lagoons. At high tide, water flows into the building through a designated ‘water gate’, transforming a flood-prone ground level into a poetic and functional space.
“Working with Calvin [Tsao] also taught me that firms needn’t stop at a particular typology or scale. He took on everything, from designing a temporary installation at the Jewish Center on New York’s 92nd St for Adolph Gottlieb’s Survey Exhibition to designing Suntec City in Singapore. He really taught me how to appreciate work — in all shapes, sizes and context.
“With Jean Nouvel, on the other hand, it was a little bit more distanced as I didn’t speak French in what was then a very family-oriented studio. But he was also incredibly innovative and never followed a particular school of architecture. There is something so cinematic about his work. Just look at his National Museum of Qatar, inspired by the desert rose. I mean, I had just learnt what it was — a rock formed when minerals crystallise in the crumbly soil underneath a shallow salt basin! And yet he manages to evoke the culture and nature of Qatar just like that!”
Cheng, who has a five-year-old boy and a two-and-a-half-year-old girl, admits he does not have as much time as he would like to pack up his family and travel the world. “But that [opportunity] will come back in the future,” he says hopefully. “I look forward to spending more time in Europe and other cities again, moving through them at a slower pace and experiencing them more intentionally.”
Asked what advice he would give young aspiring architects, he mulls the question for a moment before saying, “My two cents would be that they should spend some time abroad, no matter how long it takes for them to do so. Being away from home really opens up the mind to the world. And architects create spaces for life — be it work, rest or play. And to do your best work, you need to experience life in all its guises — the different climates, living needs of the various societies, cultural differences… all that informs and impacts the work you will create. So, go to Europe or even Beijing… it needn’t be for work or to live. Just travel and soak up the way another city operates itself, observe the way its people eat, how its transport systems work.
“An architect who has never lived in Singapore, for example, will not understand tropical rain. So, whatever time you spend, experiencing the diversity of life will go a long way. It will give you spatial empathy — a broader lens through which to approach design — and an instinct for place that becomes increasingly difficult to replicate otherwise. That perspective stays with you.”
