A design studio working where ethnography, service design, spatial design and product detailing meet — turning research and craft into things people use, from healthcare environments to furniture.
For care organisations, cultural institutions, brands and manufacturers across Singapore and Europe.
First floor-based ward in Singapore — AWWA Home
Clear, scoped engagements — so you know exactly what you're commissioning before we begin.
Ethnographic research, service frameworks and programs that improve how communities live, age and care for one another.
For foundations, healthcare, social-service agencies & public bodiesConcept to production-ready products and furniture — furniture-grade precision, from CNC metal hardware to manufacturer-ready pieces.
For premium hardware brands & furniture manufacturersMuseum, exhibition and spatial experiences — including immersive and VR — that move people through a story.
For museums, cultural institutions & brandsBespoke, limited-edition objects and installations where material, craft and concept lead.
For institutions, galleries & private commissionsWe take on a limited number of engagements each quarter. Check current availability →
Where ethnography, healthcare service design, spatial design and product detailing meet — a first-of-its-kind floor-based ward that replaces hospital beds, giving residents with disabilities the mobility, agency and dignity to move on their own terms.
Spatial / Service Design
A co-design research project mapping the needs of post-18 persons with disabilities and their caregivers — translated into an ecosystem of new, person-centred care services.
Service Design / Research
A museum commission that reimagines Snakes & Ladders as a 3D standing sculpture — coaxing seniors off their screens into gentle, intergenerational play.
Exhibition / Universal Design
A two-part commission on sleep — an overnight sleep-hygiene experience at Naumi Hotel and an immersive VR journey through five sleepers' brains, with LASALLE.
Exhibition / VR
Designed spaces and experiences that open up end-of-life conversations through art and community.
Exhibition / Service
Service-design frameworks that bring social care to seniors where they already are — the neighbourhood kopitiam.
Service / Social
A timeless lounge chair, manufactured to the finest materials and processes for a leading Swedish furniture house.
Furniture
Convex wireless chargers that ask you to balance your phone — hardware that designs in a moment to disconnect.
Product / Hardware
A reusable cup inspired by 1960s Asian baristas — familiarity, function and good design to make reuse a habit.
Product
Furniture-industry bamboo offcuts and a natural binder, molded into a colourful, sustainable kitchen range.
Product / Material
Terracotta, 3D-printed locally — a limited-edition vase collection whose surface ripples like plant roots.
Product / Object
A subtle object that turns seeds into art — a daily, visible reminder to rekindle our relationship with nature.
Art / ObjectWe keep the first phase, up to project confirmation, clear and low-friction. Here's exactly how it goes.
We start by understanding your organisation's needs — the stakeholders involved, the goals, and whether the project is the right fit for the studio.
In a follow-up call or meeting, we reframe the brief, define the scope, and prepare a clear proposal with timeline and cost — so you can decide we're the right partner.
We refine the proposal and timeline together. Once it's signed off, the work begins.
We work closely with the DesignSingapore Council and have helped clients secure design grants — including the Good Design Research (GDR) grant. If you're a Singapore-based organisation, ask us how grant funding could support your project.
About the GDR grant →Founded in Singapore by Gustavo Maggio and Wendy Chua, we design products, services and experiences that redefine how people live, age in place, and gather as communities — grounded in ethnographic research and a deep understanding of craft and manufacturing, from European design sensibility to Asian making.
Co-founder · Design & Manufacturing
An industrial designer using design to shift behaviour toward more intentional living — from premium hardware for the longevity economy to service design for senior care. He works at furniture-grade material precision, bridging European design and Asian making.
gustavo@forestandwhale.com
Co-founder · Design Research
An industrial designer and educator, a seasonal nomad between Singapore and Buenos Aires, whose work delves into the discoveries nature affords — from naive reinterpretations of wood-joinery to harvesting hues from tropical flora. In 2017 she co-edited The Machinist, a two-year research on the wisdom of the industrial artisan.
wendy@forestandwhale.comGet a PDF overview of our services, selected work, awards and capabilities — ideal to circulate to your team before you brief us.
Tell us about your project. We reply to every serious enquiry within two business days.