While researching the futuristic tier-one megacity, he found out that in 1980, it had a population of 20,000. Today, it has burgeoned to 25 million. “That’s the speed at which the city has grown. What is interesting is to integrate its blue-chip, big-tech-company positioning, with the backdrop of how Shenzhen used to be a fishing village. We also want to think a little bit more about the Ling Nan people from the region.”

How that manifests could be a carpet woven with Ling Nan-inspired motifs, set within an interior environment shaped by Norman Foster’s architecture. While still three years away from completion, Cheng is clearly fired up about the project: “Whether its evolution is a narrative or starting point, I think it is a basis for the design of this hotel.”

Listening to Cheng sheds light on his creative instincts. The peripatetic nature of his pre-Brewin years provided a strong foundation – from boarding school in the UK to moving between the US and European cities like Paris and Rome for university and, later, work. He eventually wended his way back to Singapore in 2012 to set up his studio. The studio’s name was inspired by Brewin Path, a quiet street in Hong Kong where his father, business leader Edmund Cheng of Wing Tai fame, grew up.

It therefore feels mildly absurd that clients would expect him to mimic their mood boards, regardless of typology or budget. That irony is heightened when Cheng shares that a key part of his workflow is communication: “It’s always important for me to understand the brief, especially from a functional standpoint. We are designing things that people live in and need to give space to allow such conversations to go both ways. This shouldn’t be lost.”

Ultimately, he hopes clients will come to him because they recognise his love for making things and staying true to the process, while remaining authentic to the larger context.

He reflected: “The vocation of being a designer is probably harder than being a doctor. The truth is if it does cause that much heartache, what makes it worth it is really the passion behind it, and that passion is truly about how you make something beautiful, because you understand what you’re making it with.”