Czech Architect Turns Furniture Maker in Singapore Success Story

While most people select furniture based on visual appeal, Other Furniture® founder Lukas Drasnar believes quality starts earlier than finishes.

“I’ve always liked to draw and paint,” he recalls. “When I was 17, I decided to study architecture.”

Born in the Czech Republic, Lukas studied architecture throughout Europe, beginning at the University of Liberec, then obtaining his bachelor’s at the University of Brighton and later his master’s from the University of Edinburgh.

“I graduated in 2010 full of enthusiasm,” he says. “But Europe was still recovering from the financial crisis, so when I received a job offer in Singapore, I thought, ‘Let’s do it for one year and then see how it goes.’”

That one year has since become fifteen.

“Now I think it’s permanent,” he laughs. “I’ve built a life here with my Singaporean wife and our two beautiful children.”

From Architecture to Furniture

Although he had established himself as an architect, Lukas began to feel the need for a more rewarding pursuit.

“I worked for several architectural firms for about five years, but eventually I burned out.”

A short period working for an Italian furniture firm unexpectedly motivated him to start his own venture. After the firm entered liquidation merely three months into his tenure, Lukas faced a decision: seek new employment or gamble on creating his own company.

He sensed that furniture was the logical direction, having observed an increasing appetite for bespoke items in Singapore, even though the market then offered few alternatives.

That moment became the beginning of Other Furniture®.

Following almost a month of traveling across Indonesia to connect with designers and craftsmen, Lukas joined forces with another designer to set up a modest workshop on Java. He launched the inaugural showroom in 2017 within the Tan Boon Liat Building.

He readily acknowledges his former girlfriend, now spouse Alarice, for having faith in the venture well before its prospects were clear.

“At the time, I was on a tourist visa and had only a few thousand dollars to my name, but she trusted that I could build the company,” he says. “Her support during those early days meant everything.”

Other Furniture’s Rise to Prominence

From that point onward, Other Furniture® has evolved into a reputable custom-furniture firm serving a solid clientele of homeowners, interior designers and commercial patrons. Its work list features projects for CIMB Bank, Changi Airport, the Istana, together with various restaurants and other commercial venues across Singapore.

Global Reach and Notable Projects

Other Furniture® has expanded its reach beyond Singapore, delivering bespoke pieces to homes and commercial spaces in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the United States. The studio’s work includes crafting armchairs for Pope Francis’ visit to Singapore, used by the Pope, the President, and the Prime Minister. They also created 14 armchairs for the Prime Minister’s Office at the Istana, meeting precise specifications with hand-carved timber details.

In hospitality, the company designed feature walls, bar counters, and custom lighting for Naema, a Moroccan restaurant, and produced chairs for a Sushi Tei outlet in Punggol, using solid oak and synthetic leather to reflect Japanese design.

Quality Beyond Appearance

Although most assess furniture based on looks, Lukas maintains that true quality emerges from choices that are typically unseen.

His architectural training continues to influence every project the studio undertakes.

“My background in architecture helps a lot because I always push the team towards design,” he explains. “We don’t just think about making a piece of furniture. We think about how it sits within the architecture of the home.”

Each project starts by determining the intended use of the piece, then proceeds to sketching, drafting technical plans, and selecting materials. Subsequently, a skilled team of Indonesian artisans turns the design into a completed item.

“We have a unique process where we’re involved from the very first sketch to the final product,” he says. “That allows us to create furniture that many others simply don’t dare to make.”

At Other Furniture®, solid teak and oak remain the foundation of many commissions, often paired with marble, sintered stone, metal, fabric and genuine leather.

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For Lukas, the choice of material is about more than aesthetics.

“Our work is based on finding the right balance between price and quality,” he says. “Personally, I always look for quality materials because we put so much effort into the design and manufacturing process. We want our furniture to last for years—ideally decades.”

That philosophy has resonated with homeowners looking beyond trend-driven interiors towards pieces that can become permanent fixtures within the home.

Crafting Timeless, Bespoke Pieces

While the studio also creates built-in cabinetry, it has become especially known for bespoke loose handmade furniture, much of it made from solid wood—from dining tables and sideboards to consoles and statement pieces tailored to each client’s space and lifestyle.

Importantly, there is no signature aesthetic that clients are expected to conform to.

Rather than working within one particular design style, Lukas and his team adapt each piece to the homeowner and interior. That can mean sleek contemporary furniture incorporating LED lighting and sophisticated hardware for one project, followed by a traditional piece featuring detailed carving and old-school craftsmanship for the next.

“We work with interior designers designing Good Class Bungalows with generous budgets,” Lukas says. “But we’re equally happy helping an auntie living in an HDB who simply wants one beautiful piece of furniture. Anyone looking for good quality at a reasonable price is welcome.”

Over the years, the commissions have become increasingly ambitious.

“In the beginning, it wasn’t easy,” Lukas admits. “People didn’t know us. We had no references and no track record. But slowly we were trusted with more difficult projects and more challenging designs.”

For Lukas, bespoke furniture becomes especially interesting when the architecture itself presents a problem to solve.

In one heritage HDB apartment, for instance, an existing structural column stood exactly where a sideboard was intended to go. Instead of treating it as an obstruction, the team designed the solid teak sideboard around it, integrating the column seamlessly into the furniture.

“For projects like this, I always visit the site personally and take very precise measurements,” Lukas explains. “We don’t want to overlook any detail. The final piece has to fit perfectly.”

Another homeowner, a mid-century design enthusiast, wanted a modern flat-screen television integrated into a TV stand that still felt true to the period.

Achieving the look required more than getting the proportions right. The team had to conceal the television within the design while ensuring the remote control continued to function and that power and cable connections remained accessible.

Then there was the challenge of delivering a three-metre-long dining table to the third storey of a Good Class Bungalow without a lift.

“No problem,” Lukas says with a smile. With the help of eight movers, the table eventually made its way upstairs. The bigger challenge, he explains, had actually happened much earlier: engineering dismantlable legs that would allow the oversized piece to be transported while remaining completely stable once assembled.

Challenges and Proud Commissions

Perhaps the studio’s proudest commission came in 2024, when Other Furniture® was entrusted with crafting armchairs used during Pope Francis’ visit to Singapore.

The company’s capabilities have also extended into hospitality and commercial interiors. For Naema on Keong Saik Road, its third project for the same Moroccan client, the team went beyond supplying loose furniture to produce feature walls, bar counters, cabinetry and custom lighting in keeping with the restaurant’s Arabic and Mediterranean concept. Much of the interior fit-out was manufactured at its Indonesian workshop, minimising the need for extensive fabrication on site.

For a Sushi Tei outlet in Punggol, the studio was commissioned to produce the restaurant’s chairs, interpreting its Japanese design direction through solid oak and high-quality synthetic leather.

Today, Other Furniture®’s work extends well beyond Singapore, with bespoke pieces finding their way into homes and commercial spaces in Italy, France, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and the United States.

As Other Furniture® approaches its tenth anniversary, its home at Tan Boon Liat Building remains an important part of the company’s story.

With Tan Boon Liat Building now sold in a collective sale, Lukas sees the eventual move not as an end, but as an opportunity to evolve. Should relocation become necessary, he hopes to create a larger showroom that can showcase a broader variety of furniture and give homeowners more room to explore the company’s bespoke capabilities. Until then, he intends to remain in the same unit it has called home since 2017, continuing to serve clients from the place where its journey first began.

“We’re not interested in making furniture that’s only beautiful on the day it’s delivered,” he says. “We want people to still be enjoying it many years later.”