E&O, Ikea collaborate to produce furnished show unit in Penang

KUALA LUMPUR: Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O) and Ikea have collaborated to come up with a fully furnished show unit for the former’s soon-to-be launched executive apartments -- The Tamarind -- in Penang.

E&O, a lifestyle property development group, and the Swedish home furnishing specialist had undertaken a maiden partnership to collaborate from inception the interior design of a show unit to providing its full furnishings within. 

A joint statement issued on Tuesday said the teams at E&O and Ikea worked closely on the design brief and budget, styled to target upwardly mobile professionals with young families. 

The combined efforts showcasing Ikea design and products in The Tamarind's show unit will be unveiled next month at E&O's Seri Tanjung Pinang sales gallery.

The Tamarind, a seven-acre freehold high-rise development located at E&O's seafront community of Seri Tanjung Pinang, is also E&O’s first executive apartments.

The Tamarind features two blocks of 33 storeys comprising 1,104 units in total, where a typical unit size of three bedrooms and two bathrooms start from 1,042 square feet and is competitively priced from RM600,000 onwards.

E&O deputy managing director Eric Chan Kok Leong said: "At E&O, we are committed to crafting premium properties in every segment.

“At The Tamarind, we present the opportunity for young executives and families to own an aspirational home within Seri Tanjung Pinang, which is competitively priced yet still has the hallmarks of innovation and style for which E&O has become synonymous.” 

Chan said as E&O wanted The Tamarind to capture the aspirational, but also have a well-grounded functional and achievable appeal, the lifestyle property developer believed there could be no better partner than Ikea, a universally loved brand by all proud homeowners, not only in Malaysia but the world over.

 The Tamarind Show Unit Living Room

Under the collaboration, the E&O team spent many hours of brainstorming and discussion with the home furnishing specialists at the IKEA store in Mutiara Damansara followed by an on-site trip to Seri Tanjung Pinang. 

This included recording necessary measurements of the bare show unit for The Tamarind, as well as viewing other completed show homes and projects such as the Andaman resort condominium and the company's namesake E&O Hotel in George Town.

 

When ready for fit out, the instantly recognisable yellow and blue Ikea truck made its way up to Penang, and the team worked to transform concept into reality.

 

IKEA Damansara store manager Gerard Jansen said: “We have been collecting feedback from Malaysians through the IKEA Life@Home Study. 

“Last year, one in four homeowners told us that their biggest furnishing and renovation challenge is lack of ideas and inspiration.”

Registration of interest for The Tamarind is only via the official website www.thetamarindpenang.com or personally at The Sales Gallery, Seri Tanjung Pinang, Tanjung Tokong (604 890 9999).