“I love RSP!” Shared Fadzli Jani, age 30, the moment he walked into the room. “RSP is the best company ever! This is recorded, right?”
He then broke into a loud, infectious laugh—a perfect sampler of Fadzil’s rambunctious personality that makes him so endearing among colleagues.
Professionally at RSP, Fadzli is a Senior Executive (Architectural), currently working on Nature-Themed Indoor Attractions at Singapore Zoo and Changi Airport’s Terminal 5. Keeping himself busy, Fadzli also serves as Head of Design for the Singapore Institute of Architects-Young Architects League (SIA-YAL).
Off-work, he does professional emcee gigs, a hustle he carried on since his university days when he needed to earn some extra pocket money for to buy materials to make architecture models.
“Architecture on the weekdays and emcee on the weekends,” he summed up nicely.
To Fadzli, his favourite part of RSP is the people.
He explains, “What’s left when you take away RSP’s brand, status and the amazing seaside view from the office here at CapitaSky? Whether they’re your seniors or your juniors, the people at RSP are very approachable and that’s what I like most about RSP.”
As part of his human-centred perspective, Fadzli is a proponent for showing appreciation to people, an “encouragement of the heart”, so to speak. Setting an example, Fadzli started his own train of appreciation by spotlighting his Mandai teammates, “super girls”, as he calls them.
His admiration extends to the senior staff who are generous with their time and mentorship. The first individual he cites as deserving of recognition is David Tan, the “Professor X” to the “Super Girls”. “Professor X” is then only aptly succeeded by the “Queen of Knowledge”, Ar. Chris Tan, his immediate supervisor, whom he also works with for Changi’s Terminal 5.
In Fadzli’s view, this profile of exceptional people convinced him to join and ultimately stay at RSP.
“It’s always back to the people,” Fadzli reflected.
“Do you know why I want to be an architect?” Fadzli said suddenly, excitedly.
Smiling widely, he started with a ‘brief history’ that evolved into an extended, earnest monologue about the events that pointed him towards a career in architecture.
As a child, he knew he liked drawing when he covered his bedroom wall with drawings and competing with his brother to create the ‘coolest’ design with Legos.
As a teenager going through secondary school, his love for design and building things grew when he took Design and Technology (D&T), a subject that gives students hands-on experience in designing and prototyping ideas.
While taking this course, Fadzli recalled designing an all-in-one soap dispenser, which utilises a sensor to first detect the user’s hand before dispensing soap. After handwashing, the user can easily grab a paper tissue on top of the soap dispenser to dry their hands.
Ingeniously, he explained what makes his design special. Normally, “the soap is here, the tap is there, and the drier is over there”. His design, then, ensures everything you need is in one place for an intuitive, convenient hand-washing experience. His design earned him the top accolade in his cohort for D&T.
In secondary four, Singapore’s beloved academic coach, Adam Khoo, graced his school and motivated him to think about how he should pursue a career as a creative in practical terms.
“I love to draw and design and so I narrowed down my career options to being an Architect, Interior Designer, Artist and a Fashion Designer. I liked Lego blocks then, so I zeroed in on Architecture and Interior Design. However, I realised I wanted to do more than just interiors and so, I finally decided to aim for Architecture and that’s how it all began.”
Younger Fadzli probably did not expect that he would design for animals as part of his job description as an architect. And yet, that was what made his work on the Nature-themed Indoor Attractions memorable.
“Not only do you deal with concrete structures and contractors,” Fadzli explains. “But you also deal with animals as one of your ‘clients’.”
Quirkiness aside, the challenge is what makes experiencing the finished building even more fulfilling. Amongst the Indoor Attractions, Fadzli references the Curiosity Cove, an indoor children playhouse where guests can relax in an air-conditioned area while going through an immersive and curated experience like no other.
“Why do I want to be an architect,” he repeated the question. He continued good naturedly, “It’s because one day, when I have children, I want to bring them to a building I was part of and share to them, “Hey, Daddy did this!”. As for Mandai, I will bring my children to Curiosity Cove and only I will know the perfect imperfections!”
