How Sirene came about
Sirene began as a response to a particular kind of frustration — kitchens that looked well-considered in a showroom and fell short in daily use. Too many drawer positions that interrupted a cooking sequence. Storage specified for a generic household rather than the one that would actually live in the space. Materials chosen for how they photographed rather than how they'd hold up to daily heat, humidity, and Malaysian cooking habits.
The studio was set up to work differently. Each engagement starts not with a layout but with a conversation — about who cooks, how often, what gets made, where things currently land that shouldn't. That information shapes the brief, the layout, and eventually the documentation that goes to a cabinet maker.
Based in Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, the studio serves clients across Klang Valley — primarily households undertaking a kitchen refit or working on a new build. The three services on offer — brief and workflow conversation, detailed documentation, and sourcing and installation oversight — can be used individually or in sequence, depending on what stage the project is at and how much involvement a client wants in the build period.
The name Sirene is drawn from a word used in old cartography for a place where land and water meet — a boundary condition, an edge where things are worked out. A kitchen is something like that: the boundary between raw materials and a meal, between planning and daily life. It's worth getting right.
People behind the work
Nadia Lim
Lead DesignerFourteen years working on kitchen and interior fit-outs across Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Nadia leads client briefs and all documentation work.
Azmi Rashid
Technical DrawingsAzmi prepares the cabinetry drawings and materials schedules. His background is in architectural documentation, and he has worked with cabinet makers throughout the Klang Valley.
Siew Wei
Sourcing and SiteSiew Wei manages supplier relationships and conducts site visits during installations. She has an eye for quality control at the joinery stage and works directly with cabinet makers on walk-throughs.
Standards we hold across every project
Written brief before layout
No layout is produced without a written brief. The brief records the household's cooking patterns, priorities, and constraints — it becomes the reference point for every subsequent decision.
Documentation to trade standard
Cabinetry drawings and materials schedules are prepared to a standard that a cabinet maker and renovation contractor can work from without additional interpretation. Dimensions are checked and noted in writing.
Structured revision rounds
Documentation projects include two structured revision rounds. This keeps the scope clear for both parties and prevents the quiet accumulation of changes that can derail a project timeline.
Privacy and data handling
Client brief notes, photographs of existing kitchens, and any personal information shared during the process are held only for the duration of the project and not shared with third parties outside the project team.
Materials suited to local conditions
Recommendations take into account the Malaysian climate — humidity, heat from cooking, and the demands of daily use. Finish choices are assessed for how they age in context, not just in a showroom environment.
Clear fee structure from the start
Each service has a stated fee before work begins. There are no ambiguous billing arrangements mid-project. For projects outside the standard scope, any adjustment is discussed and agreed in advance.
Kitchen design in Petaling Jaya and across Klang Valley
Kitchen design is a specific discipline within interior design — it requires understanding of how people move through a space, how appliances and fittings interact with each other, and how cabinetry is constructed at a level that allows detailed drawings to be produced. Sirene's approach keeps these concerns connected throughout the process.
The studio's work covers new kitchens in new builds, refit projects where an existing kitchen is being reconfigured or replaced, and partial upgrades where a client wants to address a specific part of the kitchen — storage, a new cooking setup, or a change to the layout to improve the workflow. Each of these requires a different starting point, and the three-service structure is designed to accommodate that.
Materials knowledge is a significant part of the work. Laminate, solid timber, veneer, stainless steel, stone and engineered stone each behave differently in a kitchen environment. In a Malaysian context, humidity is a consistent factor — some finishes and substrates hold up better than others over five or ten years of daily use. The studio's recommendations include notes on care, approximate longevity, and how each material changes with age, so clients can make decisions with a full picture rather than on appearance alone.
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