10 years ago, I was told to "pick a lane."
I run a design studio in Birmingham. I was given constant advice: do either design or build, carpentry or metalwork — and don't try to own the whole thing.
So I ignored all of it.
I'm Surinder Singh. I founded BORDO Design on the idea that the people who design your space and the people who build it should be the same people.
One roof, one team, and one person to call when something isn't right.
No finger-pointing between a designer and a contractor who've never met. No "that's not what we quoted." Just one team that owns the drawing, the timber and the deadline — from the first sketch to the final handover.
I was told it was too much. But because I persevered, this is what we got:
- Cadbury trusted us with their space
- Warwick Castle did too
- Clients walk through their reception in VR before we cut a single piece of timber
- And almost every handover ends with the same five words…
I'm not the founder who hides behind renders and emails.
I'm in the workshop. I'm on site. I know what oak feels like under a blade and what bronze does under heat — because I started with my own two hands before I ever had a team.
So when I tell a client something can be done, it's because I've done it. When I tell them it can't, it's because I've tried. That's a different kind of honesty than you get from a render and an email chain.
What 10 Years Taught Me
The best spaces are never noticed. They're felt. The reception that lands the candidate before the interview starts. The restaurant where the lighting makes the food taste better. The boardroom where deals just… close faster.
That's not luck. That's craft. And craft can't be outsourced to five different companies who've never met.
Every joint, every shadow gap, every transition between two materials is a decision. Make those decisions as one team and the space feels inevitable — like it was always meant to be that way. Split them across five contractors who never spoke, and you feel the seams every single time.
So no — I never picked a lane. I built the whole road.
If you're creating a space that has to say something about who you are — that's exactly what we do.