SINGAPORE — Do you remember that singular moment at the 2012 London Olympics when the copper petals representing 204 nations were lit, lifted and dramatically came together to form a single cauldron? The man behind that idea is British designer Thomas Heatherwick.

“When we were tasked to design the cauldron — something two billion people around the world would see — we realised no one ever remembers the design of it,” he said. “People remember moments more than things — how Muhammad Ali shakily lit the Olympic torch (at the 1996 Atlanta Games) or how the archer shot a flaming arrow during the Olympics opening in Barcelona.”

The 45-year-old, who was in Singapore for several events, including the first Great British Week, said he was inspired to create a moment rather than only an object. “I think there was a huge sigh of relief from 80,000 people in the stadium when they realised the cauldron wasn’t flat,” he quipped.

It’s something that the designer is familiar with. At the World Expo 2010, his Seed Cathedral, built for the United Kingdom’s pavilion, clinched the Best Designed Pavilion accolade. “Rather than do an extraordinary shape, we asked ourselves if we could do a soft texture that tingled in the wind,” Heatherwick said, joking that he was given half the budget of what the designers from other countries were given.

Both creations — albeit scaled-down versions — are displayed at the National Design Centre (NDC) for the exhibition New British Inventors: Inside Heatherwick Studio. There are models of his other works, such as The Garden Bridge (to be built across the River Thames) as well as the panels from the construction of the new Nanyang Technological University learning hub, which was quickly dubbed the “dim sum basket building” after being unveiled two days ago. Heatherwick was full of praise for the professors and the board members of the university, citing that they were really progressive and “ambitious” in how they approached learning space.“This building could only happen in Singapore — it’s built for the tropics and it came out of a very specific brief the professors had, such as having no corners in the classrooms.”

Known as “the hairy guy architect” in the UK after the Seed Cathedral, Heatherwick quickly shed that tag with his versatility. His studio will be designing the new Google headquarters in California with Danish firm Bjake Ingels group. In Asia, he’ll be seen at the Bund International Financial Centre in Shanghai, where he’s collaborating with fellow Brit firm Fosters + Partners. His profile is set to rise further in the region when the exhibition at the NDC tours Seoul, Beijing and Mumbai. But for him, Singapore was always going to be its first stop.

“I’m really proud the first place is here. I met Mahendran (Reddy, senior assistant director of centre programming at NDC) and the team five years ago at the World Expo,” he said. “That was before the design centre was even set up and there was talk that maybe, just maybe, we can make something like this happen. I’m sort of invested in this place.

“I feel a warmth and connection here, even though I know it’s soppy to say it.”

New British Inventors: Inside Heatherwick Studio runs until April 12 at the National Design Centre. Admission is free.