President's Design Award 2025: Celebrating Singapore's most impactful designers and projects

CNA

21 hours ago

The Delta Sports Complex was built in 1979 but over the years saw declining use. A renovation by Red Bean Architects revitalised the development, stitching standalone facilities into an integrated hub of activity that now connects to the surrounding neighbourhood through new linked infrastructure and viewpoints.
The project not only addresses sustainable building, but also placemaking and inclusivity. Red Bean Architects is one of the recipients of the 15th President's Design (P*DA) Award given out to design projects contributing to the nation across various disciplines. The P*DA is Singapore's most prestigious design prize.
Another recipient of the award also addressed the nation's heritage. NextOfKin Creatives adapted the familiar lion dance activity for senior engagement through the Silver Pride Lion Troupe.
The jury citation highlighted how the project 'provides an innovative and culturally resonant way to provide physical well-being, social connection and skill-building, particularly among hard-to-reach male seniors.' Added Lynn Wong, founder of heritage social enterprise Bridging Generations behind the project: 'Heritage art forms can be a solution for a national healthcare issue and can bring the community together.'
Initiatives such as this highlights that 'good design is never just about aesthetics,' as guest of honour and patron of the P*DA, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam aptly mentioned during the award ceremony on Jul 31 (Thu), held at the National Gallery. 'From nurturing our bonds with nature, to shaping sustainable urban spaces, to reimagining how our children learn, their work is at the heart of an inventive society.'
DESIGN ON THE LOCAL AND GLOBAL STAGE
Seven projects received the Design of the Year award: 21 Carpenter, Birds Paradise, Delta Sports Centre by Red Bean Architects, KartaCam2, School of Tomorrow, Silver Pride Lion Troupe and Surbana Jurong Campus.
Two Designer of the Year awards were given out. These are accolades for an individual designer or design team for design creativity and achievement, embodied through a commendable portfolio.
The first was to architect Ar. Alan Tay, co-founder of Formwerkz Architects, whose houses bridge creative problem solving, uplifting spatial imagination and climatic cohesiveness – likewise for his public projects such as the Al-Islah Mosque and the Punggol Soka Centre.
The second Designer of the Year award was given to multidisciplinary designer Gabriel Tan. He has propelled the city-state to the international design stage, being the first Singaporean to work with the furniture world's largest international names like B&B Italia and Herman Miller. A champion of craft processes, his Porto-based brand Originmade revives the artisanal legacy of European makers.
THE RELEVANCE OF ADAPTIVE REUSE
Red Bean Architects' Delta Sports Complex pinpoints the importance of conserving not just older buildings but also those from more recent history. But a case-by-case approach needs to be considered. For neighbourhoods such as Delta with old flats and ageing communities, adaptive reuse is particularly appropriate.
'We should be sensitive to the contexts around which we erect new buildings. In matured residential neighbourhoods, it may not be a good idea to erect large and entirely new community or commercial complexes,' observed the firm's founder, Teo Yee Chin.
Like Delta Sports Complex, 21 Carpenter also plays an important role in Singapore's collective memory. Also an adaptive reuse project, it saw Woha Architects rejuvenate four conserved 1936 shophouses into a boutique hotel.
These shophouses comprise the former Chye Hua Seng Wee Kee – a remittance house founded in 1936 by philanthropist Lee Wee Nam and his brothers. Lee made numerous donations towards life sciences at NTU and was one time the president of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
EXCELLENCE THROUGH ENGAGEMENT
Developed by Mandai Wildlife Group in collaboration with RSP Architects Planners & Engineers, Bird Paradise reflects a sensitive approach to themed attractions, with animal conservation, and education and community engagement at its heart.
Singaporeans who grew up with the former Jurong Bird Park have embraced the new 17-hectare Bird Paradise, which opened on November 2023. Divided into eight thematic walk-through aviaries with barrier-free transitions, the project also received the BCA (Building Construction Authority) Universal Design Excellence Awards.
The fourth architecture project winner was equally generous in spirit. The Surbana Jurong Campus, designed by Safdie Architects in collaboration with Surbana Jurong Consultants, reinterprets the conventional corporate headquarters, designed with publicly accessible spaces and integration with the existing Jurong eco-garden.
WHAT ELSE CAN DESIGN DO?
The last three projects that won the Design of the Year awards highlight design's role in bettering individual lives on the everyday front. Like the Silver Pride Lion Troupe, School of Tomorrow by Kinetic Singapore carefully considered its target demographic.
The playful exhibition helped students learn about climate issues in a more engaging manner through the relatable environment of a school. 'We kept all the subjects you'd expect at school, but with a twist. In mathematics class, for example, you would learn how to calculate your carbon footprint and what you would do to offset it; it was familiar but also not familiar,' explained Gian Jonathan, partner at Kinetic Singapore.
The last recipient is small but powerful. The KartaCam 2 developed by Grab employed design to solve problems and 'deliver value', said Low Ko Wee, senior design manager, Geo, Grab. The system integrates mapping within Grab's ecosystem, allowing driver and delivery personnel to earn when they contribute to the mapping process.
'It is a well-executed, simple solution to a complex problem, improving livelihoods and creating broad social and economic impact,' the jury citation observed.
MOVING FORWARD IN DESIGN
The journey to success is long and hard but rewarding. We pick the brains of the two Designer of the Year awardees for tips.
AR. ALAN TAY
What does this award mean to you?
The award is an affirmation of the highest standard in Singapore; it is an important institution that goes beyond recognising local design talents and innovations to emphasising the significance or essentiality of design to a nation. It means a lot to me to be recognised for the sustained effort, passion and belief in architecture – a journey that began [for me] 30 years ago.
How do you think the design of houses in Singapore that could be improved?
The first is to work with the tropics. This is one constant in a changing world of lifestyles and affluence, and much innovation and interpretation await unravelling. Secondly, [consider] adaptive reuse and retrofitting instead of tabula rasa, if the situation permits.
Besides being carbon responsible, there are tremendous design opportunities and richness to work with houses designed in an earlier period. Since post-war until current times, Singapore has already accumulated an extensive stockpile of amazing houses designed by its homegrown architects. A good, retrofitted house potentially holds the wisdom of two architects. This, however, requires a shift in mindset.
Your public projects are important critiques, as well as showcases on the possibilities of contextual and community design. What else do you wish to explore?
Public and student housing are natural trajectories for the typological investigations that continue from our existing work. These two residential typologies offer many opportunities for us to engage in issues of density, public realms, communities and climate in potentially complex sites.
Unfortunately, adaptive reuse projects are often overlooked as they demand more intelligence, rigour and sensitivity. The rejuvenation of old buildings allows me to engage with its rich repository of memories while working out its contemporary needs and reimagining its future. Projects like the Golden Mile Complex and the recently gazetted Turf City Grandstands have that potential.
GABRIEL TAN
What are your sentiments on design when you were a young designer versus now? How do you feel design can create positive impact in the lives of its users?
When I first started out in 2007 with the design collective Outofstock Design, I was ambitious, maybe even impatient. I had a burning desire to get our designs into the homes and lives of the people around the world. Today, I have come to understand that the value my products add to people's lives is more important than speed or quantity – whether it is an incredibly comfortable sofa that people are able to relax and unwind on after a long day at work, or a beautiful sculpture that lifts their mood whenever they look at it.
I focus only on collaborating with brands and craftspeople I truly admire, and who can align with my values. The goal is to create physical products that can be used over a long time, is more sustainable for the environment or have innate emotional qualities.
You are now based in Porto, Portugal. How is the design environment there different from Singapore?
In Porto and its surrounding region, there is a network of craft and manufacturing companies that supply to Europe's furniture, tableware and fashion industries. For a designer, being 30 minutes away from craftsmen, workshops and factories of different materials and production techniques is amazing.
Singapore is not at all behind Porto or Portugal in terms of the design scene. I see that in recent years there has been an emerging urban craft scene bubbling beneath the surface in Singapore, with a handful of independent ceramicists, leather workers, textile designers, woodworkers and lamp makers.
How do you think Singapore can help cultivate better design environment?
We can do more to support these businesses by helping them secure studio spaces in more central locations, for them to be part of the main urban fabric of Singapore so that our everyday folks and children can get more real-life exposure to these craft, and not only on social media.
We also have more and more globally recognised design studios and artists emerging from various disciplines, and strong Singapore companies like Singapore Airlines, Razer, Capita Land, Capella Hotels & Resorts, Banyan Tree, etc; many MNCs, banks and tech companies are also headquartered here. We can develop programmes to encourage private companies born or based in Singapore, and our public agencies to nurture and support our designers, to get their work produced and used within our own country.
What does the P*DA, Designer of the Year award, mean to you, and what advice do you have for young and aspiring designers?
It means a lot to my family and I, to be recognised by my home country with the highest accolade a designer from Singapore can hope to receive, I feel deeply honoured. I would advice young designers to be patient, but to work their socks off to improve everyday, and strive to be exceptional in their own way.
The beauty of this industry is that there is no linear path to achieving one's goals. The challenge for any designer is opportunity cost, that of choosing which ideas deserve the most time and energy but also what makes this career choice exciting and rewarding. Every project teaches me something, and that informs the next one.