The DesignSingapore Council (Dsg) and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) are proud to announce the recipients of the 2018 President*s Design Award (P*DA). President Halimah Yacob presented the nation’s highest accolade for design at a gala event tonight to two Designers of the Year and nine Designs of the Year recipients. 

The Designers of the Year are: Angelene Chan, the Chief Executive Officer of DP Architects for her work in architecture, and Hans Tan, Founder of Hans Tan Studio, for his work in product and industrial design.

Four of the Designs of the Year are architectural projects: Mediacorp Campus by Maki & Associates and DP Architects Pte Ltd, Oasia Hotel Downtown by WOHA Architects Pte Ltd, China Fuzhou Jin Niu Shan Trans-urban Connector (Fudao 福道) by LOOK Architects Pte Ltd and The Tembusu by ARC Studio Architecture + Urbanism Pte Ltd. The other Designs of the Year are Changi Airport Terminal 4 by Changi Airport Group, The Future of Us Pavilion by the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), The Warehouse Hotel by Asylum Creative Pte Ltd, weatherHYDE by billionBricks, and Who Cares? Transforming the Caregiving Experience in Singapore by fuelfor and the National Council of Social Service. (Please refer to the Appendix [PDF, 685kb] for details on all recipients)

This year’s P*DA recipients come from diverse fields, spanning visual communication, product and industrial design, interior design, experience and service design, engineering design, design strategy and architecture. As part of a revamp after a decade, the P*DA now places greater emphasis on outcome-based design impact in addition to the longstanding criteria of excellence in design craftsmanship.

Candidates for the Designer of the Year category were evaluated on their design philosophy; innovation and originality; significance and range of portfolio; leadership in their design disciplines; and portfolio of works that have demonstrated impact on contemporary life and living environment, and have social and national significance as well as iconic value. 

As for the Design of the Year projects, they were evaluated on the innovation and originality in design ethos; design research; aesthetics and craftsmanship; and impact of design in one or more of the four areas: enabling economic transformation; raising quality of life; advancing Singapore’s brand, culture and community; and ground-breaking design achievements. 

As a result of the revamp, the first-ever multi-disciplinary jury panel was appointed to evaluate the non-architectural entries. The esteemed 17-member panel of local and international jurors, which includes past P*DA recipients, are leaders in design, business, and architecture. In addition to selecting the 2018 recipients, the jury also commended Toh Yah Li, Partner at Light Collab LLP, for her work in lighting design. 

“The 2018 P*DA recipients represent what we advocate for design in Singapore – an exceptional form of human-centric creativity that goes far beyond the aesthetics. Singapore has always tapped the power of design to meet the many challenges we face as a small island nation. The recipients embody this spirit of transforming and improving lives, businesses, society and even the world through design,” said Mark Wee, Executive Director, DesignSingapore Council. 

“We are encouraged to see the architectural recipients continue to forge the way forward in designing thoughtful, transformative and innovative spaces and places. We applaud their celebration of community and greenery in ways that are also respectful to the projects’ contexts,” said Larry Ng, Group Director, Architecture and Urban Design Excellence of URA.

The recipients were picked from a total of 131 eligible entries. Out of the 24 eligible entries for the “Designer of the Year” award, 6 designers and 2 architects were shortlisted. Out of 107 eligible entries for “Design of the Year”, 23 design and 14 architectural projects were shortlisted.