President’s Design Award turns 20: Cute tableware, heartland church and ground-breaking S’pore design

The awards have been a way to showcase innovation in designing for Singapore’s unique context.

PHOTOS: WOHA ARCHITECTS, SUPERMAMA, STREETWAVE, MELVIN HJ TAN/LAUD ARCHITECTECTS

Published Sep 18, 2026, 10:05 AM

Updated Sep 18, 2026, 01:05 PM

The President’s Design Award (PDA), started in 2006, recognises innovative Singapore designs impacting economy, quality of life and community.

Award-winning projects highlight Singapore’s unique design approach, blending functionality with local context and empathy for users.

The PDA boosts local designers’ credibility and exposure, inspiring culturally rooted creativity and helping Singapore design gain global recognition and influence.

SINGAPORE – A caster board , a heartland church and tableware that pays homage to Singapore without looking like a kitschy souvenir.

What do these three very different things have in common? They are all President’s Design Award (PDA) winners, recognised for showcasing the best of Singapore design.

The PDA, which began in 2006, is organised by the DesignSingapore Council (DSG) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and conferred by the President of Singapore.

In its first 10 years, it was conferred annually. But since the 2018 edition, it has been conferred biennially, other than a three-year break between the 2020 and 2023 editions.

DSG and URA say the biennial cycle allows for deeper consideration of a design’s impact in one or more of the four criteria: enabling economic transformation; raising quality of life; advancing Singapore brand, culture and connecting communities; and making ground-breaking achievements in design.

However, the next edition of the PDA will take place in 2028. This is because 2027 ushers in the inaugural Singapore Design Biennale, a six-week islandwide event that will also see the participation of PDA-winning designers and projects.

To commemorate PDA’s 20th-anniversary milestone in 2026, DSG and URA have launched P*DA20: Power Of Singapore Design, an exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore running until Nov 1 and showcasing all 130 Designs of the Year and 47 Designers of the Year that have been awarded since 2006.

Visitors can discover sketches, prototypes and working materials behind the projects, including some that have never been shown publicly before.

The P*DA20: Power Of Singapore Design exhibition is at the National Museum of Singapore until Nov 1. PHOTO: PENORAMIC PUBLISHING

The P*DA20: Power Of Singapore Design exhibition is at the National Museum of Singapore until Nov 1.

PHOTO: PENORAMIC PUBLISHING

Yap Lay Bee, group director for architecture and urban design at URA, says the awards have been a way to showcase innovative approaches to designing for Singapore’s unique context, while also taking Singapore design and expertise to the world.

“Designer of the Year winners have shaped not just Singapore’s distinctive skyline, but also how people experience and enjoy the city,” she notes.

For instance, Jewel Changi Airport, 2020’s Design of the Year winner, “turned a transit point into a distinctive destination point”, says Yap.

Meanwhile, Oasia Hotel Downtown, 2018’s Design of the Year winner, “demonstrates how greenery can be creatively woven into a dense city”.

“These projects show that even in a compact city-state, good design can create places that are liveable, enjoyable and meaningful to everyone,” adds Yap.

Oasia Hotel Downtown was a Design of the Year winner in 2018. PHOTOS: K.KOPTER, ST FILE

Oasia Hotel Downtown was a Design of the Year winner in 2018.

PHOTOS: K.KOPTER, ST FILE

DSG’s executive director Dawn Lim observes that the winners over the years also showcase how the country’s design landscape has grown in these last two decades.

“In the earlier years, design was largely about place and space, and what connects them is empathy for how people really live, with design shaped around them. There were civic buildings, interior design and industrial products such as Bishan Library,” she says, referring to the 2007 Design of the Year winner.

“Over time, that attention turned to shaping those spaces around the lived realities of the people who use them. For instance, recovery and care in a hospital designed around its patients, like Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (Design of the Year, 2011), or growing older within a community, as seen in Kampung Admiralty (Design of the Year, 2020).”

Bishan Library was a Design of the Year winner in 2007. PHOTO: ST FILE

Bishan Library was a Design of the Year winner in 2007.

Recent recipients also highlight how the common understanding of design has grown beyond just tangible objects, says Lim.

For instance, the Silver Pride Lion Troupe, which was a Design of the Year winner in 2025, is Singapore’s first lion dance troupe for senior citizens.

“Design, at its core, is about using creativity to address a need, starting with understanding and empathy, then shaping something that meets it. The Silver Pride Lion Troupe is very much a designed product,” says Lim.

“By making carefully designed tweaks to the traditional equipment and choreography, the designers made it accessible, turning something the seniors had only ever watched from the side into something they could safely take part in and enjoy.”

The debut performance of the Silver Pride Lion Troupe, Singapore’s first lion dance troupe for seniors, at Holland Close in 2024. PHOTO: ST FILE

The debut performance of the Silver Pride Lion Troupe, Singapore’s first lion dance troupe for seniors, at Holland Close in 2024.

Notably, the PDA has also recognised projects with international involvement. For instance, Samsung AddWash was recognised as a Design of the Year winner in 2016.

AddWash is a feature that allows users to add items of clothing to their washing machine loads mid-cycle.

“While Samsung is a global company and the wider project involved teams across markets, the innovation at the heart of AddWash was led by Samsung’s product innovation team based in Singapore, serving South-east Asia and Oceania. That Singapore-led insight went on to shape a product launched worldwide,” says Lim.

She adds that even for these international projects, Singapore must be involved in a meaningful way. “The key criterion is that the design work itself takes place here, whether partially or fully, and that it is led by Singapore talent, with the lead designer or team lead being a Singapore citizen or permanent resident.”

How the PDA catalyses Singapore design

There is no monetary prize attached to the PDA, but recipients receive a trophy. Building-based projects also receive a plaque.

Nevertheless, winners say it has proven to be an important stepping stone into the world of design.

Edwin Low, founder of design and lifestyle goods store Supermama, says that winning the PDA in 2013 – for the brand’s now-signature Singapore Icons porcelain collection – was a crucial credibility boost for a fledgling company.

Supermama was founded in 2010, and the blue-and-white Singapore Icons collection features fun and visually interesting takes on familiar Singapore motifs – such as old-school HDB blocks – on plates.

“(The collection) opened conversations with designers, manufacturers, museums and institutions that would probably have been much harder for us to access at that stage,” says Low.

Imran Othman, a product designer at Streetwave when the company’s Streetwave Swaveboard won Design of the Year in 2011, agrees. “(The win) provided the credibility and platform I needed to work overseas, and to thereby immerse myself in advanced manufacturing technologies. This ultimately paved the way for (me to open) my own design consultancy.”

The Swaveboard is a two-wheeled caster board that brings the experience of surfboarding or snowboarding to land.

Laud Architects, which won a PDA in 2020 for its work on PCF Sparkletots @ Punggol Shore, received “significant local and international exposure”, says Ho Tzu Yin, joint managing director of the local architecture firm.

Designed for up to 1,000 children, from infants to four-year-olds, the pre-school was conceived as “a simple yet thoughtful environment centred on the needs of children, educators and parents”.

PCF Sparkletots @ Punggol Shore was a Design of the Year winner in 2020. PHOTO: ST FILE

PCF Sparkletots @ Punggol Shore was a Design of the Year winner in 2020.

As such, more important than the exposure, “the recognition reinforced our belief that socially purposeful architecture – particularly spaces designed around the everyday needs and experiences of children – can achieve meaningful design impact”, adds Ho.

Richard Hassell, co-founding director of Woha Architects, expresses similar sentiments with respect to his firm’s work on the Church of St Mary of the Angels in Bukit Batok. The project won Design of the Year at the inaugural PDA in 2006.

“It gave national recognition to the ideas we were exploring through projects such as St Mary of the Angels – architecture that responded specifically to Singapore’s tropical climate, density, culture and patterns of communal life,” he says.

And in doing so, “it helped build confidence among clients and the wider public that contemporary architecture in Singapore could be both innovative and deeply rooted in its particular place and community”, he adds.

Likewise, Low is proud that Supermama’s Singapore Icons has continued to live on, more than a decade after its PDA win – along with helping to inform the local design landscape for lifestyle products featuring uniquely Singaporean designs.

“At the time (in the early 2010s), Singapore souvenirs tended to be quite literal. We wanted to see whether our familiar symbols, habits, food, architecture and memories could be interpreted with more wit, abstraction and sophistication, while still feeling unmistakably Singaporean,” he notes.

“Over time, that thinking became much bigger than the collection itself. It shaped Supermama’s approach to working with Singapore designers and international manufacturers, and our belief that good objects can carry culture.”

“Today, there are many Singapore brands and designers confidently drawing from local culture in very different ways. I wouldn’t claim Singapore Icons caused that change, but I’m happy that we were part of that shift,” he adds.

P*DA20: Power Of Singapore Design is ongoing at National Museum of Singapore’s Stamford Gallery until Nov 1. The opening hours are 10am to 7pm, with the last admission at 6.30pm. Admission is free.

Yamini Chinnuswamy is a correspondent at The Straits Times. She covers lifestyle news and features, with a focus on pop culture and design.

DesignSingapore Council

这些奖项旨在展示针对新加坡独特环境进行创新设计的一种方式。

图片来源：WOHA ARCHITECTS、SUPERMAMA、STREETWAVE、MELVIN HJ TAN/LAUD ARCHITECTS

发布于 2026 年 9 月 18 日上午 10:05

更新于2026年9月18日下午1:05

总统设计奖（PDA）始于2006年，旨在表彰对新加坡经济、生活质量和社会产生影响的创新设计。

获奖项目突显了新加坡独特的设计理念，将功能性与当地环境和对用户的同理心相结合。

PDA提升了本地设计师的信誉和知名度，激发了植根于文化的创造力，并帮助新加坡设计获得全球认可和影响力。

新加坡——一块滑板、一座位于社区中心的教堂和一套餐具，都体现了对新加坡的敬意，却又不显得俗气。

这三件截然不同的事物有什么共同之处？它们都是总统设计奖（PDA）的获奖作品，该奖项旨在表彰展现新加坡最佳设计的作品。

PDA始于2006年，由新加坡设计理事会（DSG）和市区重建局（URA）组织，并由新加坡总统授予。

在最初的10年里，该奖项每年颁发一次。但自2018年起，除2020年和2023年之间间隔三年外，改为每两年颁发一次。

DSG 和 URA 表示，两年一次的周期可以更深入地考虑设计在以下四个标准中的一个或多个方面的影响：促进经济转型；提高生活质量；提升新加坡品牌、文化和社区联系；以及在设计方面取得突破性成就。

然而，下一届 PDA 将于 2028 年举行。这是因为 2027 年将迎来首届新加坡设计双年展，这是一项为期六周的全岛性活动，届时 PDA 获奖设计师和项目也将参与其中。

为纪念新加坡设计奖 (PDA) 2026 年的 20 周年里程碑，新加坡设计局 (DSG) 和市区重建局 (URA) 推出了 P*DA20：新加坡设计的力量展览，该展览在新加坡国家博物馆举行，展期至 11 月 1 日，展出了自 2006 年以来颁发的所有 130 项年度设计奖和 47 位年度设计师奖。

参观者可以发现项目背后的草图、原型和工作材料，其中一些是以前从未公开展示过的。

P*DA20：新加坡设计的力量展览正在新加坡国家博物馆展出，展期至11月1日。图片：PENORAMIC PUBLISHING

P*DA20：新加坡设计的力量展览正在新加坡国家博物馆展出，展期至11月1日。

图片：PENORAMIC PUBLISHING

市区重建局建筑与城市设计组总监叶丽美表示，这些奖项既展示了针对新加坡独特环境的创新设计方法，也向世界展示了新加坡的设计和专业知识。

她指出：“年度设计师奖的获得者不仅塑造了新加坡独特的城市天际线，也塑造了人们体验和享受这座城市的方式。”

例如，2020 年年度设计奖得主樟宜机场星耀樟宜“将一个中转点变成了一个独特的目的地”，叶先生说道。

与此同时，荣获 2018 年度最佳设计奖的 Oasia Hotel Downtown “展示了如何将绿色植物创造性地融入到人口密集的城市中”。

“这些项目表明，即使在紧凑的城市国家，好的设计也能创造出宜居、令人愉悦且对每个人都有意义的地方，”叶补充道。

Oasia Hotel Downtown 荣获 2018 年度最佳设计奖。图片：K.KOPTER，ST FILE

Oasia Hotel Downtown 荣获 2018 年度最佳设计奖。

照片：K.KOPTER，ST FILE

DSG 执行董事 Dawn Lim 指出，历年来的获奖者也展现了该国设计领域在过去二十年中的发展情况。

“在早期，设计主要关注场所和空间，它们的共同之处在于对人们真实生活方式的同理心，设计围绕着人们的生活而展开。这包括市政建筑、室内设计和工业产品，例如碧山图书馆，”她说道，这里指的是2007年度设计奖的获奖作品。

“随着时间的推移，人们的关注点转向了如何围绕使用者的真实生活场景来塑造这些空间。例如，像邱德拔医院（2011年度设计奖）那样，医院的设计以患者为中心，注重康复和护理；又如甘榜海军部（2020年度设计奖）那样，注重在社区中安享晚年。”

碧山图书馆荣获2007年度最佳设计奖。图片来源：海峡时报档案

碧山图书馆荣获2007年度最佳设计奖。

林表示，最近的获奖者也强调了人们对设计的普遍理解已经超越了有形物体的范畴。

例如，荣获 2025 年度设计奖的“银狮骄傲舞狮队”是新加坡第一个为老年人服务的舞狮队。

林说：“设计的本质在于运用创造力来满足需求，从理解和同理心出发，然后塑造出满足需求的事物。银色骄傲狮队就是一个精心设计的产品。”

“通过对传统器材和编舞进行精心设计的调整，设计师们使其更易于参与，将老年人以前只能在一旁观看的活动，变成了他们可以安全参与并享受的活动。”

新加坡首个老年人舞狮队——银狮骄傲舞狮队将于2024年在荷兰苑（Holland Close）进行首演。（图片：海峡时报档案）

新加坡首个老年人舞狮队——银狮骄傲舞狮队将于 2​​024 年在荷兰路举行首场演出。

值得一提的是，PDA也表彰了一些具有国际合作的项目。例如，三星AddWash在2016年荣获年度设计奖。

AddWash 是一项允许用户在洗衣机运行过程中添加衣物的功能。

林表示：“虽然三星是一家全球性公司，而且整个项目涉及多个市场的团队，但AddWash的核心创新是由三星位于新加坡的产品创新团队主导的，该团队服务于东南亚和大洋洲地区。正是这种新加坡主导的洞察力最终塑造了这款面向全球推出的产品。”

她补充说，即使是这些国际项目，新加坡也必须以有意义的方式参与其中。“关键标准是设计工作本身必须在新加坡完成，无论是部分还是全部，并且必须由新加坡人才主导，首席设计师或团队负责人必须是新加坡公民或永久居民。”

PDA如何促进新加坡设计

PDA奖项不设奖金，但获奖者会获得奖杯。以建筑为基础的项目还会获得一块奖牌。

然而，获奖者们表示，事实证明，这已成为进入设计领域的重要跳板。

设计和生活方式用品商店 Supermama 的创始人 Edwin Low 表示，该品牌如今的标志性产品新加坡标志性瓷器系列在 2013 年赢得 PDA 奖，这对一家羽翼未丰的公司来说是一个至关重要的信誉提升。

Supermama 成立于 2010 年，其蓝白相间的 Singapore Icons 系列餐盘以趣味盎然、视觉效果引人入胜的方式展现了新加坡的标志性元素，例如老式组屋。

Low表示：“（这个系列）开启了我们与设计师、制造商、博物馆和机构之间的对话，而在此阶段，我们可能很难接触到这些机构。”

伊姆兰·奥斯曼是Streetwave公司的一名产品设计师，该公司2011年推出的Streetwave Swaveboard产品荣获年度设计奖。他对此表示赞同。“（获奖）为我提供了在海外工作所需的信誉和平台，使我能够深入了解先进的制造技术。这最终为我创办自己的设计咨询公司铺平了道路。”

Swaveboard 是一款双轮滑板，可将冲浪或滑雪的体验带到陆地上。

Laud Architects 凭借其在榜鹅海岸的 PCF Sparkletots 项目于 2020 年获得 PDA 奖，并获得了“重要的本地和国际曝光”，当地建筑事务所的联合董事总经理何子寅表示。

这所幼儿园的设计可容纳多达 1000 名儿童，从婴儿到四岁儿童，其理念是“一个简单而周到的环境，以儿童、教育者和家长的需求为中心”。

PCF Sparkletots @ Punggol Shore 荣获 2020 年度最佳设计奖。图片来源：海峡时报档案

PCF Sparkletots @ Punggol Shore 荣获 2020 年度最佳设计奖。

因此，比曝光更重要的是，“这种认可强化了我们的信念，即具有社会意义的建筑——特别是围绕儿童的日常需求和体验而设计的空间——可以产生有意义的设计影响”，何补充道。

Woha Architects的联合创始人兼董事Richard Hassell也表达了类似的看法，他指的是该公司在武吉巴督设计的圣玛丽天使教堂。该项目在2006年首届PDA（专业设计奖）上荣获年度最佳设计奖。

他说：“这让我们通过圣玛丽天使教堂等项目探索的理念获得了全国的认可——这些建筑专门针对新加坡的热带气候、人口密度、文化和社区生活模式。”

他还补充说，这样做“有助于增强客户和广大公众的信心，让他们相信新加坡的当代建筑既可以具有创新性，又可以深深扎根于其特定的地点和社区”。

同样，Low 也为 Supermama 的新加坡标志性产品在赢得 PDA 十多年后依然经久不衰而感到自豪，同时还帮助塑造了以新加坡独特设计为特色的生活方式产品的本地设计格局。

“在当时（2010 年代初期），新加坡纪念品往往比较直白。我们想看看，我们熟悉的符号、习惯、食物、建筑和记忆能否以更诙谐、抽象和精致的方式来诠释，同时又不失鲜明的新加坡特色，”他指出。

“随着时间的推移，这种想法变得远超系列本身。它塑造了 Supermama 与新加坡设计师和国际制造商合作的方式，以及我们对‘好的物品可以承载文化’这一信念。”

“如今，许多新加坡品牌和设计师都自信地以各种不同的方式从本土文化中汲取灵感。我并不认为新加坡标志性品牌促成了这种改变，但我很高兴我们参与了这一转变，”他补充道。

“P*DA20：新加坡设计的力量”展览正在新加坡国家博物馆斯坦福画廊展出，展期至11月1日。开放时间为上午10点至晚上7点，最后入场时间为晚上6点30分。免费入场。

Yamini Chinnuswamy是《海峡时报》的记者。她负责报道生活方式新闻和专题报道，重点关注流行文化和设计。

新加坡设计理事会