Mark of Excellence

The winners of the SIA Architectural Design Awards 2024 displayed much ingenuity in crafting spaces that seamlessly meld modernity with history and tradition.

- Sandhya Mahadevan

The close relationship between architecture and nature seemed to be the overarching design principle among the winners of the 2024 Architectural Design Awards, organised by the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA).

They stretched the limits of their creativity yet remained true to the natural form of things, and they did this across all disciplines-from residential to adaptive reuse to urban restoration projects. The SIA Architectural Design Awards were handed out across seven categories, with one architectural firm notably picking up two awards for the same project.

All the category awards, except the Design of the Year announcement, were made public at a finalists party sponsored by Home Action Party, which preceded the awards gala. Here are the projects that were selected as the winners.

21 CARPENTER BY WOHA ARCHITECTS

DESIGN OF THE YEAR AND AWARD FOR HOTEL CATEGORY

Chye Hua Seng Wee Kee was once a remittance house situated where Chinatown meets Clarke Quay.

Today, it shines as a boutique hotel, reimagined by award-winning Woha Architects. In May, this project was also named as one of the recipients in the Best Adaptive Reuse category of the Tatler Homes Design Awards 2024 - Singapore.

The architects used reclaimed heritage materials, worked with local artisans and stayed true to their zero-plastics ethos across the entire hotel.

In tribute to the building's storied past and its cultural significance to early immigrants, 21 Carpenter's facade-in Shanghai plaster dating back to the 1930sdisplays a list of cities and regions to which remittances were sent.

The firm has also carefully woven poignant verses from vintage remittance letters into the elegant design of the aluminium facade of the new addition.