In this series, The Straits Times speaks to designers and residents about urban spaces that inspire them

I almost went to medical school because I wanted to be a healer. I chose being an architect because I love creating spaces, though I have wondered if this meant forsaking a life’s calling for promoting health and well-being.

- Chantal Sajan

Who: Ms Ong Ker-Shing, 49, co-founded Lekker Architects in 2014 with her American husband, Dr Joshua Comaroff, 51, a permanent resident. She is a Singapore-registered architect and an Associate Professor of Practice at the National University of Singapore's Department of Architecture. She earned her master's degrees in architecture and landscape architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design in the United States.

Among her firm's many design awards is the prestigious Design of the Year, which Lekker won twice at the President's Design Award Singapore. The first was in 2015 for pre-school The Caterpillar's Cove. The second was in 2023 for Hack Care: Tips And Tricks For A Dementia-Friendly Home, a sensitively produced 244-page toolkit for caregivers.

Ms Ong also sits on the advisory board of the Preservation of Sites and Monuments, under the National Heritage Board.

"I almost went to medical school because I wanted to be a healer. I chose being an architect because I love creating spaces, though I have wondered if this meant forsaking a life's calling for promoting health and well-being.

But, at almost 50, reflecting on my portfolio of work, I realise I have been doing that all along by designing spaces that heal.

Which is why the focus of this series, Places Of The Heart, is particularly meaningful as my husband Joshua and I are both in the business of designing projects that touch the heart.

We started Lekker Architects about a decade ago to be able to combine social science and design research for evidence-based projects that focus on elevating the well-being of those who use our designs.