LEVELLING UP

Fresh from his win at the President's Design Award, architect ALAN TAY shares about his hopes to diversify his projects, so that he can make a bigger, positive impact on society.

- Words: LOW SHI PING

Alan Tay has a lot on his mind lately.

Having just received one of the nation's most prestigious design awards, he has been in a reflective mood. At the same time, he is actively thinking about his future and making plans. Then, there is ensuring that the day-to-day challenges of running the practice he co-founded, Formwerkz Architects, do not dilute the passion he feels for his craft.

Listening to him elaborate on his tasks and trials in an interview via video conference sheds some light on what it takes to be named the Designer of the Year at the President's Design Award (PDA), as Tay recently was. “It is definitely a very timely encouragement, and validation of what we have done over the last 20 years,” says the 52-year-old. “It tells us we are on the right track and doing some good.”

FROM PRIVATE TO PUBLIC

Best known for his residential architecture, Tay has designed more than 50 houses since he graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2000, before setting up Formwerkz four years later. Common threads that run through them are a strong relationship with nature, an emphasis on comfort (due to the tropical weather), and the maintaining of ties with the residents and community.