Hospice’s sky garden a refuge for DesignSingapore Council’s Dawn Lim during caregiving

Who: Ms Dawn Lim, 43, is the executive director of DesignSingapore Council (DSG), the national agency for design. Before that, she spent more than a decade at the Singapore Economic Development Board. Today, she is also a mentor with the Young Women’s Leadership Connection and sits on the board of the Singapore Repertory Theatre.

The year ahead will be pivotal for Ms Lim and her team. In May, DSG will launch the Design Masterplan 2035, a collaborative, ground-up road map shaped with input from more than 670 stakeholders and 6,000 members of the public. The aim is that by 2035, every Singaporean will be using design in his or her work and daily life.

On the international front, DSG will return to Milan Design Week in April with Prototype Island, an exhibition which signals the agency’s push to nurture both design and curatorial talent. 

Closer to home, 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of the President’s Design Awards. A special showcase of past recipients is planned for September.

Ms Lim and her team will also expand Singapore’s flagship design platform, Singapore Design Week, into a biennale format from 2027. With a larger footprint and longer run, an open call will be launched in June 2026, inviting the community to shape the next chapter of design in Singapore.

“The Sky Garden at Dover Park Hospice is a tranquil, therapeutic and accessible green space designed for patients and their families to take a break and enjoy nature.

Cosily sited on Level 4 of the hospice, the open-air space is part of Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s Integrated Care Hub at HealthCity Novena. 

The space is a green refuge with seating and a koi pond that patients and families can access directly from the inpatient wards.

The hospice moved into the hub in October 2023 after the 17-storey, 608-bed complex was completed. It was officially launched in March 2024.

In the past, purpose-built hospices like Dover Park Hospice were rare. Designers like DP Architects reconfigured key spaces within the former hospice building at 10 Jalan Tan Tock Seng and designed the new hospice spaces within the integrated facility, playing a pioneering role in realising Singapore’s first dedicated hospice.

For me, the hospice’s Sky Garden became a quiet refuge through a difficult period during the last days of my late father’s illness at the palliative care facility in 2024.

It was where I paused and breathed as I navigated caregiving responsibilities, while still juggling a full-time job. It also holds some of my last and fondest memories of time spent with my father, who deeply appreciated the fresh air, quiet calm and lush greenery.

What I find healing and inspiring about the garden is that it gave me respite, so that I could sustain the demands of caregiving as well as leading at work.

Caring for a loved one can weigh on one’s mental and emotional well-being, especially when it has to be balanced with the many other responsibilities of daily life.

Finding deliberate moments and spaces to take a breather is crucial in maintaining sanity and finding the strength to keep pressing on.

Dr Liew Li Lian, the hospice’s chief executive, and her team went to great lengths to sensitively design the patient and caregiver experience during the most challenging time – a patient’s end-of-life journey.

We were shown so much kindness and compassion that I have immense respect for the medical and nursing team taking care of both patients and their loved ones.

The calm environment reflects how thoughtful design can support emotional healing and reflection.

Over the years, we have also seen design increasingly playing a central role in healthcare infrastructure such as Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, designed by CPG Consultants. It received the President’s Design Award in 2011 for Design of the Year.

Conceived as a ‘hospital in a garden’, its blocks open towards Yishun Pond and wrap the wards in layers of greenery, water features and courtyards to create what some have called a medical Shangri-La.  

Subsidised wards were deliberately placed in the breeziest parts of the site for natural ventilation, and most beds look out to greenery or water instead of blank walls.

Inside, intuitive wayfinding, logical clustering of clinics, and small details such as family rooms and thoughtfully designed cutlery signal a more patient-centred, dignity-focused approach to care.

The project is widely cited as an international case study in biophilic hospital design and has set a benchmark for how public healthcare buildings in Singapore can also function as welcoming green spaces for the wider community.  

According to the National Population and Talent Division, Singapore is on track to become a super-aged society in 2026, when about 21 per cent of citizens will be 65 or older. 

As more seniors age in place at home and family sizes shrink, the country must plan not just for medical care, but also for a much larger pool of caregivers, stronger community support and programmes like Healthier SG and Age Well SG that help older adults stay active, connected and cared for in their neighbourhoods.

As a caregiver to my parents, I understand the emotional and physical pressures that come with the role.

Research shows caregivers spend nearly seven hours a day with those in their care, and about 40 per cent of them are at risk of burnout from their day-to-day duties.

That is why designing for care is a key focus for DSG, and it will have greater representation in the Design Masterplan 2035.

Beyond healthcare, it is about building caring and cohesive societies that underscore how thoughtful design can help us live happier and healthier lives together.”