PRESIDENT'S DESIGN AWARD

Winning designs

From a 12-piece teak furniture collection to a golden-hued factory building that stands out in the industrial Sungei Kadut area, the 13 winners in the Design of the Year category are a diverse group.

The prestigious accolade is icing on the cake for many of the winners, as many of them have already chalked up other awards and garnered public attention.

Prologue, multinational collective Outofstock's teak collection for local furniture store Scanteak, sold well when it was released, while home-grown architecture firm DP Architects' Sungei Kadut project was lauded by the architecture fraternity for being a different kind of industrial building. The Sunray Woodcraft Construction Headquarters can be easily spotted in Sungei Kadut with its yellow facade, inspired by stacked boxes.

The National Gallery Singapore by studioMilou Singapore and CPG Consultants has drawn crowds since its opening two weeks ago, while the library@orchard by Singapore Polytechnic, which collaborated with DIA Group, National Library Board and New Space Architects, draws bookworms to its cocooned alcoves.

Park + Associates also received a nod for turning the interiors of the staff office and library of the former Nan Chiau High School in Kim Yam Road into an open- concept office.

Family editorial project, the Rubbish FAMzine Series, by advertising honcho Pann Lim, his homemaker wife Claire and children Renn, 12, and nine- year-old Aira, delighted the jury with its quirky concept of packaging a magazine and its unusual content.

Boutique architectural consultancy firm HCF and Associates wowed last year's Archifest visitors by creating Fugue 1, 3, 5, 7 - an event pavilion made out of 3,885 plastic stools.

The Straits Times checks out the other projects that won.


1 The Caterpillar's Cove Child Development and Study Centre

By Lekker Architects

Husband-and-wife design duo Joshua Comaroff and Ong Ker-Shing and their team were tasked to turn a nondescript office space into a childcare centre that doubles as a living laboratory for early childhood researchers.

The Jurong East centre is designed like a schoolyard. For example, it has an outdoor sand-play area and its columns are modelled as trees. There are spaces for trainee teachers to stay out of sight while they observe children.

The couple drew on their own experiences as parents with young children for their design.


2 Deck - People, Place, Photography

By Laud Architects

An independent art space sits on a vacant block of state land in Prinsep Street. But instead of being housed in a conventional building, Deck, which focuses on works by photo artists, is housed in 19 furbished containers.

The stacked containers were cheaper and light, which meant that they could be easily set up. The containers house two galleries, a resource library, an activity space, an artist studio and a cafe.

Its two-year lease ends next year, though the owners, non-profit entity Art Photography Centre, are looking to extend it.


3 Pour

By Hans Tan Studio

The steamed, multi-coloured traditional Nonya cake kueh lapis sagu was the inspiration for the top of this side table. The puddle-like circles of resin in yellow, turquoise, pink, sky blue and light green were hand-poured. Each layer had to set well before others were poured over so that the colours did not mix, and a smooth surface could be created. Attached to a pedestal base, it appears as if the colours are flowing up the table's stem.


4 Dita, The Answer Earphones

By Project Perfection

The designers deconstructed the typical earphone and came up with a product that fixes daily earphone struggles. For example, cables

were made oversized so that they would be less prone to tangling. Users can also touch a tactile nub to distinguish between the earphones' left and right sides. A pair of The Answer earphones costs US$649 (S$913) at www.ditaaudio.com


5 AIR+ Smart Mask and Micro-Ventilator

By Innosparks, a subsidiary of ST Engineering, in collaboration with Stuck Design

To overcome the problem of ill-fitting face masks, Innosparks surveyed Asian adults and children and designed different prototypes that could fit a wider range of face profiles. The Micro Ventilator add-on removes heat, moisture and carbon dioxide from the mask. Stuck Design came on board to design a sleek yet functional mask. It is sold at Watsons stores.


6 The Oliv

By W Architects

This 23-unit condominium in Balmoral Road has green sky terraces that are angled in a non-linear configuration along its facade. This means that each unit - there are only two on every floor - has greenery at its front door and double volume ceilings. The project was also named Building of the Year at last year's Singapore Institute of Architects Architectural Design Awards.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 12, 2015, with the headline Winning designs. Subscribe