Property
Published March 30, 2006


S'pore architectural firms bag top awards
The winners are SCDA's The Ladyhill and WOHA's The Met condominiums


By ARTHUR SIM


SINGAPORE architectural firms are gaining international recognition, with SCDA Architects and WOHA leading the way.



Engaging nature: The Ladyhill has won the Gold Medal in the multi-family residential category of the Miami + Beach Biennal 2005 International Competition


SCDA's The Ladyhill, a high-end condominium developed by SC Global and GuocoLand, has won the Gold Medal in the multi-family residential category of the Miami + Beach Biennal 2005 International Competition.

Typical of SCDA's work, The Ladyhill is characterised by lush gardens, watercourts and airwells which engage nature.

SC Global's chairman and CEO Simon Cheong says: 'We believe this is a significant achievement in the global contest for recognition, with local talent being acclaimed alongside some of the world's luminaries.'

Another SC Global residential project - The Lincoln Modern, also designed by SCDA - won the Royal Institute of British Architects Worldwide Award last year.

WOHA's The Met, developed by Hotel Properties in Thailand, has won the Architectural Review MIPIM future project awards. MIPIM is an international real estate event. The Met, a high-rise condominium in Bangkok, explores how aspects of low-rise tropical housing can be applied to create indoor-outdoor spaces in the sky. WOHA has received accolades in the past, including ARCAsia awards, Fiabci Prix d'Excellence and the Architectural Review Awards 2005.

On its latest win, WOHA director Wong Mun Summ says: 'International recognition has brought us international and enlightened clients . . . ones that look for good architecture. We are currently doing work in Australia, Japan and Bali.'

He added: 'Most of our ideas are applicable to Singapore's context but will require a more daring developer who will not necessarily always want to maximise efficiency and gross floor area.'

Mr Wong says that it currently has 50 projects in the region worth over $500 million. In Singapore, WOHA is working on NOMU, a mixed development next to Cathay Building for the Sin Heng Chan Group.