Our Tampines Hub and DPA Office receive highest honours for outstanding local interior design

The evening of 3^rd December at the 2020 Singapore Interior Design Awards ceremony was a night of celebration for DP Design. Its works on Our Tampines Hub (OTH) and the DPA Office not only clinched Gold under Best in Public Space Design (Civic and Cultural) category and Silver under Best in Workspace Design (Floor Area > 500 sqm) category, respectively.

OTH, the first integrated people-centric and inclusive community and lifestyle hub of its kind in Singapore, champions a refreshed model of shared economies and unique spatial and programmatic synthesis. It co-locates over 30 community, sports, cultural, civic and lifestyle activities and programmes within a single development; expressed through interlocking volumes of differentiated materiality and textures that are woven together by flowing elevated streetscapes and green terraces.

Its array of visually connected communal spaces, streets and informal settings encourage exchanges, bonding and promote greater social cohesion, making OTH a truly inclusive and memorable shared community environment for Tampines residents.

The new DPA office, which consolidates two architectural studios previously located on opposite ends of the mall, spans over 4000sqm of contiguous space in the Marina Square mall in Singapore. Here, DP Design is recognized for its unconventional approach to the front-of-house of the office space. In a creative response to its site context and spatial purpose, the team had envisioned a blurring of line between two vastly different typologies – office and retail. The result is an atypical open concept of a lounge, reception front while retaining essences identifiable to an architectural company.
The interior design works was also applauded for its eco-consciousness. This was articulated in its sweeping walls of organic timber features are sustainably sourced and open space planning strategies which created room for the retainment of 50% of its existing furniture stock. The latter, though a simple and straightforward approach, also served to reinforce DP’s open and collaborative design culture.

For its bold yet acutely thoughtful designs, the two projects also received the highest interior design accolade that evening – Gold Luminary Award for OTH and Silver Luminary Award for DPA Office. Exclusive to Singapore participants of SIDA 2020, the Luminary Award celebrates outstanding interior design talents and their work in the local design industry.

On the Luminary Awards, principal designer at DP Design Mike Lim said, “The honour bestowed on OTH and DP Office was unexpected and we are humbled by the recognition. At DP Design, the intent of our work is to create truly people-centric spaces that altruistically serves a communal purpose. To have been thus recognised is affirmation that our vision and heart for design is in the right place.”
The awards event, which took place as part of the Society of Interior Designers Singapore (SIDS) Design Convention 2020, also saw Mike speak in a panel discussion about how interior designers can futureproof their skills, how the local interior design fraternity can contribute to the rest of the region and areas in which the industry can still grow. Mike spoke alongside Oscar Wezenbeek, Managing Director of Decorative Paints, South Asia & South East Asia, AkzoNobel; Professor Carlos Banon, Director and Co-founder of AIRLAB Singapore; and Ar Ong Tze Boon, Group Executive Chairman of ONG&ONG. The discussion was moderated by Fann Zhi Jie, Chairman, Society of Interior Designers, Singapore (SIDS) Education Committee & Course Chair, Singapore Polytechnic.

SIDA 2020, organised by the SIDS, aims to elevate the standards and profiles of interior designers regionally and around the globe and is the only leading interior design awards programme in Singapore to be recognised and endorsed by the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI) and the DesignSingapore Council (DSG).