From a future-ready pavilion in Osaka to beautifully crafted interiors and emerging student talent, this year’s Singapore Interior Design Awards (SIDA) shines a light on the spaces and designers shaping how we live.
Top image: Singapore Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka by KR+D, winner of Best in Exhibition Design – Exhibits / Installation, and Design of the Year
Text by Janice Seow
Each year, the Singapore Interior Design Awards (SIDA) offers a glimpse into where design is headed. This year’s edition made that picture especially clear, reflecting a thriving industry that continues to raise its standards.
The awards ceremony, held at Sands Expo and Convention Centre on 24 November, was graced by Guest-of-Honour Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Finance and National Development, who noted that professional interior designers today play an essential role in shaping lives for the better through design. She said: “Whether it is designing productive workplaces, creating vibrant community spaces, or building homes that form the backdrop of our family life, your creativity and work touch the daily experiences of every Singaporean.”
That appreciation for design’s everyday impact was also reflected in the judging process. The jury panel described SIDA 2025 as the programme’s “most rigorous and high-calibre cycle”, and in selecting the 108 winners from over 650 submissions across 13 countries, they looked for work that challenged norms, experimented with materials and placed people at the centre — a spirit clearly reflected in the final line-up.
Luminaries: Outstanding Works Across Key Categories
The Luminaries category highlighted exemplary completed projects across diverse sectors, each offering a distinct point of view on how interiors can shape experience:
- Best in Academia Design – GAIA Innovation Port, E Three Five Pte Ltd
- Best in Exhibition Design – Exhibits / Installation – Singapore Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, KR+D Pte Ltd, Crystal Chu
- Best in Hospitality Design – Hotel Communal Spaces – The Standard Singapore, Ministry of Design
- Best in Residential Design ≥101 sqm – An Autobiography in Space, White Jacket
- Best in Retail Design – Mall Communal Spaces – The Exchange TRX, DP Design
- Best in Workspace Design ≥501 sqm – HDB Workplace Transformation, DP Design
- Best in Workspace Design ≤500 sqm – MOD Workshop, Ministry of Design
Collectively, these winning works reveal the strength and range of design being produced today, from large-scale public environments to intimate residential spaces.
SIDA 2025 Special Award Winners
Alongside the Luminaries, the Special Awards shined the spotlight on key voices and milestones in the design community:
- Lifetime Achievement Award – Andrew Fisher, Andy Fisher Workshop
- Lifetime Achievement Award – Constance Ann, Constann Design
- Design of the Year – Singapore Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Crystal Chu, KR+D
- Designer of the Year – Allan Wang, DP Design
- Young Designer of the Year – Allan Wang, DP Design
- Best Design Firm of the Year – DP Design
- Design Educator of the Year – Cagil Yurdakul Toker, Raffles Design Institute
Together, these recipients reflect the breadth of contributions shaping interior design today — from large-scale public and commercial work to long-standing practice and design education.
A Glimpse of the Next Wave
SIDA 2025 also reaffirmed its commitment to nurturing emerging talent. Through the Youth category, 33 students from local Institutes of Higher Learning received the SIDA Youth Award. In addition, this year marked the second consecutive presentation of the SIDA Youth Excellence Award, an annual bursary programme that recognises three outstanding students, each receiving SGD3,000:
- Lim Xuan Xuan Rachel, LASALLE College of the Arts
- Fung Wei Wen Stanley, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
- Norman Lim Chee Yee, Temasek Polytechnic
Taken together, this year’s winners offer a snapshot of an industry that is steadily growing in depth and maturity. SIDA 2025 highlights not just outstanding work, but the people shaping how design continues to unfold in our daily surroundings.
Visit the SIDA website for the full list of winners
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