This post covers Safdie Architects’ recent win of the 2025 Singapore President’s Design Award (P*DA) for Design of the Year for the new Surbana Jurong Campus. I summarize the project’s key features and explain why the jury recognized it. I also offer a perspective on what this campus means for sustainable workplace design in Singapore and beyond.
Why the Surbana Jurong Campus earned Design of the Year
The P*DA is Singapore’s highest design honor. It celebrates projects that improve lives and deliver measurable impact locally and globally.
In 2025, Safdie Architects received their third Design of the Year nod. Their previous wins were for Marina Bay Sands (2011) and Jewel Changi Airport (2020).
The new campus puts wellness, ecology, and low-energy performance at the forefront. Opened in 2024, it occupies 742,000 square feet within the Jurong Innovation District.
The campus demonstrates a strong integration of architecture and landscape. This aligns with Singapore’s urban sustainability agenda.
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Key design qualities that impressed the jury
The Surbana Jurong Campus stands out for blending programmatic efficiency with biophilic principles. This approach reduces stress, enhances creativity, and fosters collaboration.
The complex is organized as ten pavilions connected by a central multi-level pedestrian spine. This creates a human-scaled circulation network that encourages chance encounters and cross-disciplinary exchange.
Notable project features include:
Design lessons for future campuses
The Surbana Jurong Campus shows how large corporate campuses can be reimagined for the 21st century. The project integrates buildings and landscape, prioritizing daylight, natural ventilation, and access to green space.
These choices support mental health and encourage informal collaboration. They also help reduce energy use, benefiting employers, occupants, and the environment.
Impacts on practice and the Jurong Innovation District
The campus reinforces the Jurong Innovation District’s ambition to be a testbed for advanced urbanism and industrial innovation.
By preserving over half the site’s natural area and introducing interconnected public realm amenities, the masterplan becomes both a workplace and a civic asset.
Safdie Architects is also continuing its commitment to Singapore with a newly launched 55-story Marina Bay Sands development currently under construction.
This investment shows the firm’s long-term engagement with Singapore’s changing skyline and urban agenda.
Here is the source article for this story: Safdie Architects recognized with 2025 Singapore President*s Design Award for its biophilic SJ Campus
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