About WOHA

WOHA – a Singapore-based architectural practice founded by Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell in 1994 – have gained global recognition for their integration of environmental and social principles at every stage of the design process. They have designed a diverse amount of innovative and highly influential projects, which have been built in a number of cities and countries, and their best-known projects have been widely publicised as benchmarks for sustainable design.   In the face of global warming, unprecedented urban population growth, and increasingly dysfunctional infrastructure, WOHA’s architectural strategies and planning principles are now applicable to every large city in the world. WOHA are intent upon improving the day-to-day existence of all city residents, whilst simultaneously preparing them for (and protecting them from) the impact of climate change.   As well as those of Asia, the ever-expanding cities of Europe, America and Africa, are now confronting their own social and infrastructural problems as the 21st century progresses. In order to avert an impending systemic collapse, the architecture and planning of all global cities require an urgent reappraisal at the level undertaken by WOHA.   The form and appearance of WOHA’s architecture is always guided by the local context and culture, and above all, by the local climatic conditions, which determine every energy-saving strategy. In order to revitalise their urban environments, WOHA’s structures are designed to harmonise with and incorporate natural ecosystems, and to proactively encourage self-sufficient cities, which will have no need for the destructive use of artificial energy. WOHA’s built projects range from residential towers, hotels and public housing to transportation hubs and institutional buildings, and they have proposed many schemes that integrate several, if not every, building type within one structure. In a process they describe as ‘Macro-Architecture Micro-Urbanism’, WOHA have increasingly focused upon designing buildings as integrated mini-cities, which regenerate the greater urban context by providing environments that are both sustainable and sociable. WOHA have received numerous international awards for their work, including the Best Mixed-Use Building (2019), Best Tall Building Worldwide (2018), Urban Habitat Award (2019 and 2015) from the CTBUH, RAIA Jørn Utzon Award (2011), RIBA Lubetkin Prize (2011), Singapore President’s Design Award - Designer of the Year (2008), Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2007), and they have won seven separate categories in the World Architecture Festival, including the 2018 World Building of the Year for Kampung Admiralty. Their most awarded and most recognisable projects have been Oasia Hotel Downtown, the School of the Arts and the PARKROYAL on Pickering hotel in Singapore.