DP Architects Pvt. Ltd. is a

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

an multinational architectural

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advan ...

firm. It started as Design Partnership in 1967 and was incorporated as a private limited company in 1993. It is a multi-disciplinary design

consultancy A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

. It is one of the largest architectural practices in the world. The DP group is composed of: DP Architects, DP Consultants, DP Design, DP Engineers, DP Facade, DP Green, DP Lighting, DP

Sustainable Design Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...

and DP Urban. It has over 900 staff with 16 offices worldwide. The work of DP Architects includes

The Dubai Mall The Dubai Mall ( ar, دبي مول "Dubai Mall") is a shopping mall in Dubai. It is the second largest mall in the world after the Iran Mall by total land area, and the 26th-largest shopping mall in the world by gross leasable area, tying with ...

, as well as landmarks in Singapore, such as the

People's Park Complex People's Park Complex () is a high-rise commercial and residential building in Singapore, situated in Park Road off Eu Tong Sen Street in Outram, within People's Park and next to Chinatown MRT station. History The People's Park Complex was a com ...

and

Golden Mile Complex Golden Mile Complex () is a high-rise commercial and residential building on Beach Road in Kallang, Singapore, within walking distance to Nicoll Highway MRT station. The building was formerly known as Woh Hup Complex. The complex contains 411 ...

designed and constructed in the 1960s. The firm was involved in the master planning of the

Orchard Road Orchard Road, often known colloquially as simply Orchard, is a major –long road in the Central Area of Singapore. Known as a famous tourist attraction, it is an upscale shopping area of Singapore, with numerous internationally renowned depa ...

shopping belt and the development of

Marina Centre Marina Central or Marina Centre (Chinese: 滨海中心; ms, Marina Pusat) is a zone of reclaimed land within the Downtown Core in the southern part of Singapore. Together with the Marina South area, it encloses the sheltered Marina Bay. Suntec ...

. DP Architects’ activity includes retail, hotel, resort, commercial office, residential, convention centre, technology parks, medical, religious, educational and civic institutions, and airport and aviation-related support facilities.

History

The firm was started in 1967 with William Lim Siew Wai, Tay Kheng Soon, and Koh Seow Chuan when they left the Malayan Architects Co-Partnership and founded Design Partnership after its dissolution to start their own firm with an initial staff strength of 18.Ng, Erin., et al. (2007). DP Architects: The Works Since 1967. Singapore: DP Architects Pte. Ltd. (Call no.: RSING English 720.95957 DP) In 1972, Gan Eng Oon joined and became a partner followed by Chan Sui Him in 1973 and became a partner subsequently in 1974. In 1974, Tay Kheng Soon, who graduated from

Singapore Polytechnic Singapore Polytechnic (SP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore. Established in 1954, the institution is the first and oldest polytechnic in Singapore and is ...

in 1963, retired and establish his own practice, Akitek Tenggara. A year later in 1975, Design Partnership was dissolved and reformed as DP Architects Pte (DPA). William Lim retired in 1981 and established his own practice. The company expanded in 1982 with the establishment of two subsidiary companies, DP Design and DP Consultants. DP Architects was registered formally as a private limited with 200 employees in Singapore. Leading the firm since its inception, Chan Sui Him was succeeded by Francis Lee Seng Wee in 2004 as the CEO while he was promoted to Chairman of the firm. In 2016, Francis Lee Seng Wee took over the reins from Chan Sui Him as Chairman, while Chan Sui Him assumed a mentorship role as Senior Director. Angelene Chan was promoted to CEO. In 2021, as part of the firm’s leadership renewal and continuity plan, Seah Chee Huang has been appointed its Chief Executive Officer. Outgoing CEO, Angelene Chan has taken over the reins of Chairman from Francis Lee, who has assumed the position of Senior Director and advisor. To date, Chan Sui Him continues in his mentorship role as Senior Director.

Sustainable design

DP Architects is considered a leader in sustainable design. The

Building and Construction Authority The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Government of Singapore. It was established on 1 April 1999 through the merger of the Construction Industry Development Board ...

of Singapore (BCA) has recognised DP Architects as one of the top three architecture firms in Singapore with the highest number of Green Mark Platinum and GoldPlus projects, with 25 or more projects rated Green Mark Gold+ or Platinum. The BCA Green Mark system is a green building rating system to evaluate a building for its environmental impact and performance, with Gold+ and Platinum being the highest two ratings for efficiency. DP Architects has also scored many firsts for sustainably designed architecture, winning the first two Green Mark District awards for Resorts World Sentosa and NUS University Town, both achieving the second highest rating of GoldPlus. In 2015, DP Architects was awarded the Built Environment Leadership (BEL) Gold Class Award by BCA. The DP group of companies received a total of four BCA-SGBC Green Building Individual Commendation Awards in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Notable projects

DPA is best known in Singapore for several architectural works of the late 1960s and early 1970s such as

, and

. Dutch architect

Rem Koolhaas Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is often cited as a re ...

said at a press conference when he visited Singapore in 2005: ‘These buildings (Golden Mile Complex and People's Park Complex) were not intended to be landmarks, but became landmarks.’ The firm is also known for its work on the

Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...

Resorts World Sentosa Resorts World Sentosa (abbreviation: RWS) is an integrated resort An integrated resort (IR) is a major resort property that includes a hotel with a casino, together with convention facilities, entertainment shows, theme parks, luxury r ...

, and Singapore Sports Hub.

References

External links

Official website of DP Architects Pte Ltd
{{portalbar, Architecture, Singapore Architecture firms of Singapore Singaporean companies established in 1967 Design companies established in 1967