Safdie Architects was awarded the 2025 Singapore President*s Design Award for Design of the Year for the SJ Campus, which opened in 2024. Located in the city-state’s emerging Jurong Innovation District, the complex’s design created the first headquarters set in a tropical rainforest and is one of the largest Green Mark Super Low-Energy Buildings in Singapore. Safdie Architects’ approach of designing within the landscape prioritises workplace wellbeing and provides a global alternative to traditional, internally focused buildings. SJ Campus’ recognition marks the third Design of the Year award received by Safdie Architects since 2011, as the firm continues its decades-long legacy of contributing meaningful architecture to the city-state.
The President*s Design Award (P*DA) is Singapore’s most prestigious recognition honoring exceptional designers and designs that improve lives and create meaningful impact both locally and globally. Safdie Architects was previously awarded Design of the Year in 2011 for the iconic Marina Bay Sands complex, and in 2020 for the Jewel Changi Airport. In a continuation of the firm’s innovative and acclaimed work in Singapore, Safdie Architects broke ground on a new 55-story Marina Bay Sands development earlier this month.
“With SJ Campus, we’ve created an integrated hub that supports employees and brings them together with the surrounding landscape and community. It’s a workplace with civic generosity at its heart,” said Charu Kokate, Senior Partner. “We’ve expanded the opportunities for the public to inhabit this space—through trails, gardens, gathering places and the public spine. It will become not just a destination, but a meaningful part of daily life in Singapore.”
The 742,000-square-foot campus unfolds across 10 pavilions placed along a central multi-level pedestrian spine—on one side, the pavilions are lifted off the ground in a manner that allows the pastoral terrain to grow and thrive, affording a treehouse-like experience for the upper-level offices; on the other side, two of the courtyards are enclosed, providing interior garden spaces and places for community. Underpinning the design is the belief that employees should have optimal access to light, air, and green space to reduce stress, encourage socialisation and collaboration, and enhance creativity. The open atrium spine connects workers to the world beyond the office, providing visual access to activity happening across levels as well as direct sightlines to the surrounding Eco Garden, adding visual complexity and diversity.
In honouring the project, the P*DA Jury said, “SJ Campus reconceives the traditional corporate headquarters as a campus that integrates harmoniously with the public realm. The jury commends the team for creating a meaningful office campus typology that serves both its employees and the wider community.”
A model for sustainable design, Safdie Architects and Surbana Jurong (SJ Group), who served as the Executive Architect, Building Systems Engineers, and Environmental Sustainability consultants, spearheaded the advancement and use of new building systems, many of which were the first of their kind, and embraced new thinking about building operations to make the campus the largest Green Mark Super Low Energy office to date.
The campus preserves more than half of the site’s existing green space and replaces built-upon green areas with rooftop gardens, lush interior gardens, and extensive exterior landscaping and trails.
“We endeavoured to create a workplace environment that is both emblematic of SJ’s culture of collaboration and honors Singapore’s legacy as the Garden City,” said Jeffrey Huggins, Senior Partner. “To see the project impact the culture of SJ in such a positive manner, and now to be recognised by the P*DA is meaningful to us.”
Safdie Architects has a deeply rooted connection to Singapore, with a satellite office in the city for nearly 20 years and seven high-impact developments including Marina Bay Sands, Jewel Changi Airport, Sky Habitat, and the Singapore EDITION and Boulevard 88. This month, the firm unveiled the design for a new Marina Bay Sands development. The project comprises a 55-story hotel tower crowned by an 76,000-square-foot Skyloop—a counterpart to the iconic SkyPark atop Marina Bay Sands—and a 15,000-seat state-of-the-art arena, poised to host sporting events, concerts, and large-scale live events.
“Architecture should uplift the spirit and resonate with its setting,” said Moshe Safdie, Founding Partner of Safdie Architects. “With SJ Campus, we conceived of a new workplace typology that improves employee wellbeing by establishing innovative connections to nature, creating places for community, and more holistically supporting a better quality of life. The project demonstrates that a corporation with thousands of employees can thrive in a green interactive communal environment, dramatically affecting their work culture and social and civic vitality.”
