The eighth edition of the Singapore Interior Design Awards (SIDA) is set to take place on Nov 8 at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre. Organised by the Society of Interior Designers, Singapore (SIDS), the annual awards recognise excellence in the global design industry, with an eye on uplifting talented individuals and firms.
Finalists in this year’s SIDA will vie for awards in three major categories: Completed Projects, Concept and Youth. The first two are for industry practitioners, while the third is for students of both local and international design institutions.
The individual awards in each category cover various sectors of design, such as residential, hospitality, healthcare and F&B. Among submissions in the Completed Projects category, the jury panel will select one to win the Design of the Year award. In addition, designers under the age of 45 in the Completed Projects and Concept categories will be in the running to snag the Young Designers of the Year awards.
Special categories include the Designer of the Year and Best Design Firm of the Year awards; the latter was won by Peter Tay’s eponymous studio last year. There are also three gold sponsor-led categories: the Dulux Colour award, Admira Innovation & Sustainability award, and Hansgrohe + Axor Best in Bathroom Design award.
SIDA 2024 also features two nomination-only categories from previous editions. The first is the Lifetime Achievement award; past winners include Sheng Keat Ong of Keat Ong Design in 2023, and Mike Lim of DP Design in 2022. The second, the Design Educator of the Year award, was won by Fann Zhi Jie of Singapore Polytechnic in 2023.
‘Expanding recognition and prestige’
Speaking at a media conference on SIDS’s 30th anniversary initiatives in June, SIDS president Tung Ching Yew noted that the annual awards have grown in scale over the years. “SIDA has seen participation increase sixfold since its inception seven years ago, with current submissions comprising 70% local and 30% international entries. This growth reflects the expanding recognition and prestige of our awards programme on both a local and global scale.”
Finalists at SIDA 2024 will be judged on four main criteria: design impact, creativity, spatial usage and aesthetics. How well each finalist performs will be determined by a jury panel for each category, comprising experts, creatives and industry leaders across the fields of architecture, design and hospitality.
For the Completed Projects category, jury panellists include DP Architects chairperson Angelene Chan, Hassell managing principal Tulsi Grover, and SuMisura founder Angela Lim, among others. The Concept category jury panel, meanwhile, counts YEN Partnership Architects’ Joe Lin and Ooi Design & Associates’ Ooi Boon Seong among its ranks.
Established in 1994, SIDS has been the national advocacy organisation for the interior design profession in Singapore for three decades now. Its mission is to promote talent and elevate the industry through initiatives such as SIDA.
Other programmes by SIDS include the Singapore Interior Designers Accreditation Scheme; launched in 2021, this is the first such accreditation scheme in the city-state, aimed at bolstering trade credibility among those in the interior design industry. The society also runs an annual Singapore Interior Design Festival, a two-week celebration of “creativity, culture, and collaboration within the design community”.
Tickets to the SIDA 2024 gala dinner are available for sale at https://form.jotform.com/TACGroup/sida-2024-gala-dinner-form; single-seat prices start at $428 for SIDS members and $538 for non-members
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