DP Architects: Winner of World Design Awards 2025. Located in Singapore’s fast-evolving Paya Lebar District Centre, Paya Lebar Green (PLG) is a forward-looking redevelopment that exemplifies the principles of adaptive reuse and sustainable urban regeneration. Jointly developed by Certis and Lendlease, the project transforms the former Certis Centre into a vibrant mixed-use gateway while retaining critical operational infrastructure. Comprising the extensive retrofit of an existing block (PLG North) and the construction of a new Grade-A office building (PLG South), Paya Lebar Green seeks to rejuvenate the precinct by introducing a future-ready model for green, resilient and community-oriented development.

Unifying PLG North with PLG South is a link bridge, seamlessly connecting the two buildings. This linkway goes beyond its pedestrian function, also serving as a conduit for essential services, including electrical power and chilled water pipes, effectively integrating the old building with modern amenities. In this capacity, the link bridge becomes a pivotal design element which necessitates the upgrading of PLG North’s M&E equipment, given the limited loading capacity available in the existing structure.

One of the defining achievements of PLG is its Green Mark Platinum, Super Low Energy certification under the Building and Construction Authority (BCA)’s Green Mark 2021 scheme. It is the first office project across both new and existing categories to earn all five sustainability badges, Health & Wellbeing, Whole Life Carbon, Resilience, Intelligence and Maintainability, signalling the project’s holistic, long-term approach to sustainability. The decision to refurbish the existing structure underscores a deliberate commitment to reducing embodied carbon and minimising construction waste. This adaptive reuse strategy is the future for Singapore’s built environment, which encourages the optimisation of fading building assets as a more sustainable alternative to rebuilding from scratch.

The planning and design concept took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the design team re-examined the role of an office in a post-pandemic world. This background culminated in five pillars: health and wellness; people-centric workplace; collaboration and connection; green and smart building; and sustainability.

These five pillars informed the design of both PLG North and PLG South, shaping office spaces to be pandemic-resilient and wellness-driven, with sustainability at its core. It utilises an open office plan designed with built-in flexibility to offer a range of uses that celebrate collaboration and connection to the abundant provision of greenery both inside and outside the building. Subsequently, these five pillars of the project were brought to life through five key design strategies: Circuit, Carbon, Capacity, Climate and Community. Each of which reflects a key ambition of the project.

Circuit speaks to PLG’s aim of seamless integration into the Paya Lebar District Centre, strengthening connections across commercial, residential and recreational programmes. By activating the ground plane and improving pedestrian linkages, the development blurs the lines between spaces, contributing to the overall vibrancy of the district, reinforcing its role as a dynamic urban node. Creating a new vehicular entrance from Eunos Road 8, the design strengthens the existing urban pedestrian spine from the nearby Paya Lebar train station. The new vehicular entrance also alleviates traffic flows from the main Paya Lebar Road to Eunos Road 8 (secondary road).

Carbon addresses the sustainability-led decision to refurbish the existing building, becoming PLG North. Through extensive retrofitting, including upgraded glazing and façade improvements, the building achieves an Envelope Thermal Transfer Value (ETTV) of 21 W/m², significantly reducing heat gain and improving overall energy performance. Working within the constraints of existing forms at PLG North, the design team required a critical understanding of the site’s elements and how new interventions could be introduced to create a unified design language across existing and new blocks. This process led to a horizontal datum wrapping the blocks, defined by a textured base and reflective upper façade.

Capacity is expressed through the development’s suite of energy-efficient strategies, such as the use of chilled beams, passive cooling techniques, onsite renewable energy, and intelligent M&E systems. Together, these elements reduce operational energy consumption while ensuring a comfortable internal environment.

Additionally, both blocks were examined for their design potential. PLG North occupies 60% of the site’s footprint, offering an expansive roofscape for deploying solar PVs. PLG South, as a new building, incorporates heavier yet more efficient M&E equipment, enabling shared services such as air-conditioning and electricity through the link bridge to PLG North.

Climate is addressed through the thoughtful integration of shading fins and extensive greenery, which reduce solar heat gain and contribute to natural cooling and biodiversity. These climate-responsive features enhance the site’s resilience, further emphasising efficiency and sustainability. The preserved recessed windows and precast façade panels on PLG North remained a relevant strategy for addressing climatic concerns. These strong horizontal elements were further enhanced with copper articulations, which were also applied to PLG South to create a cohesive design language across the entire development.

Community places occupant wellbeing at the heart of the design. A lush green façade, landscaped terraces and a tranquil green entrance create spaces for relaxation and respite, promoting mental and physical wellbeing. By providing areas for people to pause and reconnect with nature, PLG fosters a sense of place and shared identity for those who live and work in the district. The project ultimately serves as a living model of sustainable, inclusive development—one that honours its existing context while charting a resilient path forward for Singapore’s built environment.

Project Details:-
Firm
DP Architects

Architect
Chua Zi Jun

Project Name
Paya Lebar Green

Project Category
Office Building (Built)

Team
Chua Zi Jun Ziggy, Zulsairi Bin Sarib, Martin Gunawan, Syahirah Binte Abbas, Timothy Ou

Project Location
Paya Lebar, Singapore

Country
Singapore

Photography ©Credit
©David Yeow, Courtesy of DP Architects

DP Architects is a leading multidisciplinary design practice in Asia with over 900 staff in 16 global offices and 8 specialist companies. Founded in 1967, it has a deep portfolio of works including Golden Mile Complex, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, Singapore Sports Hub and Our Tampines Hub. From Singapore, the ideas and methodologies of the design practice have since been applied to projects across 77 countries. Under its Green-Well-Tech thrust, DP delivers interdisciplinary design solutions at all scales for better-than-sustainable outcomes, contributing to sustainable development and a city’s long-term socio-economic resilience and vibrancy.