Singapore: Angelene Chan
Born in 1964 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, Angelene Chan is the first woman architect awarded the President’s Design Award for “Designer of the Year” (2018), the highest architectural accolade in Singapore. She holds a bachelor’s of architecture from the University of Adelaide in Adelaide, Australia (1987). Chan is the former CEO (2016–2021) and current executive chairman of DP Architects, with headquarters located in Singapore. She serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the World Community of Christian Meditation (2024-). Chan also served as the chairperson for the Dover Park Hospice Government Council, and its Building and Development Committee until August 2025. Chan is a board member of the Singapore Land Authority, the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore; a board member of the Management Board of the Centre for Environment and Ageing Well (ENgAGE) in the College of Design and Engineering at the National University of Singapore (2025-); and she served as a board member of the Sentosa Development Corporation until March 2026. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the National University of Singapore (2023–), a member of the Architectural Design Panel, Housing, and Development Board Singapore (2022-), and a member of the World City Summit Knowledge Council. She has served as a member of the Singapore Board of Architects (2016-2021), and on the Professional Engineers Board. Chan was inducted into the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame (March 2026). She received the inaugural AWiCS-SIA Woman Architect of the Year Award (2025), the Ministry of National Development (MND) Medallion (2025, Architectural Heritage Awards Assessment Committee) and (2023, URA), the President’s Design Award (2018, 2015 and 2009), and the RBS Coutts and the Financial Times Women in Asia Award (2010). Chan was recognized as “Woman of the Year” issued by Her Magazine (2017), and named “one of Singapore’s 20 leading architects under the age of 45” by Urban Redevelopment Authority (2010).
References
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“Angelene Chan Receives Her World Woman of the Year Award 2017.” DP Architects. August 23, 2017 . https://www.dpa.com.sg/news/angelene-chan-receives-her-world-woman-of-the-year-award-2017/.
“Ar. Angelene Chan: Jury Member of Architecture Panel.” President’s Design Award Singapore. March 18, 2024. https://pda.designsingapore.org/jurors/2023/ar-angelene-chan/.
Chan, Angelene, ed. DP Architects : 50 Years since 1967. London: Artifice Books on Architecture, 2017.
Chiang, Tay Suan. “Her World Woman of the Year Received Top Presidential Design Accolade.” Her World Singapore, July 18, 2018. https://www.herworld.com/pov/people/her-world-woman-year-angelene-chan-president-design-award.
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Lim, Nartano, Widari Bahrin, and Brian Lonsway. Sand to Spectacle : The Dubai Mall. Hong Kong: Oscar Riera Ojeda Publishers Limited, 2015.
“Meet Angelene Chan, CEO of DP Architects and Mentor of YWLC.” YWLC Singapore. April 29, 2018. https://www.ywlc.org.sg/post/meet-angelene-chan-ceo-of-dp-architects-and-mentor-of-ywlc.
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Salleh, Fariza. “Award-Winning Singapore Architecture Firm DP Architects on Design and Urban Planning in a Post-Pandemic World.” Business Insider, September 23, 2020. https://www.businessinsider.com/singapore-architecture-firm-dp-architects-on-how-covid-will-impact-design-and-urban-planning-2020-9.
Zachariah, Natasha Ann. “Angelene Chan, New CEO of DP Architects, Is the Only Woman CEO out of the Top 5 Architecture Firms Here.” My Future Skills. Accessed April 8, 2025. https://www.myskillsfuture.gov.sg/content/student/en/preu/world-of-work/industry-landscape/industry-articles/angelene-chan-new-ceo-of-dp-architects-is-the-only-woman-ceo-out-of-the-top-5.html
Revised: April 30, 2026
