WOHA Architects was founded by Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell in 1994. Wong was born in 1962 and graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1989, whilst Hassell was born in 1966 and graduated from the University of Western Australia in 1989. WOHA’s earliest projects comprised a series of private houses and the Church of St Mary of the Angels in Singapore, which were well-publicised and received many awards. When the practice won the competitions for two MRT stations in 2000, WOHA moved on to larger scale projects, initially in Singapore, and then throughout the region.
These project types range from apartment towers to luxury resorts, mass-transit stations, condominiums, hotels, educational institutions, and public buildings. 1 Moulmein Rise, completed in 2003, was WOHA’s first high-rise tower and won the 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Subsequent apartment towers, such as Newton Suites in Singapore and The Met in Bangkok, Thailand, were also highly praised and awarded, and showed that WOHA’s approach to high-rise living in tropical cities was continually evolving. The Met won the 2010 International Highrise Award and the 2011 RIBA Lubetkin Prize, which was an unprecedented success for an Asian practice. WOHA demonstrate a commitment to the implementation of sustainable yet innovative architecture, and within each project, they conceptualise all aspects of the architectural process: master planning, formal architecture, interior design, landscaping, lighting and furniture design.
