SIDFest 2026 Symposium III

Care For Connection

Hosted by SIDS Prestige Gold Sponsor, Keding

Date

:

21 September 2026, Monday

Time

:

2pm – 6pm

Venue

:

Keding Showroom​

6 Yishun Industrial Street 1, #06-20, Singapore 768090

Designing loveable spaces means creating environments that foster community, identity, and shared experiences. This approach focuses on community spaces, public interiors, and social infrastructure that encourage people to connect, participate, and feel a sense of belonging. Through placemaking and cultural storytelling, spaces can reflect the histories, values, and identities of the communities they serve. “Third places” such as cafés, libraries, and civic hubs are especially important as informal settings where people can gather beyond home and work. In dense urban environments, thoughtful design can create opportunities for interaction, comfort, and inclusion, transforming everyday spaces into meaningful places where people feel welcomed, connected, and part of a shared community.

CPD Points awarded for this programme:
✅ 5 SIDAC CPD Points
✅ 2 BOA-SIA CPD points

Featured Speakers

Ar. ID1. Chio Wen Tian

Principal Architect

CHIO Architects

Architect Chio Wen Tian is Founder and Principal of CHIO Architects and Founding Partner of mono.poly studio. Recognised for design excellence, professional leadership and advocacy,he received the SIA Young Architect Award (Design) 2026, NUS Outstanding Young Alumni Award 2025 and NUS CDE Outstanding Young Alumni Award 2024. A top NUS Architecture graduate, he received the BOA Prize and Gold Medal, SIA Medal and Aedas Medal in 2014. He chaired the SIA Young Architects League from 2022–2025 and serves on the SIA Council. He previously represented Singapore on ARCASIA’s ACYA and now serves on the ARCASIA Committee on Professional Practice (ACPP).

Ar. ID1. Gwen Tan

Founder & Design Principal

Studio iF Pte Ltd

Gwen is the founder of Studio iF and co-founder of Formwerkz Architects. As a qualified architect with more than 20 years of experience, she lends her design expertise to a wide range of trans-disciplinary projects in the commercial, residential, and hospitality industry. Her attention to detail and ability to highlight meaningful stories in a space helps bring joy to her clients’ homes. Crafting design that transcends boundaries while respecting tradition and context, each project is embraced with open-mindedness and imbued with the vision and desire to conceive intrigue through the crafting of solutions for everyday problems.

Ar. Ivan Soh

Director, Founding Partner

Pi Architects

Representative of SIDS Prestige Gold Sponsor, Keding

Ivan Soh is the founder and creative director of PI Architects, a Singapore-based architecture and interior design practice working across residential, commercial and public environments. His work explores how architecture shapes everyday experiences through atmosphere, materiality and intuitive spatial planning. Working across architecture and interior design, Ivan approaches projects as connected environments, considering how people move, gather, pause and inhabit space. His design philosophy is grounded in an instinctive understanding of how spaces should feel, translated through careful planning, proportion, material and light. His work creates environments that are quietly expressive, personal and responsive to the people who use them.

Moderated by

Kelvin Ang

Director, Conservation Management

Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)

Mr Kelvin Ang has over two decades of experience in architecture and conservation at the URA. URA is Singapore’s national planning,land use and building conservation authority. He has led a multidisciplinary team to deliver several conservation projects including the gazette of over 700 buildings since 2003. His portfolio includes public education and partnership programmes, and Place Management efforts.

SIDFest 2026 Programme