Meet the judges: Simon Chua

During our interview series the judges will tell us what they are looking out for in a winning entry and why they think you should enter the WAN awards.

Simon Chua is a Co-Founder and Executive Director of Lead8. With extensive experience in international design projects, he has worked predominantly in Asia, mainland China and Hong Kong on major complex and mixed-use projects.

Why should people enter the WAN awards? What are the benefits in your view?

Design is collaboration and learning from one another. The WAN awards provide a platform to do this on an international scale, allowing design teams to share their work and establish new benchmarks – and celebrate their achievements along the way.

What attracted you to becoming a judge for the WAN awards?

Thank you to the WAN awards for the invitation to be involved. As a judge, I have the pleasure of seeing behind the scenes of some of the most exciting design work being done around the world and witness the talent that is propelling our industry forward.

What sort of scheme would you most like to see among the entries?

Without comparison, how we design to be in harmony with our natural environment is the leading factor for design now and into the future.

Tell us about some recent projects you’re proud of:

Lead8 is delivering Site 3 of the New Central Harbourfront in Hong Kong, a completely transformational project for the city’s Central Business District that is designed for public enjoyment of our world famous harbour.

Within our built portfolio, I recently visited our newly completed MixC Nanjing which sits in a 700-year-old neighbourhood and preserves an original Yunzhang Guild Building, connecting the urban fabric, traditional architecture, heritage and community in new ways.

In Bangkok, we are also excited to see One Bangkok progress on site to become what will be the country’s largest integrated development and ‘rewrite retail’ in the heart of the capital.