Born in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, Angelene Chan’s introduction to design came through her uncle, a draftsman who let her experiment with his rotary pens. That early fascination with how a line could translate into something three-dimensional became her passion, encouraged further when, at just 12 years old, her parents gave her free rein to design the family’s new home.

After secondary school, Chan studied architecture at the University of Adelaide before joining Woods Bagot’s Canberra office, where she spent three and a half years working across all aspects of design and office life, mentored by studio principal Tom Kean. With her husband, Chan then relocated to Singapore, where she joined DP Architects (DPA), beginning a 36-year career with the practice.

Chan has now served as Executive Chairman of DPA, having previously been its CEO from 2016 to 2021. The practice today employs 1,000 people across 16 offices, while Chan remains hands-on in design, from major commissions to mentoring young architects.

Among her significant projects is the Dubai Mall, the largest shopping centre in the world, delivered between 2002 and 2006 alongside an 800-room hotel. She also led alterations and additions to Wisma Atria on Orchard Road, the award-winning renewal of 6 Battery Road in 2022, and the multi-award-winning design of The Standard, Singapore, in 2024.

Chan’s portfolio extends globally, including a residential project at Royal Wharf in London and Noon Square in Seoul, with further projects underway in Kazakhstan, Georgia and the Middle East. Close to her heart is the Bonnevaux Centre for Peace in Poitiers, France, a pro bono adaptive reuse of a 12th-century abbey that Chan has guided since 2017 into a guesthouse, multi-purpose hall and long-term residence for meditation retreats.

Her achievements have been recognised with three President’s Design Awards, the title of P\*DA Designer of the Year, Her World Woman of the Year, and the inaugural AWiCS-SIA Woman Architect of the Year award.

Chan credits the support of DPA and her family for allowing her to combine motherhood with her architectural career, and views the profession as inherently collaborative. “Architecture is never the work of one ego,” she says. “It is the result of many minds, many hands, and a shared vision coming together.”

As a Luminary, Angelene Chan leads by example, and there could be no better person to follow.

Photography: Juliana Tan, courtesy of DP Architects