Desktop Version
Meet the Judges from our
Best of Asia Panel
We're honoured to introduce the design luminaries shaping this year's Best of Asia judging panel. Looking through the Design Optimist lens, they'll champion the very best of design from our region — spaces where every detail tells a story, where craft and creativity come together, and where bold ideas are brought to life with intention and integrity. Beyond design intent, they'll be seeking work that reflects our shared commitment to Material Health, Circular Economy, Carbon Impact, and Diversity & Inclusion.
Because through the Shaw Contract Design Awards, we don't just celebrate what's beautiful — we celebrate what matters.
TABLET Version
Meet the Judges from our Best of Asia Panel
We're honoured to introduce the design luminaries shaping this year's Best of Asia judging panel. Looking through the Design Optimist lens, they'll champion the very best of design from our region — spaces where every detail tells a story, where craft and creativity come together, and where bold ideas are brought to life with intention and integrity. Beyond design intent, they'll be seeking work that reflects our shared commitment to Material Health, Circular Economy, Carbon Impact, and Diversity & Inclusion.
Because through the Shaw Contract Design Awards, we don't just celebrate what's beautiful — we celebrate what matters.
MOBILE Version
Meet the Judges from our Best of Asia Panel
We're honoured to introduce the design luminaries shaping this year's Best of Asia judging panel. Looking through the Design Optimist lens, they'll champion the very best of design from our region — spaces where every detail tells a story, where craft and creativity come together, and where bold ideas are brought to life with intention and integrity. Beyond design intent, they'll be seeking work that reflects our shared commitment to Material Health, Circular Economy, Carbon Impact, and Diversity & Inclusion.
Because through the Shaw Contract Design Awards, we don't just celebrate what's beautiful — we celebrate what matters.
Meet the 2026 Design Awards Judges
Desktop/Tablet Version
Jack Jitmankhongkul
Space Matrix Design Consultants
Associate Director - Design, SEA
Singapore
With a deep understanding of spatial strategy and human behavior, Jack creates workplaces that deliver measurable business impact. A leader in the region's core design cell, he has spent over 21 years designing high-performance environments for some of the world’s most dynamic companies. Jack operates on the defining philosophy that "spaces should not be described, they must be experienced," focusing his approach on creating emotional resonance rather than simple aesthetic outcomes. His work merges creativity with individual client vision, transforming workplace interior design into a strategic lever for organisational growth.
From shifting hybrid work dynamics and workforce evolution to brand storytelling through space, Jack’s portfolio reflects both deep expertise and cultural foresight. Under his creative direction, the team has earned over 15 international design awards, celebrated for innovative solutions across the legal, media, aerospace, wellness, tech sector, and public interior.
Michel van Ackere
Kengo Kuma & Associates
Partner, AIA, LEED, AP, CSI
Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo-based architect and educator Michel van Ackere is a Partner with Kengo Kuma and Associates (KKAA), and Professor-in-Practice at Meiji University’s International Program in Architecture and Urban Design (I-AUD). Born in the United States, he received his BA from Brown University and his M.Arch from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, where he was awarded the AIA Henry Adams Medal and the Julia Amory Appleton Travelling Fellowship. The fellowship funded research in Japanese urbanism at Kyoto University in 1994-95, after which Michel joined Maki and Associates in Tokyo (led by Pritzker Prize winner Fumihiko Maki), where he directed the design teams for the Annenberg Public Policy Center at UPenn (2009), the Bihar Museum, India (2017), and the Museum Reinhard Ernst, Germany (2024).
Following Maki’s passing in 2024, Michel began teaching at Meiji I-AUD, and joined KKAA one year later, where he is currently engaged in international projects across North America, Europe, and Africa.
Nguyen Do
ADP Group
Co-Founder & Vice President
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Nguyen Do is Co-Founder and Vice President of ADP Group, a Vietnam-based workplace and experiential interior design and build firm. With over 20 years of experience, he has led the design of multinational and regional headquarters across Southeast Asia, integrating workplace strategy, human experience, local culture and business performance.
Passionate about the evolution of workplace culture in Asia, Nguyen explores how design can support collaboration, well-being and identity while balancing global standards with local perspectives. Under his creative leadership, ADP has become known for delivering meaningful, sustainable and future-ready environments.
Dianne Cotioco
M Moser Associates
Associate Director, Design
Singapore
Dianne Cotioco designs spaces the way some people build worlds: with personality, emotional depth, and a healthy disregard for the idea that a workplace has to feel like one. At M Moser Associates, she leads concept-driven projects across Asia, with work that has taken her to Shanghai, Dubai, and New York. Few workplace designers arrive via hospitality. Dianne spent eleven years there, shaping designer hotels, luxury residences, and over 100 developer showflats for some of Singapore's most prominent real estate names.
She joined M Moser in 2017 with something the industry rarely sees: a designer who had spent a decade obsessing over atmosphere, narrative, and the craft of making a room feel like it has a soul. Long before the hotelification of the office became the industry's favourite buzzword. That perspective has since been recognised across international platforms including SG Mark, Good Design Australia, LEED Design Excellence, and FX International. Nine years on, she judges spaces the same way she designs them: not just for how they look, but for what they say.
Swami Jayaraman
SW1 Solutions
Managing Director
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Swami Jayaraman is the Founder and Managing Director of SW1 Solutions, a fully integrated consulting, design and construction solutions provider for the corporate, commercial and hospitality sectors to enable a healthy work-life balance and enable new ways of working all whilst aligning with ESG initiatives. The company aims to create inspiring & agile spaces for people to interact, engage and perform their best; our spaces are people-focused and put people-first.
From strategic planning, interior design, branding, digital & cultural transformation, change management, project management and construction, SW1 provides a full range of efficient and sustainable solutions that help clients design & build a better future.
MOBILE Version
Jack Jitmankhongkul
Space Matrix Design Consultants
Associate Director - Design, SEA
Singapore
With a deep understanding of spatial strategy and human behavior, Jack creates workplaces that deliver measurable business impact. A leader in the region's core design cell, he has spent over 21 years designing high-performance environments for some of the world’s most dynamic companies. Jack operates on the defining philosophy that "spaces should not be described, they must be experienced," focusing his approach on creating emotional resonance rather than simple aesthetic outcomes. His work merges creativity with individual client vision, transforming workplace interior design into a strategic lever for organisational growth.
From shifting hybrid work dynamics and workforce evolution to brand storytelling through space, Jack’s portfolio reflects both deep expertise and cultural foresight. Under his creative direction, the team has earned over 15 international design awards, celebrated for innovative solutions across the legal, media, aerospace, wellness, tech sector, and public interior.
Michel van Ackere
Kengo Kuma & Associates
Partner, AIA, LEED, AP, CSI
Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo-based architect and educator Michel van Ackere is a Partner with Kengo Kuma and Associates (KKAA), and Professor-in-Practice at Meiji University’s International Program in Architecture and Urban Design (I-AUD). Born in the United States, he received his BA from Brown University and his M.Arch from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, where he was awarded the AIA Henry Adams Medal and the Julia Amory Appleton Travelling Fellowship. The fellowship funded research in Japanese urbanism at Kyoto University in 1994-95, after which Michel joined Maki and Associates in Tokyo (led by Pritzker Prize winner Fumihiko Maki), where he directed the design teams for the Annenberg Public Policy Center at UPenn (2009), the Bihar Museum, India (2017), and the Museum Reinhard Ernst, Germany (2024).
Following Maki’s passing in 2024, Michel began teaching at Meiji I-AUD, and joined KKAA one year later, where he is currently engaged in international projects across North America, Europe, and Africa.
Nguyen Do
ADP Group
Co-Founder & Vice President
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Nguyen Do is Co-Founder and Vice President of ADP Group, a Vietnam-based workplace and experiential interior design and build firm. With over 20 years of experience, he has led the design of multinational and regional headquarters across Southeast Asia, integrating workplace strategy, human experience, local culture and business performance.
Passionate about the evolution of workplace culture in Asia, Nguyen explores how design can support collaboration, well-being and identity while balancing global standards with local perspectives. Under his creative leadership, ADP has become known for delivering meaningful, sustainable and future-ready environments.
Dianne Cotioco
M Moser Associates
Associate Director, Design
Singapore
Dianne Cotioco designs spaces the way some people build worlds: with personality, emotional depth, and a healthy disregard for the idea that a workplace has to feel like one. At M Moser Associates, she leads concept-driven projects across Asia, with work that has taken her to Shanghai, Dubai, and New York. Few workplace designers arrive via hospitality. Dianne spent eleven years there, shaping designer hotels, luxury residences, and over 100 developer showflats for some of Singapore's most prominent real estate names.
She joined M Moser in 2017 with something the industry rarely sees: a designer who had spent a decade obsessing over atmosphere, narrative, and the craft of making a room feel like it has a soul. Long before the hotelification of the office became the industry's favourite buzzword. That perspective has since been recognised across international platforms including SG Mark, Good Design Australia, LEED Design Excellence, and FX International. Nine years on, she judges spaces the same way she designs them: not just for how they look, but for what they say.
Swami Jayaraman
SW1 Solutions
Managing Director
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Swami Jayaraman is the Founder and Managing Director of SW1 Solutions, a fully integrated consulting, design and construction solutions provider for the corporate, commercial and hospitality sectors to enable a healthy work-life balance and enable new ways of working all whilst aligning with ESG initiatives. The company aims to create inspiring & agile spaces for people to interact, engage and perform their best; our spaces are people-focused and put people-first.
From strategic planning, interior design, branding, digital & cultural transformation, change management, project management and construction, SW1 provides a full range of efficient and sustainable solutions that help clients design & build a better future.
2025 Design Awards Winners
Looking for even more Inspiration?
Out of more than 530 submissions spanning 38 countries and regions around the globe, our 2025 Shaw Contract Design Awards program truly celebrated the optimism of design its ability to influence our everyday lives.
TABLET/MOBILE Version
2025 Design Awards Winners
Looking for even more Inspiration?
Out of more than 530 submissions spanning 38 countries and regions around the globe, our 2025 Shaw Contract Design Awards program truly celebrated the optimism of design its ability to influence our everyday lives.