Singapore Chapter Launches
International building reuse advocacy network establishes Southeast Asian presence with the appointment of Arup's WingSee Wong as inaugural Chapter Lead for Singapore signalling a new era for adaptive reuse with landmark planning incentives
Singapore – Don't Waste Buildings (DWB), the international network championing the reuse and retrofit of existing buildings through better policy and financial incentives, today announced the launch of its Singapore Chapter, its first in Southeast Asia, alongside the appointment of Architect WingSee Wong as inaugural Chapter Lead. A registered architect in both the United Kingdom and Singapore, and Associate Principal and Architecture Lead at global engineering and design consultancy Arup, WingSee brings formidable technical expertise, cross-cultural perspective, and a deep personal commitment to sustainable design to the role.
WingSee Wong, DWB’s new Singapore Chapter Lead
The launch positions DWB to make an active and timely contribution to Singapore's built environment debate, as the city-state's planning authorities signal a meaningful shift towards the revitalisation and repurposing of its existing building stock.
WingSee's career has been shaped by a conviction that the best architecture is the kind that works quietly and powerfully for the people who use it every day - what she describes as the small "a" architecture that thousands pass through daily and that generations can inherit. It is a philosophy ideally suited to the work of DWB, which holds that the most sustainable building is almost always the one that already stands.
At Arup Singapore, WingSee leads the firm’s architectural team across transit architecture, adaptive reuse, and purpose-built facilities, contributing to a global leadership position on sustainable design. Her work spans major transport infrastructure and the future evolution of cities, including stations on the Cross Island Line (CRL), the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL), the Changi Creek MRO Facility for commercial aircraft maintenance, and the 19 Nassim residential development. She is also leading research into the rejuvenation of first-generation mass transit rail stations, exploring how existing transport infrastructure can be adapted to meet evolving social, environmental, and operational needs for the next phase of their life spans. Across these diverse projects, she has consistently sought creative, technically rigorous, and sustainable solutions, bringing a strong belief in extending the life and value of existing buildings and infrastructure—a perspective she will bring directly to the challenge of advocating for building reuse at scale[WW1.1].
A graduate of Cardiff University, WingSee holds registration with the Architects Registration Board (UK) and the Board of Architects Singapore, and is a member of the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA). She serves as Committee Member and Honorary Secretary of the RIBA Singapore Chapter, and as Arup Singapore's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Leader, roles that speak to her belief that a better built environment begins with a more inclusive profession.
WingSee has called Singapore home since 2014, having grown up in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. It is a city she approaches, as she does every new place, with the curiosity of an explorer, alert to its layers of history, its architectural contrasts, and the particular way it expresses the diversity of its people through its built form.
Welcoming WingSee to the DWB team, Richard Nelson, Co-Founder, Don't Waste Buildings, said:
"WingSee is, quite simply, the person you want leading this charge in Singapore. She has the architectural rigour, the professional credibility, and, perhaps most importantly, the genuine belief that how we treat our existing buildings matters deeply, not just environmentally but culturally and socially. Singapore is one of the most dynamic and thoughtful built environment markets in Asia, and it is at a genuinely exciting inflection point. The URA's revised incentive schemes show that the policy conversation is moving in exactly the right direction, and I am confident that WingSee and the DWB Singapore Chapter will help translate that policy momentum into real action on the ground. We are fortunate to have her on the team."
Ar. WingSee Wong, Singapore Chapter Lead, Don't Waste Buildings, said:
“Singapore is a city that is constantly evolving, yet it is also a place where land is scarce and every decision about our built environment carries long-term consequences. That makes it an ideal test bed to explore new ways of balancing the value of adapting what we already have while continuing to meet the needs of a growing and changing city.
To me, this conversation goes beyond individual buildings. It is about how we think at the scale of neighbourhoods, infrastructure and the city as a whole—finding opportunities to rejuvenate, reconnect and enhance the value of our existing places rather than starting from scratch.
It is encouraging to see initiatives such as the URA’s updated CBD Incentive Scheme 2.0 and SDI Scheme 2.0 recognising the role that adaptation and rejuvenation can play in Singapore’s future. Through DWB Singapore, I hope to help build a community of practitioners, advocates, and building owners who share that belief and are ready to act on it. The most sustainable building is the one that already exists, and building reuse is not about preserving everything; it is about making thoughtful decisions that respect what is valuable, reduce waste and create places that continue to serve future generations. I am excited to take on this role and look forward to learning from and working with others who share this ambition.”
The launch of DWB's Singapore Chapter comes at a defining moment in the city-state's approach to development. In early 2025, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) issued Circular No. URA/PB/2025/02-CUDG, introducing significant revisions to its Rejuvenation Incentive Schemes for Strategic Areas through the CBD Incentive Scheme 2.0 and Strategic Development Incentive (SDI) Scheme 2.0. These updated frameworks provide enhanced planning incentives for building owners to convert, repurpose, and rejuvenate older properties, particularly in the Central Business District and other strategically designated precincts, signalling a clear policy intent to unlock the latent value of Singapore's existing building stock rather than default to wasteful demolition and reconstruction.
For Don’t Waste Buildings, this direction of travel is welcome. Buildings account for a substantial share of global carbon emissions, not only through their operation, but also through the energy and materials consumed in their construction. The embodied carbon embedded in Singapore's existing building stock represents an environmental resource of considerable significance: one that, once a building is demolished, is irretrievably lost. Reuse, retrofit, and adaptive conversion are not merely exercises in nostalgia or heritage conservation, they are among the most impactful interventions available to a city serious about its net-zero commitments and its role as a global model for sustainable urbanism. Additionally, incentivising retrofit can unlock significant economic growth potential, as DWB highlighted in their recent paper, The Reuse Dividend.
Singapore, with its ambitious sustainability targets, its dense and diverse urban fabric, and its architectural heritage that spans colonial-era shophouses to brutalist civic landmarks, presents an opportunity to demonstrate what a genuine commitment to building reuse can achieve. DWB's Singapore Chapter will seek to convene architects, engineers, developers, policymakers, heritage advocates, and building owners around a shared conviction: that ‘retrofit first’ is the most sensible economic, social and environmental choice.
Become a DWB member by joining our LinkedIn group, and if you’d like to volunteer for the new Singapore Chapter, or another Chapter or Workstream, get in touch HERE.
About Don't Waste Buildings:
Don't Waste Buildings (DWB) is a UK-based international organisation dedicated to making the case for the reuse and retrofit of existing buildings through government policy clarity and financial incentives to make it the default choice for developers. DWB brings together built environment professionals, policymakers, developers, and building owners to share knowledge, challenge assumptions, and accelerate the shift towards a more circular approach to development, one that recognises the environmental, social, cultural, and economic value embedded in the buildings we already have. DWB operates through a growing network of UK regional and international chapters, each building local communities of practice around the global imperative to leverage the economic, social and environmental impact opportunities of reusing and regenerating existing buildings and places.
Media Enquiries: Leanne Tritton, Co-Founder | info@dontwastebuildings.com