On 25 November 2025, the Design Business Chamber Singapore (DBCS) celebrated four decades of design excellence with a 40th Gala Celebration night that spotlighted the visionary people and ideas shaping Singapore’s design landscape. Trailblazers, emerging talents, and industry leaders gathered to honour the Singapore Good Design (SG Mark) top winners, Remarkables for Singapore Good Design, the Seed Awards, and the global debut of the World Design Business Organisation.

Guest-of-Honour President Tharman Shanmugaratnam presented 40 awards — one for each year of DBCS’ journey — filling the room with pride, momentum, and a shared sense of purpose. It was a heartfelt tribute of how far Singapore’s design community has come, and how confidently it is stepping onto the world stage.

For us at Conexus Studio, the night held special meaning as we won a Remarkable Award, recognising multi-year SG Mark recipients for their consistent contributions to design excellence and positive impact on business and society. What began as a small studio with a handful of sketches and a dream to design spaces that truly connect people has grown into something we’re deeply proud of.

Our SG Mark journey — and really, our awards journey as a studio — began with a milestone we’ll never forget: our very first award was an SG Mark, won in 2020 for our debut full-scale design-and-build project for TenX. That recognition marked the beginning of a transformative chapter for Conexus Studio. We followed with a win in 2021 for BBC Studios; celebrated triple SG Marks in 2022 for Nu Skin, Hegen, and 8VI; matched it with three more in 2023 for Sartorius, Evident, and Decathlon; and continued the momentum in 2024 with SG Marks for our own office, Korn Ferry, and Nium. Every award has been its own confetti moment — each one a testament to our bold ideas, our wonderful partners, and the joy that meaningful design brings to our team.

Watching our co-founder, Brendan Khor, walk the stage to receive the award from President Tharman was both humbling and surreal. Our path hasn’t always been straightforward — tight timelines, ambitious ideas, and complex projects have tested us more than once. But each challenge pushed us to think harder, try bolder, and collaborate more closely. And through it all, our team stayed grounded, learning, growing, and sometimes laughing through the chaos.

As we look ahead, this milestone underscores the value of every careful decision and persistent effort in shaping something meaningful. We’re more inspired than ever to keep creating, keep questioning, and keep raising the bar for ourselves and for the communities we design for. Here’s to the next chapter — and to the magic that happens when a passionate team refuses to settle.