Ar. Rita Soh Siow Lan
Ar. Rita Soh graduated with honours from the National University of Singapore in 1987 further to her Bachelor of Arts (Architectural Studies) and obtained her professional practice licence in 1989.
In 2011, she obtained her Master of Science (Sustainable Building Design) from University of Nottingham (UK). This is to reinforce her strong belief to have all buildings designed sustainably and to use our natural resources responsibly.
Beyond breaking the gender leadership stereotype, she has advanced the causes of professional ethics and collaborative partnership in Singapore as well as on the Asian fronts.
The first woman President of the Singapore Institute of Architects (2004-2007), Rita standardized Singapore’s architectural nomenclature by creating Singapore’s own Code of Practice, and pushed the architectural body towards digitalization of its professional services. Subsequently, as President of Singapore’s Board of Architects (2010-2015), she championed ethical architectural practice both regionally and globally. In her current position as President, Architects Regional Council, Asia’s (ARCASIA) (2019-2021), Rita strives to foster closer collaborations amongst architects across Asia and leading the drive to collectively define global benchmarks from an Asian perspective.
While a Nominated Member (2014-2015) of Singapore’s largely-male Parliament, Rita advocated reducing Singapore’s carbon footprint by embracing environmentally-friendly buildings, and urged for an expansion of healthcare infrastructure to cater for an aging population.
She was involved in the remodeling of two state-owned hospitals (2009 & 2014). The Integrated Building & Medical Centre @Changi General Hospital and Yishun Polyclinic & Kallang Collocated Care-Facility are some of her recent Works. She won the ARCASIA Gold Medal (2018), Urban Redevelopment Authority Architectural Heritage Award (2016) and Singapore Institute of Architects Architectural Design Award (2016) for Restorations to a 150-year-old national monument, The Church of Saints Peter & Paul. Soh is Managing Director of Singapore’s RDC Architects Pte Ltd.
