How landscape architect Cathy Hang is shaping Singapore’s most loved public spaces

It was probably not the best idea to take a walk in a Singapore park at 11am in January, but when landscape architect Cathy Hang reassured me that the weather would cooperate, it felt safe to go along.

Hang is no ordinary designer. At the end of 2025, she was recognised as Young Landscape Architect of the Year by the Singapore Institute of Landscape Architects (SILA). A lead designer and team head at Henning Larsen, she has practised in the city-state since 2015, after moving from Hong Kong.

“It was very encouraging to receive the award. But my deepest reaction is that I am who I am because I’ve met many people who put a lot of ‘fertiliser’ into me. So, of course I’m happy, but I also regard the award as a collective one,” said Hang, who turns 34 this year.

Her aversion to taking all the glory was a consistent refrain. With a humility that would make Confucius proud, she repeatedly credited mentors – especially Ryan Shubin and Melle van Dijk, whom she met early in her career – and spoke about her work with a sense of wonder and gratitude.

BACK TO HER ROOTS

While she has worked on the National Orchid Garden and Rifle Range Nature Park, her pet project is Jurong Lake Gardens – the setting for our late-morning walk and interview. True to her prediction of “rain most likely in the afternoon”, a short, intense downpour quickly gave way to sunshine.

“Jurong Lake Gardens was the first development that I followed through from the early stages to completion. Because I saw how things have changed, it’s very close to my heart,” she explained, strolling along with an umbrella in hand.

Originally a neighbourhood park with a golf club, it was redeveloped into Singapore’s third national garden, including the restoration of a freshwater swamp that once existed here. Hang’s contributions included working with colleagues on planting designs across different habitats, protecting mature trees on site, designing several landscape structures and features, and coordinating construction for the entire 53-hectare development.

“We were not just thinking about the plants, but how people would perceive the space. It was about marrying everything, like the ground, the surfaces and how we positioned all the different elements. I was super fortunate that I could start and complete this – because you don't really get to do the same scale or type of project all the time,” she mused.

Conversation came to a halt as she neared the Grasslands, a section in the southern end of the Gardens that is her favourite. It was easy to see why. A runway-straight gravel path cuts through it, flanked by undulating hillocks planted with Chinese fountain grass and mission grass, beneath a wide expanse of open sky. Mimicking a savanna, it has since attracted flocks of munias, storks and eagles, among other wildlife.

At the centre stands what looks like a tree devoid of leaves. It turns out to be a sculpture meant to anchor the three-hectare expanse. Made from rebars repurposed from the site – including the demolished car park and pathways – it is knotted and twisted in ways that resemble bark and branches.

While it looks like a commissioned artwork, Hang revealed that it was crafted by contractor supervisor Lao Gao. “He had the ability, eye and hands to create what we envisioned, even though he had no previous experience doing something like that,” she said. “In being close to nature, he was able to be inspired by it.”

Features aside, it is the Grasslands’ significance to the community that has become precious to Hang. On her visits, she has seen students taking graduation photos. Many a marriage proposal has happened here, and it is a hot spot for wedding shoots.

“What is surprising is it actually became more than what we thought – a moment for people as well. It is crazy to think that what I did has become the physical space that something important happens.”

SEEDED BY CREATIVITY

No surprise then that Hang has remained committed to landscape architecture for the past decade, bucking the trend of job-hopping that is common among those of her “zillennial” generation. Her decision to study it at the University of Hong Kong was fuelled by a desire to do something more open-ended and creative – work that allowed for freedom of expression, with “no absolute answers”.

This was coupled with a love for nature – one she spent plenty of time in while growing up in Hong Kong. “My parents brought my brother and me to the beach every weekend, and I used to walk a lot. If I need to choose between indoor and outdoor, my preference is to get out. That was probably the unconscious link to landscape architecture,” she explained.

After graduating, a university professor introduced Hang to a job opportunity at Atelier Dreiseitl in Singapore. Without giving it much thought, she went through the interview process and landed the position. Since then, she has stayed with the firm, through its integration with Henning Larsen in 2022. Along the way, exposure to different mentors, passionate teammates and varied projects has kept her in situ.

“They gave me the energy to think about what I can do – not just what I can contribute, but what I can absorb as a human being. Each one opened up different inspirations and reflections, so I felt I could try something new and still explore. Just like this, time passed.”

Naturally, her appreciation of landscape architecture has deepened, too. Through her practice, she has come to see the necessity of different disciplines working together – architects, engineers, wildlife specialists and gardeners among them.

“My understanding has definitely become more complex,” she added. “I am always thinking about the impact that we make, and how we can make people’s daily life a better experience, while maintaining a balance with the environment.”

MAINTAINING A STASIS

This idea of balance sits at the core of her approach to landscape architecture. Pausing at a lookout point in Jurong Lake Gardens, she gestured towards Alstonia Island on the edge of a freshwater swamp off-limits to visitors – even as a monitor lizard swam serenely by and a baby heron flitted among the foliage.

The spot is something of a secret, stumbled upon by joggers or those looking for an isolated corner to meditate. This land-water interface is designed to let people and wildlife share the same place, while keeping them apart. “I think the nice thing is you can't reach the actual island, yet you can watch the animals walking or nesting around the shore or trees, so there is a closeness,” she explained.

The swamp too was planned such that it has a self-sustaining ecological cycle, while also educating visitors about the Gardens. Its introduction was a reinstatement of the area’s natural heritage, before Jurong was industrialised. To ensure authenticity, native trees – including Alstonia – were sourced and acclimatised before being planted on site.

“We needed to train them to remember that they are a wet-tolerant species, probably because they were not cultivated in that environment. This was done by gradually increasing the depth of the water they were growing in. It's a cute process of trying to remind them of their own heritage.”

In other projects, Hang has grappled with which parts of the land should have built structures and which should be kept wild. She has encountered this many times, such as when a tree is beloved by a community, because they enjoy picnicking beneath it, and appeal against cutting it down. In the Gardens, a stream was diverted in a particular way to avoid the removal of a mango tree that produced the sweeter fruit.

“Balance is really about the relationships between things. For me, it’s a stable state where different parts can keep thriving together – the built and nature, people and wildlife, and even our relationships with each other.”

IN FULL BLOOM

The year began with the wrapping up of work on the North-South Corridor (NSC). Henning Larsen is the master plan consultant, after winning the tender in 2024 with a proposal for a people-centred, inclusive approach that prioritises walking, cycling and public transport.

She explained: “Traditionally, infrastructure is about moving cars as efficiently as possible. With the NSC, we’re trying to treat the surface not just as a road, but as continuous movement and a green corridor – returning some of that space to people and to nature, while still keeping the city moving.”

From Bugis and Novena to Bishan, Ang Mo Kio and Woodlands, the team is studying how to introduce shade, planting and sidewalks so that walking and cycling feel intuitive and comfortable in the heat. Given the diversity of land uses along the NSC – from residential to commercial and industrial – Hang and the multidisciplinary team are looking for ways to shape the corridor into something more human-scale.

Also on her plate is raising awareness of landscape architecture, especially among the young. When possible, she accepts invitations to speak in schools and lead tours of projects she has worked on – such as Jurong Lake Gardens. Her message centres on building on Singapore’s “city in a garden” vision, and fostering knowledge-sharing between disciplines and collaborators.

Hang’s win at the SILA awards has put her in a prime position to amplify her message. “I don't know what made me win, but perhaps the judges thought I had the potential to influence the young and share the everyday magic of nature with them.”