Highway restaurant by MA team….This is more than just a stop along the highway, it’s a space where journeys slow down, people meet, and conversations flow.
From quick bites for travelers to quiet corners for families and fine dining under the skyline, the restaurant embraces every mood and every age. It welcomes big family gatherings, friendly evenings, and those little celebrations that bring people closer. With a signature 360° view tower and a lush landscape all around, the place comes alive through not just food, but through moments of interaction.
It’s a pitstop that refreshes, a hangout that engages, and a memory that stays with you long after the journey continues.
The annual Creative Colour Awards (CCA) celebrates projects that exhibit an innovative and purposeful use of colour in spatial design, recognising that the colours surrounding us can make a profound difference in our lives. The recent Award Ceremony in Tokyo was a stunning showcase of this principle, bringing together visionary architects and designers from across the region. This year, the awards received 188 submissions from 10 countries and regions, all demonstrating how colour can transform the built environment with purpose and imagination.
A Vision for Colour as a Force for Change
Setting the tone for the celebration, our leadership shared their vision for the role of colour in the future of design. In his opening address, Yuichiro Wakatsuki, Director, Representative Executive Officer & Co-President, highlighted the CCA’s distinct mission. “The Creative Colour Awards,” he noted, “allow us to celebrate outstanding colour mastery and the purposeful use of colours in spatial design among practitioners.” He emphasised that even “a small shift in colour can make a world of difference”.
In his closing remarks, Wee Siew Kim, Co-President of the Nippon Paint Group & Group CEO of NIPSEA Group, celebrated the winners’ innovative thinking. “Congratulations on your win,” he stated. “Your submissions have truly exemplified how colour can be used as a language and tool to solve problems, signal change and signify new possibilities.”
What Makes a Winning Project? A View from the Jury
The esteemed jury panel shared its insights on what it looks for in an outstanding project. Gladys Goh emphasised that the awards bring awareness to “how colours can impact design goals.” Francesca Heathcote Sapey agreed, stating that the use of colour “has to have meaning, it can’t be random… it has to go beyond the aesthetics to be of use.” For IDr Lai Siew Hong, the key is how colour can “impact and tell a story in the project and how it impacts lives and people.” Judge Nevzat Sayin offered a poetic analogy, comparing colours to “punctuation marks in literature,” explaining that “we need them to tell a story.”
Announcing the Grand Prix Winner: GB School by Murali Architects
The award’s highest honour, the Grand Prix award, was presented to GB School in Tamil Nadu, India, designed by Murali Architects. Architect M Murali, who was present with his wife, expressed his surprise. “I was thinking, ‘Oh, what happened, I didn’t make it,’ but then it was a great surprise,” he shared.
The story behind the project is one of deep social purpose. After discovering the school was for underprivileged children from surrounding villages with poor living conditions, Ar. Murali’s mission became clear: “The school should become like a heaven.” The design uses a “splash of colour everywhere” to elevate moods and bring happiness. “Colour always welcomes,” Ar. Murali explained. “It is like hugging you… It’s like holding you.” The result is a space where he says, “Every child loves it.”
