Chris Godfrey (Chair)
Co-CEO | HBAChris Godfrey is Global Co-CEO of HBA, the world’s leading hospitality design firm. An award-winning RIBA Chartered Architect with over 25 years of international experience, he leads more than 1,500 employees across 25offices worldwide from the firm’s global headquarters in Singapore.
Since joining HBA in 2014 to establish HBA Residential, Chris has transformed the studio into a global leader in integrated design, expanding the firm’s scope beyond hospitality interiors to include architecture, landscape, lighting, art consultancy, product design, and brand strategy. Appointed Global Co-CEO in 2022, he has introducedthe OneHBA framework—integrated design, collective excellence, and exceptional delivery—revitalizing the brand and driving expansion into new markets such as New York, Madrid, North Africa, the Middle East, and India.
A strong advocate for education and innovation, Chris has lectured internationally, supported the Royal Institute of British Architects’ global growth, and championed advanced design technologies to create more immersive and adaptive design experiences. Today, as HBA celebrates 60 years of design excellence, he continues to guide its global community of designers with the mission to create spaces that inspire, connect, and elevate the human experience.
Aik Wee Ong
Senior Director (Asia Pacific) | Design HotelsAik Wee Ong is Senior Director Asia Pacific.
Aik Wee is part of the Senior Leadership Team and oversees the business across Asia Pacific, leading a team of seven. His return marks a homecoming, as he previously spent over a decade with Design Hotels prior to 2020, playing a key role in shaping the brand’s commercial presence across the region and building long-standing relationships with member hotels and regional partners.
“Aik Wee brings a rare combination of commercial acumen, a refined design eye, and deep regional insight,” said Stijn Oyen, Managing Director of Design Hotels. “His understanding of both the brand’s creative ethos and the evolving dynamics of the Asia Pacific market makes him exceptionally well placed to lead our next phase of growth in the region.”
Aik Wee rejoined Design Hotels following his most recent role as Deputy Managing Director at a Singapore-based, design-and-build studio, where he led a multidisciplinary team and gained hands-on experience scaling a business, developing talent and navigating a highly entrepreneurial environment.
Aik Wee returned at a pivotal moment as Design Hotels’ footprint across Asia Pacific continues to evolve. He will work closely with Design Hotels’ global teams, member hotels and regional partners to support sustainable growth while preserving the brand’s distinctive identity.
Aldwin Ong
EVP | CCD / Cheng Chung DesignAldwin Ong is more than an interior architect—he is a storyteller, crafting immersive narratives that transcend time, place, and expectation. With an illustrious career spanning Wilson Associates, Aston Design, LTW Designworks, and now as Senior Vice President for CCD’s Asia Pacific HQ in Singapore, he has shaped some of the world’s most evocative hospitality spaces, each infused with a signature blend of artistry, wit, and soul.
Renowned as a thought leader in global hospitality design, Aldwin has garnered the trust of the industry’s most prestigious brands, not just for his visionary approach but for his relentless pursuit of the unexpected. His philosophy—“Why Not?”—challenges conventions, breathing life into spaces that spark emotion and provoke curiosity.
Trained as an architect with a fine arts foundation, his design language is deeply rooted in the symbiosis of architecture and art. His love for the culinary and the arts finds its way into his creations, where the alchemy of flavors and forms merge into spatial poetry—each space a canvas, each experience a composition of nostalgia, provocation, and delight.
With over 20 years of shaping luxury and lifestyle hospitality, his work stretches across, yet remains profoundly personal—imbued with a sense of place, memory, and the quiet power of storytelling.
Belinda Chia
Senior Director, Interior Design, Global Design (APEC) | Marriott InternationalBelinda is Senior Director Interior Design at Marriott International Global Design Asia Pacific Excluding China. In this capacity she leads the MI GDAPEC Interior Design team who together are responsible for the design and design direction of more than 600 open properties across 25 brands in 22 countries and territories across APEC, as well as close to 400 properties in the pipeline.
An award-winning interior designer and seasoned industry leader, she brings a diverse background that provides a unique basis for her work. More than 25 years of progressive professional experience informs her approach to design, which reflects a disciplined balance of practical considerations and creative aesthetic awareness. Passionate about Hospitality Design and deeply committed to excellence in design, Belinda has led and mentored teams of international designers throughout her career, building strategic relationships with key stakeholder groups including major international operators beyond MI. Currently focused on shaping aspiring design careers, Belinda champions the freedom to Be Extraordinary and takes an inordinate amount of joy in the continued development of opportunities for others.
Clint Nagata
Founder & Creative Partner | BLINK Design GroupAs Founder and Creative Partner of BLINK Design Group, Clint Nagata has spent nearly two decades inspiring spaces that transcend their moment—designing legacies that hold meaning long after the first guests arrive.
Born and raised on the Hawaiian island of Oahu in a Japanese-American family, Clint’s passion for travel, hospitality and culture shaped his earliest understanding of design: that the most powerful spaces are those rooted in narrative, reverence for place, and emotional resonance.
After thirteen years at WATG in Honolulu, where he left as their youngest partner, Clint established BLINK in 2006—drawn by a fascination with Asian design vernacular and the desire to create something stronger than an individual thought.
That founding vision has evolved into BLINK’s guiding philosophy: Designing Legacies—a commitment to creating spaces that feel inevitable, that belong to their setting with cultural authenticity, timeless elegance and purpose.
BLINK has grown from its first studio in Bangkok to an international design house with established presences in Singapore, Dubai, and—as of November 2025—London. The London studio marks a pivotal moment in BLINK’s global journey, expanding the group’s creative influence across Europe and bringing together an elite team of visionaries and strategists.
A rising force on the international design stage, BLINK is a collective of bold thinkers united by an open-minded approach and restless enthusiasm for exploration. Clint’s constant journeying through diverse cultures and landscapes has shaped the studio’s ethos and attracted some of the industry’s brightest talent.
Clint sets the strategic direction across all BLINK studios and oversees every project from conception through completion. Calm, approachable, and thoughtful, his character is woven into every interaction at BLINK—from the innovative S.W.A.P exchange programme that fosters collaboration between international studios, to the Wish To Remember scholarship that sends designers across borders to explore new cultures and techniques.
Design, for Clint, is an act of exploration. While luxury hotels and resorts remain central to BLINK’s portfolio—collaborating with world-leading brands including One&Only Resorts, Six Senses, Banyan Tree, Nobu, Park Hyatt, Orient Express, Mandarin Oriental, Waldorf Astoria and Alila—the studio has expanded into branded residences and destination spas, shaping some of the world’s most celebrated destinations from Bali to Kyoto, the Maldives to Mauritius, and now across Europe with landmark projects including Six Senses Loire Valley Residences and a timeless Normandy retreat.
Hayley Mitchell
Co-founder | Mitchell & EadesHayley is Co-founder of Melbourne based Interior Architecture & Design studio, Mitchell & Eades, and is an internationally acclaimed designer with a career spanning three continents. Mitchell & Eades combines timeless sophistication with a contemporary vision of human experience creating design that delivers the authenticity that people crave. With a focus on spaces which cannot be tethered to a single point in time, combined with a level of empathy for design which extends far beyond the aesthetic, Mitchell & Eades insights translate into award-winning, multi sensory, design experiences.
Kesaté B. Tadesse
Principal & Managing Director | AvroKO (Bangkok)Kesaté B. Tadesse is a principal and managing director at AvroKO's Bangkok Studio, specialising in luxury hospitality projects throughout Asia and the extended region for established and emerging brands. He oversees design, strategy and overall culture and operations of the studio to develop world-class hospitality environments for clients.
Kesaté has over 17 years of experience working on and leading architecture and interior design projects ranging from hospitality and residential to commercial and retail spaces for clients across the private and commercial sectors. Having worked on projects in the US, China, South-East Asia, and the Middle East, his designs integrate a global perspective while emphasising the unique characteristics of local environments. He's worked on large-scale architecture projects as well as community-based projects—including collaborations with local artists and design-build projects in rural areas.
Kesaté graduated with Bachelors of Architecture (B.A.) and a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) from City University of New York and has taught architecture at the university level in Thailand.
Lucas Chirnside
Design Director | BAR StudioAs Design Director at BAR Studio, Lucas leads a team of designers and stakeholders on luxury hotel projects in diverse destinations.
Over the past 20 years as a cross-disciplinary designer, Lucas has created award-winning projects of varied scale – from large architectural typologies to hospitality interiors and bespoke products. His dynamic career has seen him work independently as an architect within his own practice and as a design lead with renowned firms. Today, he brings this innate ability to shift between macro and micro processes to BAR Studio, resulting in deeply engaging, connected designs.
Originally from New Zealand, Lucas’ dedication to international design culture has led him to live in Japan, China and Europe, with a base in Melbourne, Australia.
Masayuki Kinoshita
Chief Development Officer | Trunk HotelsMasayuki is the Chief Development Officer for Trunk Hotels & Resorts based in Tokyo. He is responsible for the expanding Trunk development in Japan and global. He also served as the Chief Creative Officer and led the team of architectural and interior design, concept and planning to deliver successful opening of Trunk Hotel Yoyogi Park which received the AHEAD Asia - Hotel of the Year and ranked #4 for the AHEAD Global – Accolades in 2024.
Educated in Switzerland and the US., Masayuki has over 22 years’ career in the luxury hospitality industry, he has a wealth of experience working with leading hotels, specifically at Park Hyatt Tokyo, Park Hyatt Shanghai, Andaz Tokyo and Andaz Maui. He has an extensive background in hotel operations, sales & marketing, creatives and development.
Nilgun Arsankan
EVP, Projects | The Hongkong & Shanghai HotelsNilgun Arsankan is Executive Vice President, Projects at The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited, where she oversees the global development and transformation of The Peninsula Hotels and the Group’s wider portfolio of residential, commercial, and mixed-use properties.
With over 25 years of international project experience, she has delivered high-profile hospitality, cultural, commercial, and infrastructure developments for institutions including The Peninsula Hotels Group, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and New York University.Trained as an architect with a master’s degree in civil engineering and construction management, Nilgun brings a rigorous, design-led and execution-focused perspective to complex projects worldwide.
Phillip Pond
Founder & Principal | Atelier PondPhillip Pond is the founder and principal of Atelier Pond, an international hospitality design studio with roots in New York and Bangkok and a portfolio spanning hotels, resorts and restaurants across Asia, the Americas and beyond.
With three decades of experience, Phillip has led design at some of the industry's most respected firms, including Yabu Pushelberg and AvroKO, where he served as Chief Creative Officer before establishing Atelier Pond in 2019. His studio's work is anchored in a conviction that has become, for him, almost a credo: that the most resonant hospitality design is derived from the living culture of a place — drawn out of it, coaxed from it — never imposed upon it from above.
This philosophy has shaped landmark projects including AER at the Four Seasons Mumbai and the Bardo Savannah — where Atelier Pond adapted a cluster of historic structures into a layered urban resort whose program, spaces and design language all take their cues from the social traditions of the city itself. The awards have followed: AHEAD in both Asia and the Americas, Interior Design, Michelin, among others.
The Atelier Pond approach integrates deep expertise in food and beverage operations, brand strategy and architectural storytelling — producing spaces that don't merely reference their communities, but function as genuine extensions of them.
Teresa Chan
VP, Design | Shangri-La GroupAs Vice President of Design at Shangri-La Group, Teresa oversees the design direction and execution of a global portfolio of luxury hospitality projects. With an architectural background and over 25 years of industry-leading interior design experience, she brings an astute, holistic perspective that bridges bold aesthetic innovation with rigorous operational feasibility.
Teresa’s career is rooted in a deep passion for hospitality design, having honed her expertise in the competitive luxury landscape of London before joining Shangri-La. Throughout her tenure, she has mentored international design teams, partnered with renowned designers to create iconic guest experiences, and delivered numerous award-winning projects. Her breadth of hospitality knowledge seamlessly integrates high-level design strategy with meticulous project management, ensuring that every space is as functional as it is memorable.
Yang Bangsheng
Founder | Yang & AssociatesMr. Yang Bangsheng is one of the most influential interior designers in Asia and an advocate of China's culturally distinctive hospitality design.
With 30 years of experience of forward-looking concept and sticks to the design philosophy of "Made in Nature". Mr. Yang leads YANG in edging into global hotel design giants, provide services for more than 700 quality hotels including those under lHG, Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Kempinski, and Banyan Tree.
Subscribe to our newsletter for deadline reminders, shortlist announcements, event updates and more.
GETTING THERE
We encourage attendees to take public transport, if possible.
The nearest MRT stations are:
- Orchard Boulevard (Thomson East Coast Line)
- Orchard Station (North South Line)
