Middle East Architect Awards “set standard” for the region

The inaugural Middle East Architect Awards took place on the evening of October 8th at the Westin Dubai.

Approximately 250 of the region’s top architects, developers and engineers turned out for what is already being called the regional standard for architectural recognition.

Craig Gibbons and Jeff Willis, co-directors of Arup’s Dubai office referred to the ITP event as the, “best awards ceremony they’ve attended in the Middle East.”

In a show of support for the awards, the jury and the process, Chris Brown, senior associate at HOK also commented: “It’s so good to see that people are finally being critical about architecture [in the Middle East], and not just being wowed by everything. These awards are setting a standard for architecture in the region... and that is important.”

The awards jury was chaired by Dr. Samia Rab, Associate Professor of Architecture and Heritage Management and former head of the Department of Architecture at the American University of Sharjah

The jury also included: Dr. Gisela Loehlein, Architectural Engineer and Consultant to the Director General Directorate of Public Works in Sharjah; Hisham Youssef, Senior Design Manager of International Projects at Gensler and president of the Architectural Association of the UAE; Ibrahim Jaidah, principal architect and managing director of the Arab Engineering Bureau in Qatar; Dr. M. Alaa Mandour, Associate Professor of Architecture at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman; and Dr. Sadek Owainati, Engineering Consultant, co-founder and former chairman of the Emirates Green Building Council.

Despite coming just 12 months after the launch of the popular publication, the Middle East Architect Awards included an extensive range of nominations for its 11 categories. The winners and categories are as follows:

1. Best Concept Design: Blue City Oman from Al Madina A’Zarqa

2. Best Mixed Use Development: Marina + Beach Towers from Oppenheim Architecture + Design

3. Developer of the Year: Nakheel

4. Green Project of the Year: Masdar Headquarters from Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

5. Supertall Project of the Year: Dubai Towers – Dubai from TVS Architects

6. Completed Project of the Year: Qatar Science & Technology Park from Woods Bagot

7. Infrastructure Project of the Year: Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Crossing from FXFOWLE

8. Engineering Firm of the Year: Buro Happold

9. Architecture Firm of the Year: Foster + Partners

10. Young Architect of the Year: Carmy Wong from Atkins

11. Architect of the Year: Nicholas Bailey from Atkins

The team at Middle East Architect are busily preparing to begin receiving nominations for the 2009 Awards. Please contact editor Jeff Roberts ( This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ) with any inquiries.

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