NEWS, DATA, ANALYSIS AND STRATEGIC INSIGHTS FOR ARCHITECTS IN THE GCC JANUARY 2020 / VOLUME 14 / ISSUE 01 Celebrating the year’s outstanding projects 19 2020 VISION Leading architects on what to expect this year 37 EVENT REVIEW DesignMENA summit highlights 6Redefining Surfaces. Redefining Limits. Dekton Ultracompact breaks down architectural boundaries and reimagines spaces to become infinite. We have redefined concepts to create a revolutionary and versatile material with a unique design, format and resistance. Find out more about the 25 year Dekton warranty, look out inspiration and find resources at cosentino.com Wall/flooring colour Dekton Industrial Soke NEW Modules colour Dekton Stonika Bergen NEW COSENTINO CITY DUBAI Dubai Design District (D3) Building 4-A, Unit 401 - 042428131 - infomiddleeast@cosentino.com Follow Us: F CosentinoMiddleEastDownload the App SUBSCRIBE: www.itp.com/subscriptions 19 38 0410 contents VOLUME 14 ISSUE 01 THE AWARDS ISSUE: ALL THE ACTION FROM THE GLITTERING NIGHT OF THE 13TH MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECTS AWARDS 19 MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT AWARDS Read all about the winners and highly commended projects and practices in the thirteenth edition of the MEA Awards 04 THE DESIGNMENA SUMMIT The seventh annual designMENA Sum- mit brought together more than 150 senior architects and com- mercial interior designers from the region’s most influen- tial firms 37 2020 AND BEYOND MEA speaks to the region’s leading archi- tects to see what the UAE and the region’s design industry can look forward to in this new decade KEEP UP-TO-DATE For all the latest news check out www. middleeastarchitect. com 10 MEET THE JUDGES The jury for the MEA Awards comprised of stellar personali- ties from the fields of design and architec- ture who have several years of experience behind them MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT / 01.20 / WWW.MIDDLEEASTARCHITECT.COM CONTENTS / 3PO Box 500024, Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 444 3000 Web: www.itp.com Offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, London & Mumbai ITP MEDIA GROUP CEO Ali Akawi Managing Director Alex Reeve EDITORIAL Issue editor Shalaka Paradkar Tel: +971 4 444 3000 email: shalaka.paradkar@os.itp.com Published by and © 2020 ITP MEDIA GROUP FZ-LLC ADVERTISING email: sales@itp.com ITP DIGITAL Advertising Director Riad Raad Tel: +971 4 444 3319 email: riad.raad@itp.com ITP LIVE General Manager Ahmad Bashour Tel: +971 4 444 3549 email:ahmad.bashour@itp.com PHOTOGRAPHY Senior Photographers Efraim Evidor, Adel Rashid Staff photographers Aasiya Jagadeesh, Ajith Narendra, Fritz John Asuro, Yuliya Petrovich, Jessica Samson PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION Group Production & Distribution Director Kyle Smith Production Manager Basel Al Kassem Production Coordinator Manoj Mahadevan CIRCULATION Circulation Executive Loreta Regencia MARKETING Director of Awards & Marketing Daniel Fewtrell ITP GROUP CEO Ali Akawi CFO Toby Jay Spencer-Davies Subscribe online at www.itp.com/ subscriptions The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for error or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. The opinions and views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the reader’s particular circumstances. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged. No part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publishers in writing. An exemption is hereby granted for extracts used for the purpose of fair review. Right now as this issue of Middle East Archi- tect goes to press, wildfires are raging across Australia, capping off a year that featured no fewer than 15 natural disasters. Extreme weather, driven by climate change, caused widespread devastation in 2019 and unless we cut down on carbon emissions, the earth will continue to hurtle towards destruction. With the building and construction in- dustry responsible for over one third of all carbon emissions worldwide, architects are applying some bold new design thinking to fight the climate change crisis, instead of simply staying complicit. This was evident at the 2019 Middle East Architect Awards (p19). It was heartening to see how many architecture and infrastruc- ture projects made an effort to minimise their adverse effects on the environment, putting sustainability and human-centric design at their heart. Once again, our all-star jury panel was im- pressed by the quality, diversity and depth of the nominations received. Across the 14 award categories, there was an uptick in box-fresh ideas and innovative de- sign thinking, applied to programmes of varying scales and diversity. An intensely competitive field saw firms and projects from all over the region – the UAE, Sau- di Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and the wider Middle East – vying for top honours. Optimism surrounds the start of a new year, and 2020 promises to be a water- shed one for the region, with the advent of the much-awaited Expo (the first in the Middle East) and the many remark- able feats of architecture and engineer- ing it will showcase. Sustainability is one of the key themes of Expo 2020, and the six-month long event will serve as a resounding en- dorsement of the Middle East’s commit- ment to decarbonising its future. We can’t wait to see, and indeed, be a part of its transformative effect on the region’s design industry. Earth’s greatest crisis demands to be tackled in fresh new ways and architects are stepping up to the plate Design vs Climate Change SHALAKA PARADKAR Issue editor, Middle East Architect EDITOR’S COMMENT MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT / 01.20 / WWW.MIDDLEEASTARCHITECT.COM 4 / COMMENTDesign competitions boost projects, careers, and networking opportunities. Be part of the 6th International LafargeHolcim Awards for exemplary projects and visionary concepts in sustainable construction. Prize money totals USD 2 million. Independent expert juries evaluate submissions from architecture, engineering, urban planning, materials science, construction technology, and related fields using the “target issues” for sustainable construction of the LafargeHolcim Foundation. www.lafargeholcim-awards.org LafargeHolcim Awards Next Generation winner. Architect, France.Meriem Chabani “ Winning the LafargeHolcim Awards triggered numerous invitations to present my work” An initiative of LafargeHolcim, represented in the United Arab Emirates bySPONSORED BY GOLD SPONSORSOFFICIAL FURNITURE SPONSOR LANYARD SPONSOR FIT-OUT PARTNERGIFT BAG SPONSOR Tipping point for design standards? Local designers discuss whether the Middle East needs to refocus on design to achieve its optimum best at the designMENA Summit 2019 Some of the region’s most influential designers got together to dissect industry issues at this year’s designMENA Summit. Two of the panellists – Diane Thorsen, former Perkins+Will design director, and Nomadk founder, Kevin McLachlan – have occupied the top spot on Commercial Interior Design’s Power 50 List. They were joined by H+A design director, David Lessard; Laura Bielecki, senior manager of interior design at Ellington Properties; and Khalid Shafar, founder and director of KASA. Esra Lemmens, design consultant and founder of the Esra Lemmens Agency, kept everything in order as moderator. Thorsen kicked off the conversation by lamenting what she sees as too much “quantity” and not enough “quality” being developed. “I think the market needs to focus on human-cen- tric design and what I mean by that is designing both archi- tecture and interior spaces that focuses on designing for the human experience,” she said. “We need to create environments where the human experi- ence connects with nature, focuses on sustainability and how we can engage with health and wellbeing.” Speaking next, McLachlan, who established Nomadk to “push standards” of design for himself and others, said elim- inating waste is essential to improve industry standards. “Waste is one of the most crucial things in our business – there is wasted time, wasted talent, wasted money – it is the corner- stone of failure in projects. If we can show clients how not to waste time and effort and the fact that we can do things quick- er with fewer people there’s value there,” he stressed. Bielecki, the only client-side designer on the panel, noted 6 / DESIGNMENA SUMMIT MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT / 01.20 / WWW.MIDDLEEASTARCHITECT.COMSPONSORED BY GOLD SPONSORSOFFICIAL FURNITURE SPONSOR LANYARD SPONSOR FIT-OUT PARTNERGIFT BAG SPONSOR the importance of demonstrating a mix of skills to developers. “To have a holis- tic product you need to hire a firm with a holistic team,” she said. “If you hire a firm that has people who are experi- enced with WELL design, sustainability, feng shui, it starts bringing something stronger to the table.” Change was a topic that came up again and again. Lessard said he believes the global design industry is at a “tipping point” and he stressed that the Middle East needs a new methodology and ap- proach to development due to the over- saturation of many project typologies. Emirati product designer Khalid Shafar, born and raised in Dubai, said the shift in standards will not be sudden and any changes need to be implement- ed slowly. “We are the influence on the client to change the way they think, to implement the design values we want to imbed, but that will take time,” he said. “If we embed a philosophy of change in our practices and implement this slowly until we feel we can implement it without looking at the financial results, that’s where we reach the tipping point and a shift [in standards].” DESIGNMENA SUMMIT / 7 MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT / 01.20 / WWW.MIDDLEEASTARCHITECT.COM8 / DESIGNMENA SUMMIT MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT / 01.20 / WWW.MIDDLEEASTARCHITECT.COMDESIGNMENA SUMMIT / 9 MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT / 01.20 / WWW.MIDDLEEASTARCHITECT.COMNext >