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Celebrating the creative best and foremost from the region's design and architecture industry, the annual Design Middle East Awards will honour the year's top architects, designers, projects, and firms. The ceremony will take place at Sofitel The Palm dubai on October 31, 2021.
The award ceremony with various categories will strive to recognise the individual excellence, company strengths, and project success. The awards presentation will take place at a five star venue followed by the ceremony and gala dinner. It’s an event to rejoice, network, and celebrate the deserving talent. Winner receives a commemorative trophy, extensive print and online coverage in the Design Middle East.
Nominate now, to stand a chance to win at the Design Middle East Awards 2021.
This award category recognises the outstanding architectural firm in the 12 months to the end of September 2021. Judges will be looking a firm, which delivers high quality projects in the MENA region. Judges will be looking for the firm’s greatest achievements, projects, and financial summary of the relevant period.
Entries for the Architectural firm of the Year category should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words about the firm and its progress.
The award is for an outstanding design firm of the year whose projects standout with Inspiring and creative ideas. Judges will be looking for a firm, which has shown excellence in design and delivered excellent projects on time.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description about the firm and its progress.
The award is for the outstanding fit-out firm of the year who has delivered some amazing projects in the past 12 month till September 2021. The limelight would be on firm’s completed projects, financial summary, nature of clients, and other accomplishments.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description about the firm and its achievements
The award is for the retail company with exquisite design goods and accessories. Judges will be looking for the retailer with successful deals, nature of clients, projects associated with along with the annual turnover.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description about the retail company and its clients and business.
The award is for an outstanding boutique firm of the year whose projects standout with inspiring ideas and incredible designs. Judges will be looking for a firm with less than 20 employees who have delivered excellent projects on time and have impacted the industry with their ideologies and design beliefs.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description about the firm and its progress.
The award is for an outstanding manufacturing firm which specialises in material for producing final products used in the design industry like glass doors, kitchen slabs, hardwood floors, etc.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description about the firm, projects, and other achievements.
The award is presented to the architectural firm that takes on a people-centric approach and demonstrates strong commitment towards employee empowerment and enrichment. Companies must make an effort in terms of improving employee’s job satisfaction, employee recognition and retention, fair communication, and promote work-life balance.
Entries for the Best Workplace of the Year category should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words about the firm and its progress.
The company would receive the award for supplying world-class lighting for retail projects throughout the region.
The award would go to the company for providing world-class lights and lighting installations for a variety of projects throughout the region.
The award is for the interior designer showcasing excellence in design in the region. The judges would consider the completed projects in 12 months ending September 2021 and future exciting plans in the pipeline.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description about the interior designer, clients, and proud projects.
Saluting the outstanding architect and his excellence in the field of architecture in the region. Judges will consider the projects completed in the last 12 month until September 2021, those in pipeline and other achievements. Initiatives related to sustainability and environment should also be mentioned.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description about the architect, company, projects, clients, and future projects.
The award recognises the most promising designer or an architect (30 or below) who is working in the Middle East. Judges would consider the completed projects in the region, projects in the pipeline, and other accomplishments.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description about the interior designer or architect, clients, and projects.
This award will go to an individual that has made an outstanding contribution to the design and architecture sector in the region during his/her career. This award will be chosen by a panel of judges.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description and also include details about the projects, accomplishments, and other contributions made towards this field.
The award is for an incredible and immensely talented manager who is a valuable asset to the company. Judges will be looking for an individual who attributes to the success of a project with his/her invaluable contribution in the field of design and architecture.
Entries should support the nomination with no more than 1000 words of description and also include details about the projects, accomplishments, and other contributions made towards this field.
The award for CEO of the Year will go to the individual who demonstrates and delivers outstanding results at his or her organisation during the previous 12 months.
The award will go to the best retail project of the year on the basis of design, interiors, and innovation. The project to consider for this category are shopping malls, stand-alone retail outlets, also includes spas, gyms, and salons. This award will be chosen by a panel of judges who will take the design aspect affecting the retail experience of customers strongly in consideration.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description of the retail project and it’s standout features making the retail experience a joyous one.
This award is for the outstanding interior design for a commercial/public sector project, which includes museums, government buildings, cinemas, airports, offices, and galleries in the Middle East. Judges will make their choice on the basis of the design, innovation, and technology, used in the project.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description of the commercial project and standout features of the development.
This award is for the outstanding residential project in the Middle East based on the design, innovation, and creativity. Judges will make their choice on the basis of the various aspects of design like technology, lighting, walls, flooring, façade, outdoor area, and interiors.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description of the residential project and its
This award is for an outstanding school or a university development in the Middle East. Judges will make their decision on the basis of design, innovation, and how engaging and inspiring are the interiors for the student.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description of the design education development and its design highlights.
The award will go to the best landscape project of the year on the basis of design and technology. This award will be chosen by a panel of judges who will take into consideration the landscape design and the aspect of sustainability.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description of the landscape project and the note-worthy design highlights.
The award will go to the outstanding lighting project completed for a residential, commercial or retail development. This award will be chosen by a panel of judges who will take into consideration technology, sustainability, and innovation.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description of the lighting project and the note-worthy design and technology highlights.
The award will go to the outstanding project —residential, commercial, or retail, which is most sustainable, and has used extensive environment-friendly initiatives hence reducing the carbon footprints.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description of the sustainable project and the note-worthy design and technology highlights.
The award will go to the outstanding hotel project in the Middle East with striking interiors and exteriors. The judges will focus on the design of various areas like lobby, public spaces, rooms, outdoors, and F&B areas.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description of the hospitality project and design highlights.
The award will go to the outstanding hospitality project—either restaurant, bar, or a club in the Middle East with striking interiors and creative design concepts. The judges will focus on projects high on design aesthetics and that promotes social interaction.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description of the innovative project supporting the ideas of the same.
The award will go to the most innovative design-led project in the Middle East. It could be either public, residential, retail, or a design education project high on innovative elements, better solutions, and newness. The judges will focus on highly innovative projects in terms of design, technology, and materials.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description of the hospitality project and design highlights.
The award will go to an incredible healthcare project with a design that promotes the health and well-being of its occupants. Judges will be looking for a project with a holistic design and innovative approaches to healthcare environments.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description of the healthcare project and the note-worthy design features.
The award will go to the best interior fit-out project of the year on the basis of design, fit-out works, and technology. This award will be chosen by a panel of judges who will take into account the project that showcases excellence in main areas of fit-out.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description of the project and the note-worthy fit-out features.
The best selection of adaptive reuse and refurbishment architecture project in the Middle East
This category awards the best overall architecture for a built architectural complex with multiple and combined functions, including (but not limited to) commercial, residential, co-working, institutional, health and wellness, cultural, hospitality, sports and recreation, transportation and more, and are physically and functionally integrated.
Any completed master plan dedicated to the long-term connections between buildings, infrastructure, social and economic conditions, environments, and future development.
This category is dedicated to any type of building and development that is already in progress or slated to begin construction soon, and gives an insight into what the future may hold through distinct architectural, use of advanced technology, and environmental qualities.
Judges will evaluate submissions based on materiality, colour, contrast, texture, how it responds to its contextual surroundings, how the design was interpreted to the brief of the client, how it creates a space which is culturally relevant, as well as being unique and contemporary for the built environment.
Entries should support their nomination with no more than 1000 words of description of the healthcare project and the note-worthy design features.
A Bachelor of Electronics & Communication Engineering, Praveen Thampi completed his Masters (M.Tech) in Illumination Technology from M.I.T, Manipal with flying colours and started his career as a lighting designer with Philips Lighting in the year 2000. He then went on to do his M.B.A in International Business from Apollo University, before the inception of his own architectural lighting design and consultancy firm called The Ministry Of Light, in 2004. With offices in Hong Kong, Mumbai and Dubai, Thampi is the president of The Ministry of Light which is one of the largest architectural lighting design firms in Asia-Pacific, with a team of architects and interior designers trained and specialised in lighting design.
His Commercial office projects projects have been a benchmark in the industry in terms of lighting technology and introduction of latest lighting standards. He is one of the few lighting consultants worldwide who specialises and spearheads innovative and sustainable office lighting techniques by blending the ASHRAE Standards, WELL V2 Standards, CIBSE LG7 Standards & USGBC LEED V4 Standards and formulated a new lighting quality standard concept – LQS for all his projects.
He was one of the first lighting consultants worldwide to effectively introduce an integrated lighting management system into a commercial Office environment way back in 2004, with the introduction of DALI & DSI connected Occulux system which paved way to intelligent/smart lighting in commercial offices.
Born in Portugal, Divias holds a Master Degree in Architecture from the University of Porto and has attended courses at Delft University of Technology and Istanbul Technical University. Divias studied Interior Design at New York University and has worked with renowned architecture and design consultants in Lisbon and Dubai on global projects prior to establishing the Atelier in Dubai.
Sneha Divias Atelier is an award-winning interior and architecture studio based in Dubai specialising in commercial, hospitality, and residential projects. The Atelier delivers complete experiences with a multi-disciplinary approach, presenting something unique to every client.
The firm is currently working on a café, library, and work spaces for Warehouse 421 in Abu Dhabi, as well as a
nursey, and high-end residential projects in the UAE.
Divias has been an active member of the design community by conducting workshops and participating in industry panel discussions.
Bassel Omara is a multi-award-winning Egyptian architect, designer, and artist with a humanitarian vision who has won numerous accolades and honours both domestically and internationally. He is synonymous with many of the region’s most successful architectural projects, leading to him being nominated for “Young Architect of the Year” and “Architect At such a young age, his name has of the Year” awards across the Middle East.
He has won numerous awards including the WAFx 2018 “Ethics & Value” for his Sheltainer Project in Egypt, Omara has successfully led LLFP Meydan School in Dubai, a unique educational project which recently was awarded the “Sustainable Project of the Year 2020” and the “Design Educational Project of the Year 2021”.
With over 13 years of global experience, Omara has a proven track record of success in both the public and private sectors on a wide range of projects such as aviation, cultural, commercial, educational, healthcare, hospitality & leisure, industrial, military, mixed-use & offices, religious, residential, sports & recreation, transportation & public services and master plans spanning from Egypt to UAE, KSA, Qatar, Oman, Iraq, Libya, France, Mali, Iceland, and Germany.
Apart from his profession, Omara has also excelled outside his appointment through UNICITI as one of the International Working Group of Experts to lead groups of volunteers across the world to guide improving the dense urban fabric for better affordable solutions under the “Third Way of Building Asian Cities” initiative.
Hani Asfour is the dean of the Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (DIDI). He is an MIT and Harvard-trained architect with over 22 years of experience as a practicing architect, designer, and educator, having taught architecture and design in the US, Lebanon, and the UAE.
Founding President of the Beirut Creative Cluster and Founding Partner of Polypod, an international award-winning multidisciplinary collaborative design studio in Beirut, Lebanon, Asfour is also a public speaker in many events, including his talk, Design Matters at TEDx Beirut and keynote at several design-related events. Asfour received his BSAD in Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988, and his MArch terminal degree in Architecture with Distinction from Harvard University in 1994.
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