Power 20: Top Architects

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Benoy has had a permanent design studio established in Abu Dhabi since early 2006, primarily to oversee the design and delivery of Al-Seef at Raha Beach, the Yas Island master plan and Ferrari World Abu Dhabi – set to become the world’s largest indoor theme park.

Presently, Benoy Abu Dhabi has a permanent design team of 14 that includes one director, three senior associate directors and an associate director.

16 RTKL
13 staff in the Middle East

Operating for more than 60 years, the US-based firm expanded into the Middle Eastern market in 2008, with its first office in Dubai to cash in on the expanding real estate market. The firm is responsible for a number of designs including the 360 degree Kuwait development, Bahrain City Centre and the British Embassy in Rabat, Morocco. In Dubai it has carried out the design of Mirdif City Centre. It has also master planned a mixed-use community in Aqaba, Jordan. In 2007 RTKL (renamed from Rogers, Taliaferro, Kostritsky and Lamb in 1968) became a wholly-owned part of the Arcadis network, a Netherlands-based engineering and professional consulting services firm.

17 FX Fowle Architects
10 staff

The US-based firm, with offices in New York, Washington DC and Dubai features 10 staff, with all design work carried out in the New York office. The firm has won a number of design competitions in the UAE, including the new government centre in Abu Dhabi and the proposed 1.7 km Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Crossing located within Sama Dubai Lagoon’s project (now on-hold). Steven Miller, managing director of FX Fowle’s Dubai office was appointed to the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) International Committee
Advisory Group.

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The US’ Callison has eight staff in its Dubai office and has been based in the region since 1992.

Despite the downturn it remains one of the firm’s strongest markets. It has worked on the design of the $2.5 billion Pearl-Qatar, the 14 million ft2 island community off the coast of Doha. In March 2009, it was selected as master planner for the conceptual phase of the $10 billion Marsa Zayed project in Aqaba, Jordan, set to be the largest property development in Jordan’s history. Other projects include King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh and the Mall of Syria in Damascus.

19 HKS Inc
3 staff in the Middle East

The firm currently operates a three-man presence as a project coordination office and business development: two architects and one planner/manager. Key individuals are rotated in and out of the GCC as needed. It recently passed its one-year anniversary in Abu Dhabi. Current projects include the Danat al-Emarat Women & Children’s Hospital. HKS is globally seen as one of the key healthcare planning and design firms. Since its inception in 1939, HKS has completed healthcare projects totalling more than $36 billion worldwide.

20 Nikken Sekkei
3 staff in the Middle East

Japan-based Nikken Sekkei may not have the largest presence in Dubai, but it continues to punch above its weight with the scale of projects. At present three permanent staff are located at its offices on Sheikh Zayed Road with a further 45 people in Tokyo assigned to Middle East jobs. It increased staff numbers over the past 12 months employing a total of 1,165 architects in 2010, up from 985 the previous year, with a fee income of over $400 million. The firm’s most ambitious design for Dubai is that of the Burj al-Alam tower in Business Bay.