The 2017 edition of the Middle East Consultant Awards took place on November 7 at the Ritz Carlton Dubai, JBR. The annual, B2B event recorded an attendance of over 250 professionals from consultancies across the region, and recognised excellence across 18 individual categories.
Held for the first time in 2015, the event has grown substantially over the years with regards to participation from companies and personalities in the industry. This year, 140 nominations were submitted across the various categories and the event welcomed hundreds of senior and C-level executives from international and local consultancies.
“The 2017 edition of the Middle East Consultant Awards is our best yet. Despite the challenging market conditions, we had a full house on the night and received nearly double the number of nominations compared to 2016. We appreciated everyone’s passion in submitting nominations and I offer my congratulations to all the winners and runner ups,” said Raz Islam, publishing director, CPI Trade Media.
Several categories were extremely competitive this year, with the biggest award of the night – Multi-Discipline Company of the Year – going to Arcadis. The Project of the Year and Architectural Company of the Year went to The Central Back of Kuwait by PACE and U+A respectively.
“The enthusiasm and positivity that our event received from the construction industry was very encouraging. It’s a testament to the industry’s drive and commitment and we look forward to hosting an even better event next year. I’d also like to thank all our partners and sponsors who supported the event and had a hand in its success,” added Islam.
All of the nominations were judged by well known personalities from within the construction industry including Craig Ross, partner and head of project and building consultancy at Cavendish Maxwell, Emad Jaber, managing partner of LACASA, Kez Taylor, CEO of ALEC, Simon Collard, managing consultant at HKA, Robert Marinelli, general manager – construction at Airolink, Zhu Jianchao, vice president and chief engineer at China State Construction Engineering Corporation, Gavin Davids, group editor at CPI Trade Media and Jason Saundalkar, editor of Middle East Consultant magazine.
The complete list of 2017 winners are:
Middle East Consultant’s Rising Star of the Year: Zeina Doumet, BuroHappold Engineering
Executive of the Year – Female: Farah Kurdi, AECOM
Executive of the Year – Male: Ermis Marques, Aurecon
Workplace of the Year: AESG
Technology Champion of the Year: Digital Markups with Drawing Management Software Solution, AECOM
Smart Project of the Year: Office of the Future, Killa Design
Sustainable Consultancy of the Year: AESG
Sustainable Project of the Year: DEWA Solar Innovation Centre, Ted Jacob Engineering Group
Editor’s Choice Award: DAR Engineering
Cost Consulting Company of the Year: Currie & Brown
Urban Design & Landscaping Company of the Year: ICON
Lighting Design Consultancy of the Year: DPA Lighting Consultants
Project Management Company of the Year: Faithful+Gould
Structural Engineering Company of the Year: DeSimone Consulting Engineers
MEP Engineering Company of the Year: Ramboll Middle East
Architectural Company of the Year: U+A
Project of the Year: The Central Bank of Kuwait, PACE
Multi-Discipline Company of the Year: Arcadis