WSP Middle East announces two senior appointments to Property & Buildings business
Russell Hughes and Graham White will champion a fresh approach towards embedding technology, innovation, and a culture of people empowerment
WSP Middle East has announced what’s billed as two transformative leadership appointments within its regional Property & Buildings business. The move follows the creation of the dedicated Integrated Design Delivery (IDD) and Integrated Construction Delivery (ICD) teams.
According to a statement from the firm, Russell Hughes has assumed the position of Head of Integrated Design Delivery – Property & Buildings, while Graham White has taken on the role of Head of Integrated Construction Delivery – Property & Buildings.
The two teams will function as incubators for innovation and efficiency, encircled by core technical expertise and enhanced by technological enablers. Hughes and White are poised to guide the natural evolution of project leadership with a clear intent to champion a fresh approach towards embedding technology, innovation, and a culture of people empowerment, supporting WSP’s vision to become change agents at the forefront of Design & Construction delivery, the firm said.
“It is fundamentally important that the Integrated Design Delivery team functions as the heartbeat of project delivery within Property and Buildings. I am excited to work with the team and wider business to refresh and reinvigorate our approach to design management, in support of our ‘way of working’ objective for relaxed, consistent, organised and high-quality project delivery,” said Hughes.
Graham White, Head of Integrated Construction Delivery – Property & Buildings at WSP Middle East
White noted, “The construction phase of our projects is vitally important to our clients, people and business. I’m excited by the numerous opportunities to offer something genuinely different in the market for our clients which is focused primarily on driving progress, giving more opportunities for our people to develop and grow, and ultimately contribute more to the business from our construction projects.”
Mark Farley, Managing Director – Property & Buildings commented, “Our industry is at a critical juncture and is ripe for positive disruption. It’s fundamental that we set a benchmark for innovation driven by change agents set on disrupting the status quo by revolutionising the techniques, ideas, and innovations that will transform our regional capabilities. It’s with great pleasure to welcome Russell and Graham into these new roles to drive this vision and ensure our clients recognise WSP as a Future Ready organisation, dedicated to pushing the envelope forward as the premier engineering consultancy in the Middle East.”
Hughes has been with WSP Middle East for 10 years and was previously a Project Director tasked with looking after multi-discipline projects, including the Vida Dubai Mall, Katara Luxury Boutique Hotel, and more recently Amaala’s Red Sea Marine Life Institute project. He will focus on: Rebranding and relaunching the Property & Buildings design management function to re-focus on the future of design delivery; developing an in-house Architect of Record (AoR) capability in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; and driving strategic growth within the design team.
Russell Hughes, Head of Integrated Design Delivery – Property & Buildings at WSP Middle East.
White has been with WSP Middle East for seven years and was previously a Senior Project Director looking after the Lusail Plaza Towers project in Qatar. In his new role, he will be focusing on: Rebranding and relaunching Property & Buildings’ construction delivery function to re-focus on the future of construction delivery and technical architectural supervision; developing a team of multi discipline construction phase leaders; adopting a consistent digital platform; and establishing new revenue streams.
In May 2022, the firm announced Rob Cooling as Regional HSE Director, and in June 2022, WSP & TRSDC announced they were eyeing decarbonised mobility solutions at The Red Sea Project.
