The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats has named Dubai’s Index Tower as the best tall building in the Middle East and Africa.
The accolade, awarded to one building in four different regions, recognises design and technical innovations, sustainable attributes and the enhancement of both cities and the lives of their inhabitants.
“Not only has this been a record-breaking year for the Best Tall Building Awards in terms of the number of buildings submitted, the quality overall is perhaps the best we have seen,” said awards committee chairman Richard Cook, of Cook and Fox architects.
“There were very strong contenders for the winner in each regional category, and several projects would, I’m sure, have been winners in other years,” Cook added.
The award was also given to New York by Gehry, the Americas; Guangzhou International Finance Centre, Asia and Australia; and KFW Westarkade, Europe.
“This is a major recognition from industry peers from around the world, and a shining testament to the outstanding design and quality of this most unique project,” said Khalid Bin Kalban, Chairman of Index developers Union Properties.
“Index was conceived as an ambitious, multi-functional project that will be the destination of choice for financial institutions and high-powered executives seeking to operate from Dubai
“We are delighted that the project’s innovative combination of luxury, comfort and functionality proved so highly appealing to a panel comprising some of the world’s leading architectural experts,” he added.
CTBUH also gave lifetime achievement awards to Adrian Smith of Smith and Gill Architecture – architect of the Burj Khalifa and reported to be recruited for Saudi Arabia’s ‘mile high’ tower.
The second went to Dr. Akira Wada, professor of structural engineering at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Both men were selected for their lifetime’s work towards the development and advancement of tall buildings.
The awards ceremony will be held in Chicago on October 27.
You can read more from CTBUH in our June issue