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Perkins+Will Appoints New Architectural Design Director for Dubai Office

 
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2 Aug 2016

Architecture and design firm Perkins+Will announced today the appointment of a new design director for its Dubai office. Firas Hnoosh has joined the firm to oversee all architecture work originating from the Dubai practice, helping to grow its multidisciplinary architectural design portfolio.

Perkins+Will Appoints New Architectural Design Director for Dubai Office

“Firas’ international leadership experience will help take our burgeoning architecture practice to a whole new level, nurturing a culture of design excellence among our growing staff and complementing our already robust corporate interiors practice,” says Dubai office Managing Director Steven Charlton. “His multicultural background, ability to speak several languages, and comprehensive understanding of the markets in EMEA, particularly the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, will also ensure stronger relationships with our clients.”

Hnoosh has over 17 years of professional design experience, and has held design director roles for the Abu Dhabi practices of two large international architectural firms. He has also served as the head of a studio for the London practice of a renowned global design firm. His strong commercial and institutional building portfolio includes projects such as The National Bank of Abu Dhabi Global Headquarters on Al Maryah Island; the Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal in Mina Zayed for the Abu Dhabi Port Company; a large mixed-use development in Dubai for Majid Al-Futtaim Group; Manhattan Loft Gardens, a 42-story mixed-use residential and hotel tower in east London at the Olympic Village; and a large retail center in Bahrain Bay in Manama. Other high-rise residential, commercial, and mixed-use buildings designed by Hnoosh have been proposed, built, or are currently under construction in the UK, UAE, Ireland, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Italy, Qatar, and Egypt.

In his role as design director for Perkins+Will’s Dubai office, Hnoosh will guide a growing team of 30 architects through all stages of design for mixed-use developments, high-rise office buildings, hotels, universities, and cultural centers. With a strong background in digital design, he will introduce new tools and production software, building information management (BIM) platforms, and environmental and parametric applications to the Dubai studio. Hnoosh will also work closely with London-based EMEA Regional Design Director Jo Palma, who joined Perkins+Will in September 2015, and with whom he has already collaborated on a number of design projects in the past.

“My interest lies in exploring the boundaries of marrying architecture and engineering, with their often conflicting demands, to create a timeless design,” Hnoosh says. “I am proud to be part of a firm with such an outstanding reputation for design excellence, innovation, and sustainability, and am eager to contribute to its successes from our Dubai studio.”

Hnoosh is a chartered member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, an ARB Registered Architect, a LEED Accredited Professional, and a member of the Swedish Association of Architects. He holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (U.S.), and a professional architecture degree from the Lund Institute of Technology in Sweden. He speaks fluent Arabic, English and Swedish and has basic working knowledge of French and German.



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