The LEED-hopeful Siemens headquarters in Masdar City has been awarded the coveted 2012 MIPIM future projects award.
It wasn’t long ago that the first batch of photographs depicting the new Siemens headquarters made its way through the virtual world, but the LEED Platinum-hopeful building designed by Sheppard Robson has already scooped a coveted architecture award, Zawya news reports.
The MIPIM Architectural Review Future Projects Award in the office category acknowledges the resource-efficient construction’s contribution to Masdar’s overall goal to become a leading center of all things renewable and sustainable, and the designers will receive their prize at the MIPIM international real estate even in Cannes, France, on March 7.
Zawya lists the reasons that the jury chose the Siemens Headquarters for this year’s prestigious architecture award,
This is a thorough investigation of the design of large floorplate space in an extreme climate, with a well-explained proposition emerging. The ambition for a LEED Platinum rating means the project will be followed by many designers and clients with great interest.
The building has been designed in such a way that it will use up to 45% less energy than a comparable building in Abu Dhabi, and up to 50% less water. This latter point is particularly important given the region’s deep reliance on energy-intensive and environmentally destructive desalination for almost all of their water needs.
Masdar’s CEO Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber sees this prize as affirmation of its efforts to lead the Gulf to a more sustainable future and to shift from a “fossil-based economy to a knowledge-based economy.”
In fact, one of the main drivers behind Siemens’ commitment to building their Middle Eastern headquarters just outside of Abu Dhabi is a joint project between the company and Masdar that will hopefully result in the development and production of a new generation of dust-resistant solar panels.
And Sheppard Robson – competing against some seriously big name starchitects – must be over the moon to receive this kind of spotlight attention but they handled it with genuine poise.
Sheppard Robson’s Mark Kowal said of the design,
Siemens Middle East Headquarters was designed from the inside out – led by the ambition to achieve efficiency, rather than a predetermined aesthetic, the resulting building is both commercially successful and environmentally sound: a truly sustainable solution aligned with Masdar’s vision for the low carbon city.
As more high profile projects pursue genuine attempts at sustainability, we hope the trend will catch on.
:: Zawya
More on Masdar City and Siemens in the Middle East:
First Pictures of the New Siemens Headquarters in Masdar City
Masdar Aims to Become the Guru of Sustainable Building Materials
Masdar and Siemens Team up to Build Sand-Resistant Solar Panels
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
