Foster + Partners has been honoured with the title, “Architect of the Year”, in the inaugural Gulf State Building Awards, announced on 13 November at a ceremony in Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.

Celebrating the highest standards in the region’s construction industry, entries were invited from companies working in the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The judges noted that Foster + Partners’ new office in Abu Dhabi “has a variety of exciting projects already coming out of the ground - the Index Tower in Dubai will be completed next year…and the Al Raha Beach and the Central Markets projects are already bringing architecture of star quality to Abu Dhabi… Perhaps the practice's greatest achievement has been the concept for Masdar, which has been designed as the most environmentally-friendly development in the UAE.”

Gerard Evenden, Senior Partner, commented: “We opened our Gulf office in Abu Dhabi in April of this year on the strength of our projects in the region. To receive this award less than a year later is a real endorsement of our work and we look forward to realising some of our most exciting and challenging projects there over the next few years.”