Woods Bagot's Qatar Science and Technology Park has received the Arabian Property Award in association with Bloomberg Television for best commercial building and architecture.
Part of Qatar Foundation’s Education City, the QSTP hosts technology centres of some of the world’s leading companies. The facility comprises a business incubator to commercialise the fruits of Qatar Foundation’s investment in research.
The iconic science park has a key role in generating opportunities for Qatar's scientists and entrepreneurs, by creating an international hub for technology-based business and spurring the country’s knowledge economy.
The building has a floor area of 98,500 sqm. The QSTP site comprises the Emerging Technology Centre, housing its business incubator, administration and serviced offices for small-to-medium companies, and two flanking Innovation and Technology Transfer Centres where large companies are now installing their R&D centres.
Alf Seeling, design director for Woods Bagot in the Middle East, says: “For the Qatar Foundation this development demonstrated to the world a different way of doing things — Qatar wanted to announce a new global benchmark for science parks with an identity that is unique to the country.”
The executive chairman Dr Tidu Maini from the Qatar Foundation says: “QSTP is unique in what it seeks to do in the Middle East region. We needed a building which would represent this unique endeavour through an innovative design while keeping up with international best practices. Woods Bagot has created an architectural marvel that symbolises our cornerstone values of innovation, collaboration and sustainability.”
The approach to the park is dominated by the distinctive, undulating roof, and the structure is visible from the centre of Qatar’s capital Doha. The significance of this location has been marked by Woods Bagot through the use of a perforated, aluminium ‘veil’ that runs along the front length of the site.
Shimmering in the desert sun, the veil is functional, providing shade and the basis for the development of microclimatic environments through the careful selection of finishes and softscape areas, and the re-interpretation of the shapes of the surrounding desert and other influences from Qatari culture.
Divided into eleven distinct zones, Education City involves a total built-up area of 2.1 million sqm.
The event is part of the International Property Awards, dedicated to finding the best professionals across the globe.
Later this year, top scoring winners from the Arabian Property Awards will compete against other winning companies from Europe and Africa, the UK, the Americas and Asia Pacific to find the ultimate World’s best in each category.
Judging was carried out by the International Property Awards’ panel of judges at the London offices of Bloomberg Television but entries were also outsourced to leading experts in each particular field throughout the world.
