The inaugural Zak World of Façades Middle East took place on the 16th March 2015 at The Oberoi in Dubai, UAE. This edition had gathered around 274 attendees comprising some of the region’s leading architects, façade consultants, glass processors, fire & life safety consultants, façade contractors, developers, PMC’s and representatives from the Dubai Civil Defence and Dubai Municipality. The single day event had featured 31 speakers and panelists spread over four engaging sessions.
The opening keynote was delivered by Lars Anders from Priedemann on the “Future of Façade Consultancy / Engineering” which set the tone for the conference for the rest of the day. This was followed by other interesting case studies and technical presentations from some of the top consultants on various diversified subjects. The first half of the day ended with an interactive panel discussion on “Energy Efficient Sustainable Façades”.
The afternoon keynote was delivered by Johann Sischka from Waagner-Biro who spoke on the “Dome of the Iconic Louvre Project in Abu Dhabi”. This was followed by more technical presentations. The session ended on a high note with an interactive and explosive panel discussion on “Fire Safety in Façades” which featured representatives and associates from the Dubai Civil Defence. The main topic of discussion in this panel was on the current Dubai Regulations on Fire Safety and the way forward.
The last session featured few more presentations from some of our partners talking about how their products aid in futuristic façade designs and the conference concluded with a panel discussion on “Façade Engineering for High Performance Buildings”. The first edition of this conference series in the Middle East was very well appreciated for its content, ambience, networking break-out sessions and most importantly spreading the awareness of designing safe façades in the Middle East.
Johann Sischka
Member of the Board, Waagner-Biro
Imran Manasawala
Director, Future Architectural Glass
Scott Coombes
Director, AESG
Valerie Block
Architectural Marketing Consultant, Kuraray America
Alex Dantziguian
Managing Director – MEIA, Technoform
Lars Anders
Managing Director, Priedemann Façade Experts
Belarmino Cordero
Sr. Façade Consultant, Inhabit Group
Ihab Mouallem
Commercial Director, Gulf Extrusions
Benjamin Piper
Director of Architecture, Perkins + Will
Issam Ezzeddine
Principal Design, AR National Engineering Bureau
John Runkle
VP – Building Sciences, Intertek
Kieran Diviny
Façades Manager, Hyder Consulting
Kourosh Salehi
Principal Architect – ME, Atkins
Sandy Dweik
Vice President, Thomos Bell-Wright Consultants
Tarek Farid
Associates Principal, Perkins Eastman
Neil van der Veen
Director, RMJM International
Andy Dean
Head of Façades, WSP
Micha Pawelka
Managing Director, Priedemann Façade Experts
Agnes Koltay
Director, Koltay Façades
Benjamin Beer
Head of Façades, Ramboll Middle East
Sajid Raza
Advisor & VP Butler, Engineering Consultants