Atkins opens in Kuwait

The recently opened office in Kuwait City is the eight in the region and reflects the company's continued growth, joining the already long established bases in the UAE (Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah), Bahrain (Manama), Qatar (Doha), Oman (Muscat) and India (Bangalore).

With its first design consultancy and supervision commissions in the Gulf area in 1967, Atkins has been involved in Kuwait since 1977 and over the last three decades has developed a reputation for its iconic design. The company has built its significant reputation with a major regional portfolio of design and supervision projects such as Dubai's Burj Al Arab Hotel, Burj Dubai Lake Hotel, Trump International Hotel and Tower, Jumeirah Beach Resort Development and the Dubai Metro; the Bahrain World Trade Center and Durrat Al Bahrain project; Barr Al Jissah (Shangri La) Hotel & Spa and the Wave and Blue City developments in Oman; road maintenance projects in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain; the design and supervision of the 66kms eight lane super highway between Doha and Dukhan in Qatar, and Qatar Education City.

Since 1999 the staff total across the Middle East has risen tenfold to around 2000 professionals including Architects; Civil, Structural, Electrical, Mechanical, Process, Marine, Piping and Instrumentation Engineers; Security & IT specialists, Transport Consultants; Project Managers; Environmentalists; Aviation and Oil & Gas industry specialists as well as the largest Railway consultancy in the Middle East.

"As a major component in the company's 17,000 strong worldwide organisation, we are focused on the continued expansion of our Middle East business in order to offer our international standard design services to a wider local base,"

comments Tim Askew, Managing Director Atkins Middle East. "We are delighted to be formally re-established in Kuwait where we see even greater opportunities to deliver excellence and provide immediate support to our locally based clients," he adds.

Spearheading the new commercial registration of Atkins in Kuwait is an impressive list of projects which includes a 5-star mixed use development at Beid al Gnar, the redesign and construction of Mahboula Towers and the internationally acclaimed Al Sharq office complex, for which Atkins was recently awarded the 2007 MIPIM Architectural Review future projects award.

These pioneering projects are the latest in an established history of Atkins successes in Kuwait. Over the last 30 years, Atkins has been involved in key transport commissions such as the design review for the steel flyovers for the 4th Ring Road (1978), the design and supervision of the Fahaheel Expressway (1979), a joint venture with Freeman Fox and partners for the 6th Ring Road (1980), and the Al Kirhan Development (1998).

From iconic buildings such as the Bahrain World Trade Center, to infrastructure and transport, education and health facilities, Atkins is also at the forefront of incorporating sustainable design into the built environment with a multidisciplinary team approach that provides an unrivalled spectrum of professional services - all under one roof. The ability to offer such a highly talented locally based team of creative and experienced individuals facilitates the firm's working with a wide range of government bodies and private sector companies across a diverse range of landmark buildings and complex developments throughout the region.