Hyder Consulting celebrates 45 years in Middle East and 150th global anniversary

Also celebrating the 150th global anniversary, at a roundtable on sustainable design for the future, the event took place at Emirates Towers - the product of one of Hyder Consulting's most original and best known designs.

Titled 'Shaping the Future of Dubai,' the roundtable was hosted by Rod Stewart, Regional Managing Director, Hyder Consulting Middle East and had renowned speakers on sustainable design and the environment including Ali Al Suwaidi, Chief of Emirates Marine Environmental Group; Dr. Gisela Loehlein, Research Associate, Institute of the Built Environment, BUiD; Kamal Azayem, Senior Engineer, Dubai Municipality and Deputy Technical Coordinator, Emirates Green Building Council; and Stephen Oehme, Regional Director Sustainable Design, Hyder Consulting Middle East.

Rod Stewart commented, "We are delighted to celebrate our 45th anniversary in the Middle East with a roundtable discussion on such a fundamental issue as sustainable design. The future success of Dubai is in all of our hands and we have a great responsibility to shape that future through sensitive urban planning, sustainable design and implementation of environmentally sound policies."

Committed to active collaboration between research, legislators, planning and design practitioners, Hyder Consulting's roundtable focused on environment, planning, economic sustainability and cultural identity aspects of Dubai's development, with segments on the resource potential of water, waste management, the need for integrated planning and regional transportation connectivity.

As part of its global 150th celebrations, Hyder Consulting invited employees and members of the public to vote for their favourite project by Hyder Consulting. London's Tower Bridge, built in 1894 to cross the River Thames, polled 21 per cent of the total vote, followed by Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia, and the Burj Dubai in the UAE. Hyder Consulting employees initially whittled the 150-strong list down to the company's top 15 projects, including the Emirates Towers and Ski Dubai in the UAE, the Victoria Falls Bridge in Zambia and the Hong Kong Mass Transit system.

To further demonstrate its leadership position, Hyder Consulting was recently awarded the highly sought-after International Consultant of the Year title by the Association of Consulting Engineers and New Civil Engineer magazine. The announcement followed another high profile industry acknowledgement this year for International Performance award at the acclaimed Quality in Construction Awards in London, for their role as lead consultants on Ski Dubai.

During 2006, Hyder Consulting's turnover outside the UK increased by over 25% as it widened its range of services and completed a number of significant acquisitions across Hong Kong, Germany and the Middle East, including ACLA, a master planning and landscape architecture company with offices in Dubai.

Hyder Consulting has a strong heritage of global projects ranging from Emirates Towers in Dubai, UAE; Victoria Falls Bridge in Africa; Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia; and Hong Kong Mass Transit in China. Other high profile regional projects by the global engineering consultancy of choice include the Burj Dubai, destined to become the world's tallest tower, Reem Island in Abu Dhabi, Al Areen in Bahrain, and Lusail in Qatar. The firm is currently involved in the design or construction of four of the region's tallest buildings including Burj Dubai, D1 Tower and Pentominium Tower in Dubai; Sky Towers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai Towers and Doha Convention Centre Tower in Qatar.

Committed to sustainable development, Hyder Consulting is at the forefront of regional growth in the Middle East, providing engineering, planning, environmental and management consultancy services to prestigious developments across the region. Employing 4,000 employees internationally, and over 1,000 in the Gulf region, Hyder Consulting applies its global expertise and resources to deliver world class tailored solutions for local markets.