LGE and Al Asalah announce Jordan's first Environmentally-Friendly Architectural Design Competition

The competition is being launched under the Patronage of Jordan's Minister of Public Works and Housing H.E. Mr. Hussni Abu Ghaida and under the full supervision of the Architect Division of the Jordan Engineers Association.

The official announcement for this initiative was made at a press conference recently held at the Professional Associations Building in Shmeisani. The event was attended by several key figures working within Jordan's Architectural and Engineering fields including; President of the Jordan Engineers Association Mr. Wa'el Saqqa, Head of the Architects Division at the Jordan Engineers Association, Mr. Kamal Habbash, Secretary General of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Jordan, H.E. Mr. Ghazi Abadi and Mr. Izz Elddin Shamot, Head of the Licensing Unit at the Greater Amman Municipality.

Commenting on the competition's launch Mr. Kevin Cha, General Manager of the LGE Amman Branch said, 'We at LGE encourage this type of innovation, and we congratulate Al Asalah for taking on this project. Innovation is a big part of LGE's work. One of the main elements of our philosophy stresses on providing our customers with the most advanced & innovative products and services. On this occasion I want to congratulate Al Asalah for doubling their operations this year in comparison to last year. This is result of the growth in real-estate projects in the country under the continuous support and supervision of the Jordanian government & Royal Hashemite Family.'

It is important to note that this competition is open to all architects, engineers and engineering offices registered in the Jordan Engineers Association. All those interested in participating in this event are requested to fill out an application form which is available at the Al Asalah Headquarters located at the King Abdullah II Street (Medical City Road) or the Directorate of Public Relations at the Jordan Engineers Association headquarters. The closing date for applicants to submit applications is the 30th of September 2007, and final designs should be submitted by October 28th 2007.

The rules for the competition state that the submitted designs should be for multi-purpose or commercial buildings and build on a minimum of 2500 sqm. Designs should also comply with environment-friendliness standards and adhere to Jordanian construction codes.

Required documents for application include the Engineering drawings that are licensed and approved by all concerned parties accompanied by a technical and financial report and visual aids.

From his end, Mr. Issam Samara, General Manager of Al Asalah Electromechanics added that he is confident this competition will bring out the abilities of Jordan's most talented architects. 'This initiative will open up opportunities for Jordan's architectural arena to embrace a more environmentally friendly means of operation. I wish all participants the best of luck, and under the sound supervision of Jordan's Engineers Association we can only look forward to positive outcomes. We are proud to have come up with this initiative as I believe environmentally friendly practices should be on the top of our priority list as caring citizens of this community.'

The winner of this competition will be taking home US$ 8500 in cash while the second place winner will be taking home US$ 4500 and the third place winner will be taking home US$ 3000. The official announcement of the winners' names will be made on November 18th 2007.