Bahrain World Trade Center wins Best Tall Building in MENA region

Notes and media contacts

About Atkins:

Atkins plans, designs and enables the delivery of complex capital programmes for clients in the public and private sectors across the globe. Atkins is the largest multidisciplinary consultancy in Europe; the largest engineering consultancy in the UK; and the world's fifth largest design firm.

Atkins' current projects include:

- Design and programme management of the civil works for the Dubai Metro red and green lines
- High profile resort developments, such as Durrat Al Bahrain, a spectacular 20 sq km seaside city resort on the south coast of Bahrain comprising 13 man-made islands
- Award-winning architectural landmarks such as the Bahrain World Trade Center
- Ground breaking industry enterprises such as Manama's Tabreed Cooling Plant
- Major infrastructure works, including the Olympic Park for the London 2012 Olympics

Atkins was named among the "20 Best Big Companies to Work For 2008' by The Sunday Times; The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2007; and The Times Top 50 Companies Where Women Want to Work 2008. The company was also sector winner in the Target National Graduate Recruitment Awards for the second successive year in 2007.

About Bahrain World Trade Center:

Situated on the Manama waterfront and in the heart of the region's leading financial and business hub, the Bahrain World Trade Center (BWTC) project comprises the two 50-storey sail shaped twin office towers, the five-star Sheraton Hotel as well as MODA Mall, Bahrain's only ultra high-end shopping destination, featuring some 160 luxury retail outlets as well as a host of modern cafes and exciting fine dining eateries.

The BWTC provides leading regional and international organizations with a world-class business address. The buildings are highly advanced in design and operation and are the Kingdom's first intelligent offices, employing the latest SMART systems capable of delivering unsurpassed security and maximum competitive advantages and efficiency in office management. In addition, they are the first of their kind in the world, using wind energy to provide 11 - 15% of the electricity needs of the office towers.

Other benefits enjoyed by local and international businesses occupying space at the development is membership to the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA). Locating at the BWTC offers an exceptional opportunity for connectivity with the global business community. With more than 300 centers in 100 countries, WTCA has a membership of approximately 750,000 commercial enterprises worldwide.

About the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat:

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, based at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, is an international not-for-profit organisation supported by architecture, engineering, planning, development and construction professionals, designed to facilitate exchanges among those involved in all aspects of the planning, design, construction and operation of tall buildings.

Founded in 1969, the Council's mission is to disseminate multi-disciplinary information on tall buildings and sustainable urban environments, to maximise the international interaction of professionals involved in creating the built environment, and to make the latest knowledge available to professionals in a useful form.

The CTBUH disseminates its findings, and facilitates business exchange, through: the publication of books, monographs, proceedings and reports; the organisation of world congresses, international, regional and specialty conferences and workshops; the maintaining of an extensive website and tall building databases of built, under construction and proposed buildings; the distribution of a monthly international tall building e-newsletter; the maintaining of an international resource center; the bestowing of annual awards for design and construction excellence and individual lifetime achievement; the management of special task forces / working groups; the hosting of technical forums; and the publication of the CTBUH Journal, a professional journal containing refereed papers written by researchers, scholars and practicing professionals. The Council actively undertakes research into relevant fields in conjunction with its members and industrial partners, and has in place an international 'Country Leader' network, with CTBUH representatives promoting the mission of the Council across the globe.

The Council is the arbiter of the criteria upon which tall building height is measured, and thus the title of 'The World's Tallest Building' determined. CTBUH is the world's leading body dedicated to the field of tall buildings and urban habitat and the recognised international source for information in these fields.

Media contact:

Helen Dixon
Marketing Manager
Atkins Northern Gulf
Tel: + 973 1753 0101
Fax: + 973 1753 2505

Flossie Pereira
Admin Assistant
Hill & Knowlton, Bahrain
Direct Line: +973 17533532 ext 312
Fax: +973 17533370 / 17531747 / 17536568
PO Box 1596 Kingdom of Bahrain