Creativity and technical innovation in architectural lighting to be recognised by MELDA - the Middle East's first lighting design awards

The initiative has the whole hearted support of multi-award winning and world renowned lighting architect Jonathan Speirs of UK-based Speirs and Major Associates, the company that was responsible for the lighting of the Burj Al Arab (which was voted the world's best international design project), and Speirs delivered a seminar on "The Power of Light and Architecture - the work of Speirs and Major Associates", during the PALME 2006 exhibition.

Now the show organisers are taking things a stage further in a bid to put the Middle East firmly on the lighting design map. "To further encourage and stimulate creativity in the field of architectural lighting, we will stage the Middle East's first awards programme designed to recognise creativity and innovation in the lighting design field will from next year onwards," said Darren Brechin, Exhibitions Director, Entertainment & Installation Technology Group, IIR Exhibitions, announcing the awards with Speirs at the PALME exhibition. "MELDA - the Middle East Lighting Design Awards - will be a prestigious annual black tie event. The objective is to get the very best out of the many talented designers working across the region and to recognise their creative and technical excellence in exterior and interior lighting through the awarding of trophies and certificates across a range of categories."

Jonathan Speirs, who enthusiastically supports the establishment of the awards, will be actively involved and was keen to stress the importance of raising creative standards as the Middle East real estate sector continues to expand at a rate that far exceeds any other global market. "The eyes of the design world are on Dubai and the Middle East in terms of the ambitious construction projects currently being planned and built - their after dark lit image is of major importance to both international brand identity and the iconic status of the various developments."

"The judging panel will comprise lighting industry experts from all around the world, and we are working in close conjunction with established global award organisers such as ELDA - the European Lighting Design Association - as we formulate the judging criteria and the processes that will be followed to determine the winners," said Brechin. "Both ourselves and Jonathan see this as an important way in which we can encourage the region's lighting designers to excel, ultimately resulting in the further enhancement of expertise levels in this sector throughout the entire Middle East, so an essential part of our preparations for the inaugural awards in 2007 is ensuring that they comply with the exacting standards of other international award programmes."

PALME 2006 runs from April 23-25, 2006 in Halls 1, 2 & 3 of Dubai International Exhibition Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates - the size and quality of the event has reinforced its international credentials, and next year's show, which will be expanded even further, takes place from 20-22 May 2007.