CAMBRIDGE, MA–Kuwait’s new College of Life Sciences, designed by architecture firm CambridgeSeven in association with Gulf Consult, was awarded “MENA Education Project of the Year” by the 2021 MEED Projects Awards, in association with Mashreq.
Leaders of the infrastructure industry from across the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) were honored for their contributions and resilience despite the challenges faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This award comes on the heels of the lauded “Resilience Hub,” an environmentally conscious and sustainable pavilion designed by CambridgeSeven for the COP 26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland. The pavilion was commissioned by the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center at the Atlantic Council. CambridgeSeven’s work on the international stage has earned the firm a reputation for global collaboration: international partnerships, engaging in a purposeful process, with global reach.
The MEED Award-winning College of Life Sciences (COLS), at Sabah Al-Salem University City in Shadadiyah, Kuwait, honored traditional Arabic design while taking a non-traditional approach for the two-building complex serving 3,000 students in environmental and family sciences. The building’s form, the result of extensive environmental analysis, reinterprets the Arabic mashrabiya (screen) to provide an innovative system of shading that mitigates solar glare, while sloped facades allow the building to self-shade. Inside, organizing atria function as modern wind towers and reinforce interdisciplinary visibility.
Architect Patricia Intrieri is known for her successful management of large-scale, complex projects in the U.S. and has earned the respect of international partners through decades of work in the Middle East. In addition to earning the 2021 MEED Education Project of the Year – National Winner and MENA Education Project of the Year – Regional Winner for COLS, she has served as Principal in Charge or Project Manager for multiple projects for Kuwait University, and has been recognized for outstanding innovation in the region. Additional projects have included The College of Engineering and Petroleum Complex; the Marine Science Center; The Ministry of Education Headquarters; and the Kuwait National Petroleum Company Headquarters, among others.
