Ithra, the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, was announced the winner of two awards last week at the American Concrete Institute’s (ACI’s) prestigious 2019 Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards Gala. Ithra, Saudi Aramco’s corporate citizenship initiative, won the ACI’s most coveted Best Overall Excellence Award as well as First Place in the Mid-Rise Building category.
The ACI’s Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards, which took place last week at the Duke Energy Convention Center and Hyatt Regency in Cincinnati, Ohio, US, honor the visions of creative projects throughout the global concrete design and construction community. ACI, a leading worldwide authority and resource in construction, recognizes concrete projects at the forefront of innovation and technology and showcase these projects to inspire excellence in concrete design and construction around the world. Last night the ACI recognized project winners across various award categories from low-rise, mid-rise, high-rise, infrastructure, repair and restoration to decorative concrete and then announced the Overall Excellence Award at the event, which was won by Ithra.
Commenting on Ithra’s success, Ahmed A. Al Sa’adi, Saudi Aramco’s Senior Vice President of Technical Services, said: “We are pleased to receive this prestigious award in recognition of Aramco’s focus on quality, performance and technology in developing and executing complex industrial and infrastructure projects. We are also proud that the project chosen, Ithra, is a manifestation of empowering our communities and an embodiment of the spirit of innovation we are spreading.”
Nabeel Al-Jama, Saudi Aramco’s Vice President of Corporate Affairs, added: “Saudi Aramco is proud to have its flagship corporate citizenship initiative recognized across international platforms. The Center is an architectural and engineering icon representing the collaborative efforts of Saudi Aramco’s teams to bring a cultural landmark of global significance to the Kingdom. To see Ithra recognized last among such an esteemed group of construction projects from around the world – and as the first ever Saudi winner at the awards as well – was an incredibly proud moment for us all at Aramco and Ithra. These two awards further cement Ithra as the world-class cultural and architectural landmark that it has become, which to date has welcomed over a million visitors.
With Ithra, we promised to deliver creativity and innovation across the board – from its physical structure to the programs and experiences on offer – and this creativity and innovation was celebrated last night. The Center was designed as an engineering project like no other and a purposeful expression of time, paying homage to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s history and indicating the futuristic trajectory Ithra was built to champion. Today, Ithra stands among the region’s most complex and challenging engineering accomplishments. We share these awards, which are a testament to the future of modern Saudi architecture, with all our partners on the project and indeed the whole of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Fatmah Alrashid, Acting Director at Ithra, also commented: “We at Ithra are incredibly proud of the recognition the Center’s received for its outstanding innovation, evident in our building’s physical structure and design as well as the phenomenal engineering behind it. To see the inspiring and forward-thinking technologies and design employed, recognized last night, on such an esteemed platform, is a wonderful moment for us and indeed the cultural and architectural scene in Saudi Arabia too. From conception to creation for the over 100-meter-high, 80,000 m2 sprawling structure, a project of this scale could only be achieved through a collaborative process bringing together dedicated experts, engineers, architects and designers from the company, Kingdom and globally – to create this architectural icon that is now a permanent and exciting cultural destination for the Kingdom and the world.”
These awards are shared by the project’s partners: architecture and design firm Snohetta; engineers, BuroHappold Engineering; in addition to local construction companies.
Based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Ithra is a creative and interactive public space for learning, creativity and cross-cultural experiences. The Center offers an enriching journey for all audiences by championing diversity, celebrating creativity and encouraging collaboration with the objective of energizing Saudi Arabia’s knowledge economy.
Since its opening, Ithra has also been recognized by TIME magazine as one of the best 100 places to visit in the world and received awards across several categories for its excellence in branding at the Transform MENA Awards in 2019. The Center was recently featured on Discovery Channel MENA’s “The Great Build”, highlighting Ithra’s intricate construction process.
The Center also announced that number of visitors ti Ithra has crossed one million mark—a milestone achievement as the leading cultural and creative destination in the Kingdom and the region.
SOURCE : ALBILAD
