The Dubai headquarters of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has won the prestigious American Institute of Architects (AIA) design award in both the Un-Built and the Built category.

The AIA award recognizes architectural design of enduring significance and is conferred on projects that are an embodiment of architectural excellence.

Designed in partnership with the architecture firm HDR, the construction of the tower is spread over 200,000 sq ft and was completed in 2010. The facade, a floating, translucent ‘wrapper’ evokes a traditional white Arab robe and is ‘solar-tuned’ to respond to specific micro climate conditions. The building also features state-of-the-art technologies that have been woven into the facility.

The design is one that separates the building cores and pulls them to the perimeter to create one large collaborative and flexible interior space.

The facility also features an atrium, conference rooms, a fitness center and collaborative work space to provide a flexible working environment that easily accommodates expanding and contracting project teams.

The project exemplifies the importance that the TRA place on being early adopters of sustainable technologies, said Randy Edwards – HDR managing director for Middle East. – TradeArabia News Service