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RMJM’s annual global conference hosted its inaugural award ceremony last week and RMJM Dubai and RMJM Serbia were the big winners at the event. The award ceremony took place in Abu Dhabi at the Capital Gate, famously designed by RMJM, and the judging panel comprised several RMJM officials as well as Yelena Petrovic, Design Director at Abjar Hotels International.

The event was coordinated by RMJM Lab Principal, John Clemow. He said: “The RMJM Design Awards stimulate the competitive spirit between studios and showcase their creative talents. Given the number of high quality entries, the judges were hard pressed to select the winners. 24 entries were submitted in two categories including designs jointly created by two of more studios. Prizes were awarded to offices in Dubai, Tehran, Istanbul, Shenzhen, Italy, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Brazil and the RMJM Pro studio, RMJM Sport.”

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RMJM Dubai Principal Neil van der Veen addressed the audience after his studio’s win

RMJM Dubai took first prize in the ‘Best Concept Design’ category as the news that the studio received a nomination for ‘Large Middle East Architecture Firm of the Year’ at the upcoming Middle East Architect Awards was also announced. The studio has firmly established itself as one of the biggest in the Middle East and is already looking forward to a busy 2017 with a number of projects in planning. RMJM Arta-Tehran were runners up in the ‘Best Concept Design’ category for their work on the Iran Historical Car Museum and RMJM Istanbul took third place. RMJM CEARC were highly commended for their recent work in Mexico.

The night’s other big award was shared between RMJM Serbia and Italia for ‘Best Collaborative Concept‘. The two studios were recently appointed by TPS Nedvizhimost to design the interior of the new Terminal B in the Northern Terminal Complex of Sheremetyevo Airport. The airport, located just north of Moscow, is the busiest in the country, handling more passengers and cargo than any other. RMJM Serbia also collected two further awards on the night, taking home more prizes than any other studio. RMJM Shanghai and Shenzhen were recognised in the ‘Best Collaborative Concept’ category along with RMJM Sport and RMJM Brazil on a night that brought together RMJM principals and architects from around their 27 global studios.

The 2016 RMJM Design Awards capped off a successful year for RMJM who in recent months have received a series of award wins and nominations across the globe after managing to excel in a challenging climate this year. Furthermore, RMJM’s work on the Scottish Parliament was also recognised when it was shortlisted for ‘Scotland’s Best Building‘ with the winner due to be selected later this month. RMJM was also recently appointed as the Executive Architect and Interior Designer for ‘The Tower’, a new landmark structure at Dubai Creek Harbour that is already one of the most highly anticipated projects in the industry.

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A selection of winners from the 2016 RMJM Design Awards