Nabil Gholam
| Nabil Gholam | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1962 Beirut, Lebanon |
| Nationality | Lebanese and French |
| Alma mater | Ecole d'architecture Paris-Villemin |
| Awards | MIPIM AR Award 2006, Best of Show |
| Practice | Nabil Gholam Architects |
| Buildings | Platinum Tower, CMA CGM Headquarters, AUB Irani Oxy Engineering Complex in Beirut |
Nabil Gholam is a Lebanese architect and the founder of Nabil Gholam Architects (ngª).
Biography
Gholam studied architecture in Paris and urban planning at Columbia University, then joined Ricardo Bofill’s Taller de Arquitectura and brought to completion a broad range of projects in over 20 countries, including United Airlines' headquarters in Chicago and AXA's global headquarters in Paris. In 1994 he created his own practice in Beirut, opened a European office in Barcelona in 2006, and relocated to Seville in 2010 to direct the firm’s international ventures.
Gholam has been a pioneer in environmentally friendly architecture in the Middle East. The Irani-Oxy Engineering Complex in the campus of American University of Beirut, for which he won an international competition in 2006, was the first project in Lebanon registered for a LEED certification. The same project has been selected for the World Architecture News Awards 2010.[1] Also, ngª's Doha Gardens project in Khobar, Saudi Arabia won the all-categories Best of Show Award of the MIPIM Architectural Review Future Projects Awards for the year 2006.
The ngª practice has expanded to an international team of over 70 full-time professionals working with a broad network of international specialty consultants. The firm's portfolio comprises over 200 projects ranging from an eighty square meter shop in London to a 100 million square meter master plan for ecological communities in Mount Lebanon.
Buildings in Beirut
Gholam's works are prominent in the post-Civil War reconstruction of Beirut. They include the city's tallest building, Platinum Tower in the Beirut Marina (with Ricardo Bofill); parts of the Saifi Village adjacent to Martyrs' Square; the master plan for the redevelopment of the Wadi Abu Jamil neighborhood; the headquarters of the CMA-CGM international shipping company; the Irani-Oxy Engineering Complex at the American University of Beirut; and numerous other office and residential buildings.
Outside Lebanon, ngª has completed projects in Dubai, France, Jordan, Qatar, Spain, and the United Kingdom.