Zak World of Façades UAE

About event

The inaugural Zak World of Façades Middle East took place on the 16th March 2015 at The Oberoi in Dubai, UAE. This edition had gathered around 274 attendees comprising some of the region's leading architects, façade consultants, glass processors, fire & life safety consultants, façade contractors, developers, PMC's and representatives from the Dubai Civil Defence and Dubai Municipality. The single day event had featured 31 speakers and panelists spread over four engaging sessions. The opening keynote was delivered by Lars Anders from Priedemann on the "Future of Façade Consultancy / Engineering" which set the tone for the conference for the rest of the day. This was followed by other interesting case studies and technical presentations from some of the top consultants on various diversified subjects. The first half of the day ended with an interactive panel discussion on "Energy Efficient Sustainable Façades”. The afternoon keynote was delivered by Johann Sischka from Waagner-Biro who spoke on the “Dome of the Iconic Louvre Project in Abu Dhabi”. This was followed by more technical presentations. The session ended on a high note with an interactive and explosive panel discussion on "Fire Safety in Façades” which featured representatives and associates from the Dubai Civil Defence. The main topic of discussion in this panel was on the current Dubai Regulations on Fire Safety and the way forward. The last session featured few more presentations from some of our partners talking about how their products aid in futuristic façade designs and the conference concluded with a panel discussion on "Façade Engineering for High Performance Buildings”. The first edition of this conference series in the Middle East was very well appreciated for its content, ambience, networking break-out sessions and most importantly spreading the awareness of designing safe façades in the Middle East. Johann Sischka Member of the Board, Waagner-Biro Imran Manasawala Director, Future Architectural Glass Scott Coombes Director, AESG Valerie Block Architectural Marketing Consultant, Kuraray America Alex Dantziguian Managing Director - MEIA, Technoform Lars Anders Managing Director, Priedemann Façade Experts Belarmino Cordero Sr. Façade Consultant, Inhabit Group Ihab Mouallem Commercial Director, Gulf Extrusions Benjamin Piper Director of Architecture, Perkins + Will Issam Ezzeddine Principal Design, AR National Engineering Bureau John Runkle VP - Building Sciences, Intertek Kieran Diviny Façades Manager, Hyder Consulting Kourosh Salehi Principal Architect - ME, Atkins Sandy Dweik Vice President, Thomos Bell-Wright Consultants Tarek Farid Associates Principal, Perkins Eastman Neil van der Veen Director, RMJM International Andy Dean Head of Façades, WSP Micha Pawelka Managing Director, Priedemann Façade Experts Agnes Koltay Director, Koltay Façades Benjamin Beer Head of Façades, Ramboll Middle East Sajid Raza Advisor & VP Butler, Engineering Consultants