The 2011 Emirates Glass LEAF Awards returns for its 9th annual year on 16 September honouring the architects designing the buildings and solutions that are setting the benchmark for the international architectural community. The jury comprises of a number of renown key individuals.

The second international Architects World Championship in Ski and Snowboard will be held from 2 to 5 February 2012. It will take place in Ischgl in Tyrol|Austria. Sport-loving architects and interior designers from around the world will compete in giant slalom and parallel slalom.

Certification Systems are increasingly used. LEED is the system with the highest market penetration. The new version coming 2012 will have an extended number of categories an the point allocation will be more equally distributed.

The American Society of Landscape Architects has announced the winners of the 2011 Professional Awards. The awards honor the top public places, residential designs, campuses, parks and urban planning projects from across the U.S. and around the world.

George J. Efstathiou, FAIA , RIBA, Consulting Partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM), has been named Middle East Architect of the Year for his innovative leadership and involvement in several high-profile projects throughout the Gulf region.

In Abu Dhabi, the famous London architects Foster + Partners are building the Central Market, a complex of shops, offices, hotels and
apartments. Large ornamental windows made of coloured glass create a special lighting atmosphere

US-based, high performance building systems design firm Environmental Systems Design, Inc (ESD), has won the contract to design the building systems for the new Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

BARWA Al Sadd is a sizeable top end commercial and residential complex covering an area of 27,654 sq m, being developed on Suheim Bin Hamad Street in Doha. It is expected that the project shall be completed in 18th of June 2011 ahead of schedule.

MEED QIP 2011, which ran from July 5-6 at the Jumeirah Carlton Hotel, brought together chief executives from Qatar's real estate, banking, transport, utilities, and construction sectors, as well as government representatives to debate the project market in Qatar.

Premier Spanish hotels and resorts company Sol Meliá will open a five-star 'urban resort' in Dubai on 12th October 2011 with AED200 million Khamas Group investment. The number of visitors to Dubai from Spain has been increasing steadily. There are plans for Qatar, KSA & Jordan, too.