The grand prize in the international architectural competition to design the United
Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) Federal National Council’s (FNC) New Parliament Building
Complex has been awarded to Ehrlich
Architects, the Los Angeles, California, design firm. On Jan. 5 the competition’s Special Jury
Committee announced the selection of Ehrlich Architects as the winning
competitor.
Fourteen firms
representing nine countries had been invited in early 2010 to submit entries in
Phase 1 of the competition for the new FNC building. A short list of four finalists was selected
to continue to the more detailed Phase 2:
Ehrlich Architects (USA), Foster + Partners (UK), Massimiliano Fuksas
Architects (Italy), and Zaha Hadid Architects (UK).
Ehrlich
Architects (who teamed in Phase 2 with U.A.E.-based architecture
firm Godwin Austen Johnson [GAJ],
landscape architects ValleyCrest Design Group, Gifford structural
engineers, MEP engineers Scott Wilson Group, and quantity surveyors Baker
Wilkins & Smith) created a scheme
for the FNC’s New Parliament which embodies the unique identity of the
United Arab Emirates: a modern society moving boldly into
the future while retaining a strong connection to its history and traditions.
The winning entry for the new Parliament
building melds familiar Arabic design language with contemporary form and the
latest technological advances, creating meaning, maximum functionality and
environmental sustainability. The design
is anchored by a striking 100-meter-diameter dome structure, a soaring “flower-of-the-desert”
which will create a shaded micro-environment while casting Islamic patterns of
dappled light onto the white marble Assembly Hall. The flanking Parliamentary buildings that
house the majority of the offices, meeting halls, and visitors’ program,
abstract the colors and textures of desert sand; the exterior expression of
these structures is indebted to local historic buildings. In total, the complex will be a proud
landmark for public gatherings as well as a model for conservation of the region’s
precious resources.

The site of the new
Parliament conveys its significance as a public institution. It is
located on Abu Dhabi Corniche, one of the grand processional boulevards in the
country’s capital, where important civic events and celebrations take place. Facing the Arabian Gulf, the body of water
shared by six of the seven Emirates, the new FNC complex will establish a governmental
face at the seafront. Its dome will be
visible for miles across the water and will glow dramatically at night.