Winners of Emirates Biotech HQ design competition announced

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 17 February 2026 – Emirates Biotech, in collaboration with Heriot-Watt University and United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), recently concluded a design competition for Emirates Biotech’s to-be-built headquarters. Over the past months, 17 teams of architectural and engineering students from both institutions entered the competition and submitted proposals. Earlier this week, the process culminated in the selection of the winning design from among the five final teams.

Emirates Biotech initiated this competition to allow young designers to reimagine the corporate workspace through the lens of sustainability, innovation, and a circular economy. The proposals were evaluated by a jury panel from Capital Engineering, AECOM, and Emirates Biotech senior executives.

The winning team, from the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), stood out for its well-developed architectural concept, efficient zoning, and strong regulatory compliance. The design optimizes the core for natural light and flow with minimal structural refinements, which strongly embodies Emirates Biotech’s vision for a sustainable headquarters.

The runner up team, from Heriot-Watt University, presented a robust and compliant structural framework with significant potential. By enhancing the internal layout to maximize spatial efficiency and accessibility, this design offers a strong opportunity to create a resource-conscious headquarters that fully aligns with Emirates Biotech’s sustainability goals.

“The quality of work submitted by these universities was exceptional,” said Christophe Miegeville, Project Delivery Officer of Emirates Biotech. “We realized that the most impactful headquarters would not come from a single idea, but from getting inspiration and using the creativity of all these students, from seamlessly blending rich local heritage with diverse global perspectives.”

Professor Kheira Tabet Aoul, Chair of the Architectural Engineering Program UAEU, added, “I am proud of our students’ meaningful participation in designing the Emirates Biotech headquarters. Working with a real industry partner, real constraints, and ongoing professional feedback provided invaluable exposure and significantly strengthened their readiness for professional practice. This initiative highlights the impact of practice-based learning and reinforces the value of sustained collaboration between academia and industry in preparing our students for real-world challenges.”

Dr. Hassam Chaudhry, Associate Professor, Director of Studies (Dubai) Architectural Engineering at Heriot-Watt University stated, “We express our thanks to Emirates Biotech for providing the students with this opportunity to collaborate on a real-life design project. We were proud to see the students work together in multidisciplinary teams of architects and engineers and approach the project in a professional manner. As academics, we value the meaningfulness and importance of industry-academia collaboration.”

This collaboration marks the beginning of a continued partnership between Emirates Biotech and the academic community, ensuring that their growth contributes directly to the UAE’s vision for a knowledge-based, sustainable economy.

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Figure 1: Winning design from United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), College of Engineering.

Figure 2: The winning team, Khadeja Al Hadhrami, Reema Al Marzooqi, Suada Al Mansoori, and their supervisors from United Arab Emirates University.

Figure 3: Emirates Biotech alongside the participating finalists and professors from United Arab Emirates University, and Heriot Watt University, and the jury panel from Capital Engineering.