Gulf Times: Gulf Times

The Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) has been named ‘Middle East’s leading exhibition & convention centre’ at the glittering World Travel Awards (WTA) ceremony held in Dubai last Monday.

Qatar also won the title of ‘Middle East’s Leading Business Travel Destination,’ confirming Doha as a world-class capital for commerce and communication.

Qatar scooped no fewer than nine of the regional awards on offer at the World Travel Awards (WTA) ceremony .
A member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), QNCC was officially opened last December. Since then, the centre has hosted well over 100 events, including the World Innovation Summit for Education, the Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum, the Arab Expatriate Scientists Symposium, and Unctad XIII. Around 130,000 visitors have already passed through its perfectly proportioned interiors, keen to share knowledge and, where possible, find common ground.

“We recognised a long time ago that if we were to deliver the vision of HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson of QF , to make Qatar Foundation a global centre of excellence in the spheres of education, science and community development, it was essential that we found a home for the world’s leading innovators and industry experts to exchange their ideas. We began work on the project as far back as 2006, but we were in no hurry. The most important thing was to get it right,” said Eng Saad al-Muhannadi, QF Vice President of Capital Projects and Facilities Management.

“Our architects devised complex mathematical equations to decide what would be the best support structure for the ceiling, and the outcome was a construction that somehow resembled a sidra tree. So, you could say that the design was the product of cutting edge science merging with traditional symbolism,” he pointed out.
QNCC was conceived with a focus on sustainability.

The exhibition hall is built according to gold certification standards on Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED), endorsed by the US Green Building Council. The building incorporates innovative water conservation features and energy-efficient fixtures.

“In the future, environmental considerations will be central to the planning of any construction project at Qatar Foundation, “ said al-Muhannadi.

Later this year, QNCC will host the COP18 international climate change conference. With 30,000 delegates from 192 countries and 5,000 journalists in attendance, the three-week long event will be the largest ever hosted in Qatar.

In December this year, the WTA Grand Finals will take place in India’s capital, New Delhi. Competition will be intense, but for both Qatar and QNCC, there is every reason to feel optimistic that their first-rate business facilities will be recognised and celebrated on an international stage, a spokesperson said.