Basem Al Shihabi is the managing partner of Omrania & Associates
and one of its founders. Mr. Al Shihabi received his architectural education at
the School of Fine
Arts in Cairo, graduating in
1967, and completed his postgraduate studies in Landscape Planning at the University of Edinburgh in 1970. Returning to Saudi Arabia, Mr. Al Shihabi joined the firm of
Doxiadis Associates where he worked on regional plans for five central region
towns in Saudi Arabia,
and a kingdom-wide schooling programme for the Ministry of Education. He moved
on to establish the Omrania & Associates after jointly winning an
international competition to design the headquarters of the General Organisation
of Social Insurance in Riyadh
1973. Over the years, Mr. Al Shihabi was instrumental in taking Omrania &
Associates to a leading position in the region within the fields of architecture,
engineering and planning, with offices in Saudi
Arabia, Jordan
and Bahrain.
The firm has over the years received numerous awards for its work and has a
growing partnership base. Its projects range from private residences to high
rise office towers, airports and large public commissions, among them the King
Abdul Aziz Library and Auditorium, the Kingdom Centre and the Al Rashid Tower
and Complex, the Kingdom Hospital, the Prince Salman Transplant and Dialysis
Centre, and the Salam Park, all in Riyadh. Current projects at Omrania &
Associates include the King Abdullah International
Gardens in Riyadh
and the Taibah University in Al Madinah. Mr. Al Shihabi
was a recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1998 for the Tuwaiq Palace
project in Riyadh.
