His Royal Highness Prince Saud Bin Nayef inaugurates the National Architectural Competition for the Design of the Semaya Neighborhood
His Royal Highness Prince Saud Bin Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz, Prince of the Eastern Region, inaugurated the National Architectural Competition for the Design of the Semaya Neighborhood on Monday 6/5/1442H 21/12/20; in the presence of Deputy Prince of Eastern Region through visual contact and in the presence of the President of Imam Abdul Rahman Bin Faisal University, Dr. Abdullah M. Al Rubaish, and Chairman of the Committee for Housing volunteering in the Eastern Province, Khaled Al-Qahtani, at the headquarters of the Deanship of E-Learning and Distance Learning. The competition was initiated by the Housing volunteering Committee of the Development Housing in the Ministry Housing and in academic partnership with Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, represented by the Deanship of Community Service and Sustainable Development.
The University President, Dr. Abdullah M. Al Rubaish said, “Today we are witnessing a picture that reflects the complementary strategic cooperation between the University and the Ministry of Housing in launching the National Architectural Competition for the design of the investment residential complex "Samaya" in Al Khobar for development housing users. We appreciate the trust given to the quality of the University's academic and professional programs in Engineering and Architecture, which have finally gained the first positions in a number of national architectural and design competitions at the Kingdom level.
The University's Vice President for Studies, Development and Community Service, Dr. Abdullah Alkadi, confirmed that the design criteria related to housing is sustainability in the attempt to make the housing functional with the lowest possible costs in relation to building and energy. The output of this work will not be only unique and typical architectural designs, but it will also have hundreds of rich volunteer hours and rich content of accompanying events from lectures and workshops.
The Dean of Community Service and Sustainable Development, Dr. Fatma Al-Malham, pointed that the University is seeking to create a distinctive mark in volunteerism field and to improve the quality of life for development housing users by designing a sustainable residential neighborhood on the project site to make the Eastern Region a leader in initiatives that contribute to shaping new future prospects for growth of the country.
The Vice dean of Deanship of sustainable Development, Dr. May Mohammed Al-Jamea, said that the University has an important and effective role since the beginning of the idea of the competition to come up with a proposal that achieves the goals of sustainable development and the vision of the Kingdom, in addition to reflecting the identity of the Eastern Region. It also provides the opportunity for engineers, academic staff, and students to contribute in finding innovative solutions for development housing users. During the competition, the University offers an integrated scientific program in which selected academics, specialists from the College of Architecture and Planning and the College of Design teach workshops and scientific lectures in the field of housing to enrich the participants' knowledge. In conclusion, the University plays an important role in the formation of project arbitration committees to participate in the competition on the basis of important criteria that meet the requirements and conditions of the competition.
