Powerlist Creative 30 : DREW GILBERT Design Manager Obm International
Drew Gilbert is a design manager at OBMI. Gil bert is an archi tect, artist, and educator. From masterplans to refined private villas— his macro-to-micro expertise has led him to become a well-balanced designer with an eye for context, culture, and climate with an emphasis on producing sustainable solutions, profoundly relevant to place and purpose.
Gilbert was awarded the AIA Henry Adams award, Middle East Rising Star, and the Design Middle East Young Talent RU. He was selected as Top 30 Architects Powerlist in the MENA region 2021. In 2020, Gilbert was a finalist for the World Architecture festival “Isolation Transformed”, along with winning the Golden Russian Architecture award Honorable mention for the Best public Building for Dubai Creek Mosque.
His project Gardens of Samarra went on to win the Project of future in 2020 and was selected by UNESCO to be established as an Archeological landmark. He is a finalist this year for Sustainability Champion of the year, and two projects at the World Architecture Festival, Gardens of Samarra (for Commercial-Mixed Use Category) and Gwangju City Main Library (for the Cultural Future Projects Category).
His projects under construction include Shams Reflection G+22 Residential tower in Abu Dhabi, Al Khan Palace the first luxury waterfront resort in Sharjah, the Technology Innovation Park in KSA, Citywalk phase 5 in Dubai, and the Valley townhouses by Emaar. With his patent for a modular building system, he aims to provide a viable alternative to traditional construction methods by reducing waste to landfills by 90%, using less energy, reducing project timelines, and being more adaptable and flexible to future changing needs while maintaining the same standards.
Gilbert is a LEED accredited professional who is dedicated to a better future by promoting sustainable design methodologies and cradle-to-cradle thinking for long-term impacts on the built environment. He is focussing on a timeless design that is responsive, adaptive and enriching the context responding to the climatic, ecological, and social emergencies of our time.
His future plans include launching a platform utilising XR and immersive technologies in spatial cognition for architecture. As part of a growing legacy of designing extraordinary destinations across the world for over 85 years, OBMI has become renowned for luxury hotels, resorts, vacation destinations, and residences. Celebrating design excellence and innovation to consistently deliver the extraordinary.
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Powerlist Creative 30 : Dilara Ajun Creative Director Ati Consultants Architects And Engineers
Dilara Ajun, the creative director of ATI Consult ants, Architects and Engineers, was named ‘Young Talent of the Year’ at Architecture Leader Awards 2021.
She is passionate about creating “out-of-the-box” designs and solutions that complement the identities of both, the user and the company.
Her distinct style and desire for design excellence have made ATI a preferred partner for many prestigious projects and clients, resulting in a number of prestigious design awards.
Ajun, born in Turkey in 1988, earned her bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from the Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, in 2011. She has worked in leading development and architecture companies in Turkey during which she pursued her master’s degree in real estate development between 2011-2013.
She furthered her studies to obtain a diploma in Interior design from the University of London in 2015. Throughout her career, she has produced multiple award-winning master plans, architecture, and interior design projects, and her positive ‘nothing is impossible’ spirit resonates throughout the office.
She is currently working on various educational and mixed-use projects around the world, including in the UAE. Some of the recent works include a 60 storey mixeduse tower in the UAE; K-12 School campuses in Erbil, Baku, Istanbul, Dammam, and around the UAE; a master-planned community and urban development project in the emirate of Umm Al Quwain; and an iconic residential high-rise tower in Jumeirah Village Circle.
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Powerlist Creative 30 : Alessandra Barilaro Head Of Interior Design M+n Architecture
A lessandra Barilaro, a native of Southern Italy, studied Architecture and Design in Florence, where she also attended the IDEM Master in Product Design at the Higher School of Industrial Technologies.
She was one of the founders of M+N Architecture in 2010, and later became the company’s Head of Interior Design. The firm, which has offices in Florence, Milan, and Abu Dhabi, has won several prestigious interior design awards as a result of her design vision, including “Best Office Interior” at the Luxury Lifestyle Awards 2021 for the design of the Cyber Security Dept. of NYUAD (Abu Dhabi), “Best SPA Design” at the Middle East Pool and SPA Awards 2016 for the LivNordic SPA & Wellness in Cayan Tower (Dubai), and “Best SPA Design” at the Middle East Pool and (Abu Dhabi).
Barilaro specialises in corporate, retail, and hospitality projects and has a broad understanding of all types of interiors; her background includes product design, with collections shown at the GwanGju Design Biennale, the Salone Satellite in Milan and Rome, and the Florence Design Week, and an honourable mention at the 23rd Compasso d’Oro, as well as academic activity as she has been teaching Interior Design at the IAAD in Bologna since 2019.
Barilaro sees the client’s empathic relationship as the most important factor in approaching the project, which she creates through constant dialogue and end-user perceptual analysis of space and objects. She pushes her research beyond traditional schemes, experimenting with architecture and design in a way that is sustainable and responsive to the needs of today’s society, in order to grasp the right perspective. As a creator of ideas, Barilaro backs them up with in-depth industry knowledge, extensive lighting design experience, and great enthusiasm for Biophilia and indoor greenery. She is currently working on the renovation of the management offices of one of the leading banks in the UAE, a new corporate HQ in Dubai, and overseeing the final touches of three spas close to completion on Palm Jumeirah, Dubai.
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Powerlist Creative 30 : Nikki Bisiker Owner Nikki Bisiker Interior Design
Nikki Bisiker is a self- taught designer. She was passion ate about designing since she was a child, and by the time she was in her 20s, she was planning a large restaurant project in the United Kingdom while navigating the complexities of its historical status.
As her international career grew, she worked on projects all over the world, from super yachts in Monaco to a large Emirati palace.
Her exposure to a variety of foreign languages piqued her interest in different cultures and traditions from all over the world. Bisiker was raised by her Jamaican mother who instilled a love of colour in her, as well as traditional British grandparents who taught her to enjoy the finer things in life. All of this provided her with an excellent foundation for her future career.
In the 1990’s, her business thrived with the private commission to design luxury homes in Lyon, France and super-yachts in Monaco. During this time, she earned her Captain’s licence, which allowed her to command and sail yachts and other vessels. And a beloved Harley-Davidson motorcycle became one of her favourite forms of transportation for getting from one customer to the next! In 2004, she brought her work together under the brand name Nikki B Signature Interiors and moved to Dubai, where real estate development was booming. She was commissioned to renovate a
farmhouse in Al Ain. Following that, she created upscale houses in and around Dubai, as well as her largest project to date, the transformation of a Palace for one of the Middle East’s Royal families, as well as a private yacht commission for the Crown Prince of the UAE.
She worked on design projects all around the Middle East, as well as in the French Alps. The company turned into an LLC the following year and started to employ staff. Nikki B Signature Design rebranded to Da Fonseca Design (her mother’s maiden name), and employed a total of 10 staff members.
In 2019, due to the popular demand from her loyal clients, Bisiker rebranded back to Nikki Bisiker Interior Design. Recognising the strength of simply using her own name. In 2021, she will also launch Nikki&B, an exclusive furniture collection.
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Powerlist Creative 30 Ernesto Alarilla Jr. Design Manager Key Concept
Ernesto Alarilla Jr. is a multi-dis ciplinary architect with over 11 years of experience in archi tecture and interior design. Earning his education with flying colours from the Univer sity of Santo Tomas in Manila, he trained afterwards under the tutelage of renowned modernist Filipino architect Ed Calma. He has worked on a number of minimalist luxury residences and hospitality projects in The Philippines and Asia.
This provided him with a solid foundation in design and construction, which led him to explore his creative limits rooted in materiality and spatial quality.
He broadened his experience by moving to the Middle East, successfully delivering 100+ commercial projects to date. He is currently the Key Concept design manager; he also established the design department in 2014, by forming the creative arm of the fit-out company. In 2016, the company shifted its focus to design consultancy, which led to collaboration with Gulf-based brands such as Falla, Origami, Zero Fat, and Huna. Whites KSA, Accor, Emaar, and several KSA government entities are among the company’s notable clients. Ernesto’s formative years as a young painter taught him to be hyper-aware of his surroundings and to use artistic freedom to express his own interpretation of a subject.
His inspiration comes from the realms of low and high-brow cultural dialogues, as he is naturally inclined to the visual and performing arts. He believes that creation and design should be emotionally charged in varying degrees. Driven by his culturally immersive travels, his design comes from a place of recollection and imagination.
He is truly passionate in seeking to challenge the perception of the norm. Ernesto is committed to producing and executing a holistic design that will linger in the mind and inspire a new way of thinking about human connection with the built environment.
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Powerlist Creative 30 Jesper Godsk Founder & Ceo Lw
Jesper Godsk co-founded LW in 1999, with the aim of creating bespoke designs from a firm that would represent the abstract of design prowess. Now, 21 years and a plethora of awardwinning projects later, his vision for the industry and his brand remains the same.
Some of the successful projects he has led include Zabeel House to Grosvenor House, Hyatt Regency to JW Marriott Marquis, and Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort and Spa to the exquisite Dusit Hotel, and Edition Hotel. Godsk expanded LW from a tiny, local company to a major, multinational one; he established the brand as an expression of his creative leadership and now has offices in Dubai, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, and Aarhus.
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Powerlist Creative 30 Ben Corrigan Founder & Managing Director Bluehaus Group
Ben Corrigan is the founder and managing director of Bluehaus, an award- winning design studio with headquarters in Dubai and regional offices in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh.
The last five or so years have been the most thrilling for Bluehaus. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID pandemic, Bluehaus has had a fantastic few years. Corrigan is especially proud of how his team has come together to support one another during this time. Bluehaus has some interesting and diverse projects on the drawing boards (so to speak) and onsite projects including Sushi Samba in KAFD Riyadh, the new du telecom HQ, several workplace collaborations with tech firms, workplace projects in ICD Brookfield Place, a high-profile retail experience for a telecommunications firm in Riyadh, and also several exciting projects in Expo 2020.
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Powerlist Creative 30 Carla Conte Creative Director & Founder Brand Creative
Carla Conte founded the design firm Brand Creative in 2011, with the goal of creating memorable branded environments by integrating interior and graphic design skills.
Her strategic design methodology is the major force behind the multi-award-winning work she has produced in North America, Latin
America, the UK, Asia, and presently the Middle East.
Carla has designed work for Fortune 500 companies and large worldwide brands on a grand scale and in a variety of styles. Brand Creative is currently working on the extension of Avenues Mall, the largest mall in Oman, where the firm is currently working to accommodate Oman’s first IKEA by the end of 2021.
The design firm is continuing to work with Esso in Saudi Arabia, developing six new F&B brands.
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