MZ Architects wins Retail and Leisure category Award in MIPIM Future Project Awards 2012

MZ Architects has received the Retail and Leisure Award for the design of “The Rock Stadium” at this year’s prestigious MIPIM Architectural Review Future Project Awards ceremony held in Cannes, France, on March 7th 2012.
The project by MZ Architects, a Lebanese design and consultancy firm, was one of 143 entries to the awards that uniquely focus on building designs for projects awaiting construction or still on the drawing board, spanning over ten categories - Big Urban Projects, Mixed Use, Offices, Regeneration and Masterplanning, Retail and Leisure, Retrofit, Tall Buildings, Sustainability and Residential. 
With a strong focus on creativity, the MIPIM Architectural Review Future Project Awards showcase schemes that are not only examples of excellent architecture, but have also responded to clients' development briefs and considered their impact and contribution to the community with effective environmental and social responsibility.
The awards, marking their 10th anniversary this year, form the centerpiece architecture event at the annual MIPIM Real Estate Conference and Exhibition, The International Property Market which is the world’s most influential event in the real estate sector and attracts over 20,000 delegates every year from around the world. 
Marwan Zgheib – founder of MZ Architects – and Jad Zgheib – Assistant General Manager – received the award at a formal ceremony held at the JW Marriott Hotel on March 7th 2012 in Cannes, France. Some of the world's most influential design and real estate professionals were present to honor the elite MIPIM Architectural Review Award recipients for 2012, with projects hailing from China, Turkey, Abu Dhabi, Brazil, Czech Republic, Poland and Denmark.
The panel of professional judges chaired by Paul Finch, Editorial Director of The Architectural Review included Roger Zogolovitch, Director AZ Urban Studios; Peter Stewart, Peter Stewart Consultancy; and Sutherland Lyall, author and critic.
The judges described MZ Architects’ design of The Rock Stadium as “an extraordinary project”, and applauded the brilliant way in which the design works “with the existing, absolutely exploiting it and creating what we call a very sustainable approach in construction”.
For Marwan Zgheib, the award confirms his company’s thrive for sustainable architecture: “We were deeply honored to receive this award. We believe that it strengthens our firm’s belief in marrying environmental sustainability to creative design. I would like to emphasize that The Rock Stadium concept of sculpting the rocks meets His Highness, the Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed’s vision of total respect of Jebel Hafeet’s nature which is the source of Emirati culture, as well as his predilection towards sustainable architecture.”
Set into the desert landscape, The Rock Stadium sinks its 200,000 m² structure into the ground and turns the rocky mountain into one of its main features. It creatively works with the topography and relies on a series of emerging planes to mold the space and help cater for the 40,000 seats which it provides. “Our main challenge was to integrate a massive modern stadium adjacent to a strong natural site such as Jebel Hafeet while preserving its authenticity. The solution was not to be next to the site, but rather to be within it. This is how we came up with this unique stadium concept which reminds us of the Greek theatre that worked with the topographic landscape of its site”, explained Marwan Zgheib. The stadium maximizes the use of on-site material and its visionary design merges landscape and architecture, thus blurring the boundaries between the built and the natural and creating a space that allows the visitor to interact with the stadium activities as much as with the desert landscape itself.