Jason Carlow

American University of Sharjah
Head of Department of Architecture

Jason is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Architecture at the American University of Sharjah. He holds a BA in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University and a Master of Architecture from Yale University. He has taught architecture for more than two decades at institutions including AUS, the University of Hong Kong, Parsons School of Design in New York, and the Yale School of Architecture.
Jason’s research focuses on high-rise, high-density urbanism. He recently published Cities of Repetition (AR+D Publications, 2024), which provides a comprehensive documentation and analysis of Hong Kong's massively scaled, highly standardized private housing estates.
In addition to his academic leadership, Jason is an award-winning designer. His design work has been published widely and exhibited internationally at the Hong Kong/Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, Dubai Design Week, the Venice Biennale of Architecture, and the Beijing Architecture Biennial. He is the recipient of an AIA Honor Award and the 2020 AIA/ACSA Housing Design Education Award.
PM Stream A: Stitching the Cities
Panel Discussion: Protection of Professional Titles - From Education to Practice
3:00 - 3:30PM
Additional session details to be announced. Check back soon.

Mustafa Chehabeddine

KPF
Principal

Mustafa has designed internationally significant projects, including supertall towers, airport terminals, and urban districts. Managing multi-disciplinary teams across KPF’s global offices and collaborating with leading consultants, his projects have been widely recognized for their monumental spaces, cultural sensitivity, and technical innovation.
Mustafa’s designs are characterized by dramatic scales and curvilinear forms that blur the boundaries between inside and outside space. He is recognized as an industry leader in the adoption of new technologies, championing the use of computational design to deliver complex geometries and spatial magnitude while optimizing efficiency of form for buildability and cost. The design team for Zayed International Airport pioneered the use of parametric design to construct an award-winning terminal.
Mustafa’s work in rapidly urbanizing countries in Asia and the Middle East addresses complex city-making challenges, such as accommodating transportation infrastructure, anticipating future changes, and defining the character of neighborhoods. In Kuala Lumpur, the KLCC Cultural Hub—a major new cultural and retail center—was designed with future densification in mind. The structure is engineered to support the construction of a supertall tower above it at a later date, while ensuring the podium remains operational throughout. Shenzhen Centre, a mixed-use, transit-oriented development in Shenzhen, was envisioned to establish a unified core for the new city district.
Mustafa is a frequent speaker at organizations and conferences including Advanced Building Skins, CTBUH, MIPIM, and the MSc in Sustainable Urban Development, run in partnership by The King’s Foundation and the University of Oxford.
AM Stream A: Citymaking
Presentation: Designing for context across multiple scales
11:30am - 12:00pm
This presentation will consider how architects can design for integration with the urban context, across multiple scales and locations. From the approach of ‘urban acupuncture’ that has guided the development of London’s Covent Garden, to the creation of important new urban centres, such as Gemdale Center in Shenzhen. It will also consider the urban condition of the periphery, as seen at Atlantis Royal Dubai, and the design process for Zayed International Airport, a building on a truly urban scale that was created to be a symbol for Abu Dhabi.

James Chin

PNCA
Associate Director

James is an accomplished architect with nearly 30 years of global design experience, including more than two decades in the Middle East. He currently serves as Associate Director at PNC Architects, the consultant arm of Sobha Realty in Dubai, where he oversees design leadership, project management, and operational performance across the region.
Throughout his career, James has been instrumental in advancing architectural excellence and has been nominated for several prestigious industry awards in recognition of his innovative contributions. He leads the firm’s internal innovation hub along with initiatives that focus on modular construction technologies and advanced sustainability strategies, while also working in close alignment with the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).
James has played a central role in Sobha’s evolution toward larger, more complex towers and masterplans. To date, he has led the design of more than 30 tower projects with a combined built-up area exceeding 20 million square feet, encompassing over 19,000 residential units. Many of these developments have earned accolades across regional platforms for their design excellence and impact.
Currently, James is spearheading the design and delivery of Sobha Hartland II, a transformative masterplan featuring Sobha’s upcoming global headquarters and a 10-million-square-foot canal-lagoon district anchored by 14 residential towers. The project was recently recognized as the Mixed-Use Development of the Year 2024 by Design Middle East MENA, further underscoring James’s commitment to innovation at scale.
Among his most recent landmark projects is Sobha Central, a bold reimagining of high-density urban living through a pioneering “city within a building” concept. This integrated development unites six residential towers over a podium that seamlessly incorporates key community amenities, including a mosque, mall, medical center, nursery, park, and more. With intuitive indoor and outdoor connectivity across all spaces—from the rooftop urban park and amenity deck to ground-level retail and prayer halls—Sobha Central exemplifies a people-centric approach to design, setting new benchmarks for livability and vertical community planning in Dubai.
Recognized for his visionary approach, James continues to shape human-centric, high-density living through purposeful design and innovation.
AM Stream B: Pushing the Boundaries
Presentation: From Fragmentation to Integration - A Strategic Study of End-to-End Real Estate Development
12:00 - 12:30PM
The real estate sector has long struggled with inefficiencies born from fragmented delivery models, where planning, design, construction, and operations are managed by disparate entities. This session examines how Sobha Realty has pioneered a vertically integrated approach that unifies the entire development lifecycle—from concept design to long-term community management—within a single organizational structure.
Using the Sobha Hartland II development in Dubai as a case study, the session will explore how backward and forward integration can enhance coordination, reduce costs and delays, ensure consistent quality, and strengthen brand trust across every phase of a project. Participants will gain insight into how vertical integration not only improves execution but also empowers developers to maintain design intent, advance sustainability goals, and create cohesive, value-driven communities.
Far from being unique to one developer, this model offers a scalable framework for urban transformation globally—one that meets the growing demand for efficiency, resilience, and human-centered design in the cities of tomorrow.

Dr. Roy Denoon

Denoon Consulting
Wind Engineering Consultant

Roy has specialized in wind engineering for more than 30 years, working on a wide range of projects around the world, from major sports stadia to some of the world’s tallest buildings. In the Middle East, his most notable projects include fieldwork during the construction of Emirates Towers; wind engineering design input for Aldar Headquarters in Abu Dhabi, Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab, and the UAE Pavilion for Expo 2020 in Dubai; and work on Lusail Stadium in Qatar, among others. Roy also led the instrumentation of Burj Khalifa to measure its long-term responses to wind loading.
He has published numerous magazine and journal articles in the field, serves on multiple committees, and has contributed to the development of standards and guidelines in many jurisdictions. He co-authored the CTBUH Guide to Wind Tunnel Testing of High-Rise Buildings and was a primary author of both the ASCE Manual of Practice on Design and Performance of Tall Buildings for Wind and the ASCE Pre-standard for Performance-Based Wind Design. Roy is a Fellow of CTBUH.
PM Stream C: Digital & AI - The Future of the Built Environment
Presentation: A quarter century of wind engineering in the Middle East: lessons learned and where next?
3:00 - 3:30PM
Dr. Roy Denoon will share his experiences of wind engineering for, primarily but not exclusively, high-rise buildings in the Middle East gained over nearly 30 years. A historical context to the development and adoption of design approaches will be given, with discussion of how these have influenced aspects of design. Areas to be covered will include wind loading, stack effect, field experiences of building performance, and outdoor wind comfort. Future needs relating to increased densification and integration of new approaches to urban mobility will be outlined along with the outlook for integration of new AI technologies into urban planning and design.

Alexander Drachenberg

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)
Design Lead

Speaker biography will be published shortly. Check back soon for more information.
PM Stream C: Digital & AI - The Future of the Built Environment
Presentation: Title to be announced
2:00 - 2:30PM
Session details to be announced. Check back soon for more information.

Roberto Fabbri

Zayed University
Associate Professor and Chair of Design

Roberto is an architect, Associate Professor, and Chair of Design at the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi. His work focuses on architecture, heritage, and urban development in Gulf cities and the broader non-West. A former consultant for heritage-related projects with the United Nations Development Programme, ICOMOS, and the Goethe Institute, he is also a current member of the UAE Ministry of Culture’s Modern Heritage Technical Committee. In 2024, he was the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture Fellow at MIT and received the Hasan-Uddin Khan Paper Award from the International Journal of Islamic Architecture.
Roberto’s recent research on the quotidian architecture of Abu Dhabi is currently featured in the 2025 Architecture Biennale in Venice. He has published Max Bill in Italia (Mondadori, 2011) and Max Bill. Espaces (inFolio, 2017); co-authored the double volume Modern Architecture Kuwait 1949–89 (Niggli, 2016/2017); and co-edited Urban Modernity in the Contemporary Gulf (Routledge, 2021) and Impatient Cities of the Gulf (HPA, 2022).
PM Stream A: Stitching the Cities
Panel Discussion: Protection of Professional Titles - From Education to Practice
3:00 - 3:30PM
Additional session details to be announced. Check back soon.

Yahya Jan

NORR
President & Design Director

For Yahya, design is a creative process that challenges us to combine our understanding of life, science, and art. Where these aspects overlap, he believes First Principle thinking can reveal solutions that expand our understanding of reality.
Based in Dubai, Yahya is President & Design Director at NORR. With 37 years of global experience, he leads the firm’s design efforts in the Middle East and Asia. Yahya completed both his undergraduate and graduate studies at Princeton University. A licensed architect in New York, he lived and worked in the United States for 14 years before moving to Dubai in 1996. Since then, he has played a pivotal role at NORR, bringing to life visionary projects throughout the region.
Yahya believes that great design, done right, can solve many of humanity’s challenges. For this to happen, he advocates an inclusive approach—one that invites open-minded exploration where owners and designers fully participate in the process.
He promotes integrated design as a way to transform the built environment, seeing it as a patient search—equal parts analytical and intuitive. Central to his philosophy is a multidisciplinary approach that brings together owners, architects, engineers, and others to unlock hidden potential. Today, Yahya leads a highly motivated and multicultural team of designers and doers in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Manila, all dedicated to excellence.
Yahya’s built work includes signature office, residential, and hotel towers, retail malls, and mixed-use developments. A winner of numerous international awards, his design and research have been featured at conferences and in leading publications worldwide.
AM Stream C: Tall Towers - Legacy and Lessons
Presentation: The Story Of Ciel
11:30AM - 12:00 PM
This presentation is a “behind the scenes” look at the dynamic push and pull that is the design process. A fascinating and honest story of how we designed Ciel, nearing completion in Dubai. At 373 meters in height, this signature tower is slated to be the tallest hotel in the world.
In a city known for its verticality, our design for Ciel is ambitious - to redefine vertical living by introducing naturally ventilated landscaped terraces throughout the height of the tower. This presentation emphasizes the design “process” as much as the final “product”- the story of a highly collaborative, multi-disciplinary effort in designing this tower. An account of how our team of architects, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineers, and interior designers made this project a reality. A study in simplicity in the face of complexity, this presentation describes the myriad of forces, contextual, structural, environmental, and programmatic, that influenced the design of Ciel.

Dr. K. Suresh Kumar

RWDI Group
Principal & Vice President - Global Consulting

Currently based in Dubai, Suresh is a recognized leader in wind engineering, serving as Vice President – Global Consulting. With more than 35 years of international experience as a wind engineering researcher and consultant, he has made significant contributions to the field.
Suresh spearheaded the establishment of RWDI’s fifth wind tunnel in Trivandrum, India, where he successfully led a team of 50 technocrats for 15 years before moving abroad. He has worked as a wind consultant on many iconic structures worldwide, including the Burj Khalifa in Dubai—the world’s tallest tower—and several confidential supertall towers.
Suresh has published and presented numerous papers in international journals and conferences, and he remains professionally active worldwide.
PM Stream B: ESG Factors - Beyond Sustainability
Presentation: Exploring the Nuances of Wind Load Calculations on Tall Buildings
3:00PM - 3:30PM
Wind load is one of the primary lateral forces acting on tall buildings, significantly influencing their structural design. Accurate assessment requires careful consideration of multiple parameters, including return period, wind speed, wind profiles, aerodynamic coefficients, structural dynamics, and damping ratio. This presentation explores the complexities and nuances involved in calculating wind-induced responses in tall buildings.
A particular focus will be on the ambiguity surrounding the selection of key parameters such as the return period, damping ratio, minimum load limits, and diaphragm configurations in complex structures. We will discuss how to navigate these choices by relying on well-established engineering practices, unless compelling new research suggests more effective approaches.
Our objective is to apply pragmatic engineering judgment while avoiding unnecessary conservatism, aligning with broader sustainability goals. By doing so, we ensure both structural integrity and responsible material use in the design of modern tall buildings.

James Marvin

PNCA
Chief Executive Officer

James is the Chief Executive Officer of PNCA Architects, with more than 40 years of experience in architecture, construction, and design leadership. A graduate of the University of Texas School of Architecture, he began his career with a hands-on approach, combining practical experience in design and build practice with a deep passion for architectural innovation.
Since taking the helm at PNCA in 2015, James has guided the firm through a period of exceptional growth and transformation. Under his leadership, the practice has expanded from a 60-member team to a multidisciplinary studio of more than 900 professionals across eight disciplines. PNCA’s portfolio today includes design contributions to more than 95 projects—over 55 completed and 40 ongoing—spanning 50 million square feet across a diverse range of typologies and geographies. This growth has been achieved while preserving a flexible, project-led team structure, allowing for agility and precision in execution.
James has been instrumental in evolving PNCA into a fully integrated practice with in-house expertise across architecture, structural engineering, MEP, interior design, landscape architecture, façade engineering, POD design, master planning, and more. His leadership fosters a culture of design excellence, sustainability, and collaborative innovation, enabling the firm to deliver forward-thinking solutions that respond to both local context and global benchmarks.
With a career shaped by international exposure, including collaborations across the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and Africa, James brings a global perspective to his work. He has been recognized with several prestigious honors, including CEO of the Year at the Architecture Leaders Awards 2025, Outstanding Achievement at the Future of Architecture Summits and Awards 2025, and the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Design Middle East Architecture Leaders Awards 2024.
Driven by a belief in purposeful, human-centric design, James continues to steer PNCA with a vision rooted in creativity, adaptability, and long-term impact within the built environment.
AM Stream B: Pushing the Boundaries
Presentation: From Fragmentation to Integration - A Strategic Study of End-to-End Real Estate Development
12:00 - 12:30PM
The real estate sector has long struggled with inefficiencies born from fragmented delivery models, where planning, design, construction, and operations are managed by disparate entities. This session examines how Sobha Realty has pioneered a vertically integrated approach that unifies the entire development lifecycle—from concept design to long-term community management—within a single organizational structure.
Using the Sobha Hartland II development in Dubai as a case study, the session will explore how backward and forward integration can enhance coordination, reduce costs and delays, ensure consistent quality, and strengthen brand trust across every phase of a project. Participants will gain insight into how vertical integration not only improves execution but also empowers developers to maintain design intent, advance sustainability goals, and create cohesive, value-driven communities.
Far from being unique to one developer, this model offers a scalable framework for urban transformation globally—one that meets the growing demand for efficiency, resilience, and human-centered design in the cities of tomorrow.

Dr. Kevin Mueller

Thornton Tomasetti
Vice President

Kevin is a Vice President in the Protective Design and Security practice at Thornton Tomasetti. He specializes in physical security, structural and façade blast analysis, hostile vehicle mitigation, explosives safety, and structural fire engineering. He has managed projects across a wide range of sectors and clients, including the Royal Saudi Air Force, Royal Norwegian Air Force, US Federal Government, US Federal Reserve, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago Department of Aviation, Amtrak, the Smithsonian, professional sports teams, aerospace research facilities, and various confidential private developments.
Kevin is a voting member and former chair of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) 216 Fire Protection Standards Committee, a voting member of ACI 133 (Disaster Reconnaissance) and ACI 370 (Blast and Impact Load Effects), and an active contributor to the CTBUH Fire and Life Safety Committee. He is also involved with AISC TC8 (Fire Protection) and the SFPE CPQ (Professional Competency, Credentialing & Qualifications) Committees.
PM Stream A: Stitching the Cities
Presentation: Role of Protective Design and Security in the Middle East: From Master Planning to Construction
2:00PM - 2:30PM
The history of the Middle East is complex and traces back to ancient civilizations like the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, whose rise and fall have shaped the region’s geopolitical rivalries, territorial disputes, and present-day security concerns. Threats to the built environment are always evolving, from vehicle borne explosives to suicide bombers and active shooters to hostile vehicles, as well as commercial aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles. As architects and engineers, we have the responsibility to collaborate with local authorities and project stakeholders to design safe and secure buildings and infrastructure. However, the wide range of threats and constantly changing security environment can result in a complex design process for high-profile buildings in the Middle East. This presentation will address the implementation of protective design and security throughout the entire design process, determination of the design basis threats, and establishing an acceptable level of post-event building damage.

Andreas Klok Pedersen

BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group
Partner & Design Director

Andreas is the Design Director of BIG London and a member of the practice’s global Board of Directors. He has been with the firm since its founding and has led projects of all typologies and scales in locations around the world, with a focus on Europe and the Middle East. Key recent work includes Google’s new UK Headquarters, now in the final stages of construction in King’s Cross, London; Ocean House on the Palm in Dubai; the Saadiyat Island Cultural Masterplan and related assets in Abu Dhabi; and the new Chedi Wadi Safar Hotel in Riyadh.
In Amsterdam, Andreas recently completed the riverside Sluishuis residential development, where residents can access their homes by car, foot, or boat. In Denmark, he led the Aarhus Harbour Masterplan, a mixed-use redevelopment of a former industrial site featuring housing, a hotel, a theater, public spaces, and a harbour bath. He has also been responsible for the Qiddiya Master Plan, an entertainment-focused city for 600,000 people west of Riyadh; MÉCA, a sculpted cultural centre in France; and the 220-meter-tall Shenzhen Energy Headquarters in China.
Andreas has spearheaded several of BIG’s strategic planning projects with a focus on sustainability, including Plan for the Planet, the firm’s ongoing research program to create a blueprint for a carbon-neutral planet, as well as Loop City and Mars Science City.
In addition to his architectural and master planning work, Andreas lectures internationally on BIG’s current research and projects. He has taught at the Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, the AHO School of Architecture in Oslo, and served as Studio Director at the Strelka Institute for Architecture and Urbanism in Moscow.
Session details to be announced. Check back soon for more information about this speaker’s contribution to the CTBUH Dubai Conference 2025.

Patrick Rouse

Deyaar Development
Chief Development Officer

Patrick is a seasoned real estate executive with more than 20 years of experience in developing and delivering complex, large-scale mixed-use projects across multiple markets and asset classes. He is currently the Chief Development Officer at Deyaar Development. Previously, he served as Chief Executive Officer of LITE Development & Consulting, a company that provides innovative and customized solutions for real estate development and investment opportunities.
Patrick has extensive expertise across all aspects of real estate development, from feasibility and design to construction and handover. He has worked with leading clients, consultants, and contractors including Emaar Properties, Dubai Holding, Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate, John Sisk & Son, and WSP. He has played an instrumental role in the success of notable projects such as Address Skyview, Burj Vista, Oasis Hospital, Cairo Festival City, and Dubai Festival City. His core competencies include contract management, cost management, and project control. Patrick holds a BEng in Civil Engineering, an MSc in Real Estate Investment and Finance, and two Postgraduate Diplomas in Construction Law and Contract Administration, and Project Management.
Passionate about creating value and delivering excellence for clients and stakeholders, Patrick brings a global perspective and strategic vision to his work. He has worked in Ireland, Australia, Egypt, and the UAE, and is driven by the challenge and opportunity of developing and transforming real estate landscapes while enhancing the quality of life for communities.
AM Stream A: Citymaking
Presentation: Title to be announced
12:00PM - 12:30PM
Session details to be announced. Check back soon for more information.

Hala Yousef

JLL Project & Development Services
Director, Sustainability Engineering

Hala leads the sustainability engineering arm of JLL UAE. As Director of Sustainability Engineering, she heads a team of professionals delivering world-class solutions for some of the UAE’s leading developers across a range of project portfolios.
With more than 15 years of experience in sustainability across the MEA and APAC regions, Hala has worked on pioneering projects involving WELL, Fitwel, LEED, GSAS, Green Star, and NABERS certifications. She holds a Master’s in Environmental Engineering and a Bachelor’s in Mechatronics Engineering.
Hala’s expertise spans sustainable building design, decarbonization implementation, sustainability certification, ESG and GHG reporting, One Planet Living, business analysis, corporate sustainability strategies, net zero carbon commitments, and both construction and operational sustainability.
PM Stream B: ESG Factors - Beyond Sustainability
Presentation: Delivering a Residential Tower with Low Carbon Steel
2:30PM - 3:00PM
Additional session details to be announced. Check back soon for more information.

Speakers

Voices Defining the Future of Cities