A regional meeting of the Qatar Chapter of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat was held in Doha, Qatar on 2 October. The event was held at Mövenpick Tower & Suites, and sponsored by Samsung C&T Corporation, one of the largest contractors in the world and builders of numerous supertall towers. More than 60 people were in attendance.

Prior to the start of the meeting, guests were able to review some of the posters, books, and other publications from CTBUH that were on display, and they also took the opportunity to socialize and network with each other.

CTBUH Country Representative for Qatar, Bill Maibusch, opened the meeting by welcoming all. During the introduction, he reported on some of the recent events and activities of CTBUH, including the international conference held this past June in London, UK titled “Height and Heritage –The Unique Challenge of Building Tall in Historic Cities.”

Mr. Maibusch also discussedthe increasing trend in tall building design called Vanity Height, which is the difference in height between last occupiable floor and the architectural top of the building. Many of the supertall towers recently built or currently under construction have a noticeable portion, sometimes over 1/3, of their overall calculated height that includes vanity height.

The main speaker was Ahmad Abdelrazaq, CTBUH Advisory Board member and Samsung’s Senior Executive Vice President / Head of their Highrise and Complex Building Division. Mr. Abdelrazaq had traveled to Qatar from Korea to speak at the meeting. The title of his presentation was,“Technological Advances in Tall and Complex Building Design and Construction: Case Studies & Best Practices”.

He began his presentation with some information about the global capabilities of Samsung C&T Corporation in terms of engineering, design, and construction. He highlighted the engineering and planning that went into the construction of Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE. His presentation also included a discussion of the ongoing structural health monitoring through the use of special measuring devices implanted into the structure of the world’s tallest building, and the importance to consider this in other supertall towers being designed and constructed.

The meeting then closed with a review of other upcoming events in CTBUH, including the 12th Annual Awards Symposium, Ceremony, and Dinner to be held in Chicago this coming November, and the next international conference, to be held in Shanghai, China in September 2014, and titled “Future Cities: Towards Sustainable Vertical Urbanism.”

Following the meeting, there was food and beverages served in the reception area. This was an opportunity for the professionals who attended the meeting and presentation to continueto socialize and network witheach other. The next CTBUH Qatar regional meeting is planned for January 2014.