About

Shaun Killa studied architecture at the University of Cape Town and worked with several award winning architectural firms in Cape Town. Shaun was involved in designing masterplans, waterfront developments and stadia before he moved to Dubai in 1998 and joined Atkins working on the Burj Al Arab.

In 2000 he became Design Director and lead Atkins Dubai by winning multiple international competitions such as 21st Century Tower, Chelsea Tower, Millennium Tower and Al Mas Tower (370m). His design specialisation is in complex mixed use projects, hospitality, high-rise towers and his passion for sustainability design led him to design the Bahrain World Trade Centre. This project is the world’s first large scale integration of wind turbines on a building and help initiate the green building movement in the Middle East.

Over the years Killa focused his design philosophy on innovative low carbon buildings and challenged the norms to create timeless projects. Examples such as Lighthouse Tower (400m), Address Boulevard (350m), Habtoor Towers, Dubai Opera House, and several large developments in India, Saudi Arabia and China. Killa also lead masterplans such as Cairo Smart City, Dubai Promenade, Cape Town Waterfront 2030, and several new cities in Riyadh and Jeddah.

In 2013 he won Emaar’s Dubai Creek Harbour masterplan which assisted in generating over 20 years of future development for the developer. During this period Shaun won several global awards such as LEAF, Holcim, ENR and CTBUH.

In 2015 Shaun Killa left Atkins and created Killa Design. Here he has won multiple international commissions such as Museum of the Future, Address Jumeriah Gate (twin 77 St), W Hotel Mumbai, Vida Marina. These also include innovative buildings such as the Office of the Future, the first occupied printed building in the world, and SRG Tower which is a 111st, 470m ultra-green super high-rise tower in Dubai.

Killa Design has a won Autodesk’s AEC global buildings award and several Middle East Architectural awards within a few years of opening. Shaun Killa was voted #1 Architect power list in the ME Architect magazine for 2017
Killa participates on the advisory committees of architectural universities, regularly speaks at global conferences, enjoys mentoring talent and inspiring others to innovate and excel.

Shaun Killa studied architecture at the University of Cape Town and worked with several award winning architectural firms in Cape Town. Shaun was involved in designing masterplans, waterfront developments and stadia before he moved to Dubai in 1998 and joined Atkins working on the Burj Al Arab.

In 2000 he became Design Director and lead Atkins Dubai by winning multiple international competitions such as 21st Century Tower, Chelsea Tower, Millennium Tower and Al Mas Tower (370m). His design specialisation is in complex mixed use projects, hospitality, high-rise towers and his passion for sustainability design led him to design the Bahrain World Trade Centre. This project is the world’s first large scale integration of wind turbines on a building and help initiate the green building movement in the Middle East.

Over the years Killa focused his design philosophy on innovative low carbon…

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