Muscat: Belarab bin Haitham Award (BHA) for Architectural Design has received 149 project ideas from participants of the second edition of the award.
“We have received 149 completed project ideas to compete in the second round of the award, which aims to design the Museum of Maritime History in the Wilayat of Sur in Al Sharqiyah South Governorate. Of these 84 individual entries and 65 group entries met the conditions of the award,” the official statement said.
The award jury committee is currently studying the submitted ideas to select 30 projects, which will be trimmed down to 10 in the final state.
The second edition of the BHA is dedicated to designs depicting the Maritime History Museum, which occupies an area of 14,154 sqm in the Wilayat of Sur, South A’Sharqiyah Governorate. The entries are received via the award’s website (www.bha.om).
Entries’ reception constitutes the first stage of the award. It requires the contestants to attach designs illustrated by images and a brief account of the project. The next stage is sorting, after which the arbitration committee selects the best 30 projects and notifies the participating teams of comments that will help them improve their projects. In the final stage, the best 10 projects are shortlisted for the top places in the BHA’s second edition.
Selection criteria mandate that the designs highlight technical aspects of the projects, their applicability for construction, their compatibility with international projects in the museum’s sector, and the project’s environmental, social and economic sustainability, according to the jury.
The BHA is up for grabs by Omanis aged not more than 35 years—from among those specialized in architectural design, urban planning, and architecture. The contestants can participate as individuals or in three-member groups.
The second edition of BHA was launched on 10 October 2022. The selection of the Maritime History Museum to form the topic of the award’s second edition was chosen based on the orders of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, with the aim of celebrating and documenting Omani maritime glories and handing them down to future generations. The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism will implement the winning project.
