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tom wright architect
Tom Wright (born 18 September 1957) is a British architect best known as the designer of the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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Biography
Born in Shirley, Croydon, Greater London in 1957, Wright studied at the Royal Russell School and then later at the Kingston University School of Architecture. He qualified as an architect in 1983. Wright went on to become a director of the architectural practice Lister Drew Haines Barrow, which was taken over in 1991 by Atkins. Wright became head of Atkins' architecture arm.
Wright became design director for the Jumeirah Beach Resort, Dubai, and designed the Burj Al Arab (Tower of the Arabs). It was conceived in October 1993 and finished in 1999. The brief was to create an icon for Dubai: a building that would become synonymous with the place, as the Sydney Opera House is with Sydney and the Eiffel Tower is with Paris. The hotel is built in the shape of a dhow's (a traditional Arabic ship) sail to reflect Dubai′s seafaring heritage combined with a modern aspect moving forwards into the future.
In October 2013 Tom Wright left Atkins with two other design directors, Hakim Khennouchi and Geku Kuruvilla, to create a new practice WKK.
