HH Sayyid Belarab bin Haitham Al Said presided over the closing ceremony of the ‘Belarab Bin Haitham Award’ for Architectural Design, held at the Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) square here today [Monday, March 15].

The ceremony saw the announcement of top projects that won the Belarab Award and the felicitation of their owners, who received the shield of the award, which is the first of its kind in the Arab world. The entries were produced in digital copies using encrypted smart non-fungible tokens (NFT).

Upon his arrival at the celebration grounds, HH Sayyid Belarab inspected the accompanying exhibition, which showcased the first top projects that were short-listed for the final phase of the design contest.

The ceremony also featured the portrayal of associated facilities and services and a speech delivered by Eng. Fu’aad Abdullah Al Kindi, Head of the Arbitration Committee, who affirmed that the Belarab Award offered strong impetus to architects, designers and engineers to come up with inspiring ideas that reflected the values and goals of the competition.

Al Kindi added that the big turnout of participants, despite time limitations, underscored the great enthusiasm and innate talents of youth—men and women alike—who showed their mettle in shaping out the nation’s future whenever entrusted with the mission.

The ceremony also included interviews with winning participants and the screening of the Belarab Award success story film.

The top three spots were accorded to:

• Maidan Muttrah project, jointly authored by Abdullah Al Bahri, Omaimah Al Hinai and Ahmed Al Jahdhami, won first place.

• Foundation Monument project of Nassir Salam Al Haimli, won second place.

• Oman Future Wing of Tahra Al Bousafi, won third place.

Besides Al Kindi, the Arbitration Committee comprised Dr. Alya Al Hashim, Deputy Chair, and three members, who were Eng. Sultan Al Harthy, Eng. Hamad Al Hinai and Eng. Saif Al Hinai.

The first round of the Belarab Award focused on a specific site, the (Mina) port enclave of Wilayat of Muttrah, Governorate of Muscat, which runs alongside a 7,500 seafront sector of the town where an edifice symbolising the 50-year accomplishments of Oman Renaissance under the leadership of the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, and envisaging the aspirations of Oman Vision 2040 under the leadership of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik.