About the President

In 1987, Mr. Qaddumi founded The Arab Architects in Amman, Jordan and currently serves as its President and Principal in Charge. The concept of the Arab Architects was to form a multi-disciplinary design firm that is quality oriented, value driven, and incorporates the rich cultural, art, and design influences of the Arab world into modern design. Specifically, doing so by using state-of-the-art design techniques and methodologies, which at that time, were not commonly used by design and engineering firms in the MENA region.

As technical advisor to the ruler of Qatar (1974-1987), as well as the director of the country’s Technical Office during that same period, Mr. Qaddumi was involved in the development of Qatar at several levels and in a wide range of projects. At the strategic planning level, Mr. Qaddumi was involved in developing national and regional plans for the country as well as defining strategies for their implementation. He was also involved in reviewing and evaluating the national budget for physical development.

Working with world class planners from around the world, Mr. Qaddumi also directed the work that produced the plans for the capital city of Doha and the industrial city of Um Said. During this period, a great deal of effort was directed towards the development of building regulations and standards for Qatar.

At the project management level, Mr. Qaddumis duties as Head of the Technical Office included the design and construction management of a large number of prestigious projects that continue to be outstanding architectural landmarks in Qatar. These include the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Complex in West Bay, the National Theatre, the Doha Corniche, the University of Qatar, Hamad General Hospital, the Doha Palace and several other ministerial and governmental complexes. Such large-scale projects required the coordination and supervision of the work of an extensive team of project managers, consultants and contractors from various parts of the world.

Prior to that, Mr. Qaddumi gained extensive experience from a number of large international projects during his employment with the engineering firm Brown & Root (1967-1974), where he worked on the development and application of computerization of engineering processes at the company.

Before joining Brown & Root, Mr. Qaddumi finished his studies at the University of Texas with a Masters degree in Architectural Engineering and a Bachelors degree in Economics. His thesis entitled The Systems Approach and Computer-Aided Applications in the Building Industry was researched with and based upon the work of leading architectural firms in Houston, Texas (1965-1967).Mr. Qaddumi is also the Founder and on the Board of Directors of The Interfield Group, an international consulting firm based in Houston, Texas