Blog Archives

Hani is an experienced design and management professional with a career spanning 20 years in the Middle East. As a Design Director, he leads a team of designers, managing, inspiring, and directing them to deliver a portfolio of uniquely designed projects. Hani is passionate about creating sustainable, human-centric landscapes that leave a positive impact on communities. He has particular skills in managing large-scale public realm and hospitality projects, and his work has earned him several prestigious awards, recognising the innovation of his schemes and the value added.

Hani believes that a successful design must not only meet functional requirements, but also deliver emotional inspiration and resonate with people on a human level. As a designer, he strives to be human-centric, understanding and responding to the needs and aspirations of the individuals and communities that will use and interact with the final designs. In addition, he is committed to creating sustainable and resilient landscapes that are built to last, where maintenance and upkeep are integrated into the design process from the outset.

Alessandro has 17 years’ experience in architecture and landscape architecture
across Europe, the UK, the Middle East and Asia. At Cracknell, he leads a creative
design team in Dubai on a varied project portfolio.

Alessandro has a strong interest
in urban regeneration and public realm design. He believes a seamless integration
between masterplanning, architecture and landscape design, at each design stage
and at various scales of the design process, has the power to provide context,
culture and climate responsive solutions to create resilient built environments

Gabriel is a chartered landscape architect with a diverse professional background across design, real estate development and business strategy. He has a wealth of GCC market knowledge in placemaking, construction and cost. He brings a hands-on approach to team and portfolio management, bridging between winning and delivering world-class projects while optimising commercial performance and managing client relations.

Gabriel’s process is underpinned by extensive client-side experience where he challenges the paradigm from the viewpoint of ‘the other side of the table’ to enrich the outcome. His passion for analytics and data-driven decisions compels Gabriel to continuously pursue innovation and strategic improvements in operations and workflow.

Goncalo is an impassioned and creative landscape architect with over 19 years’ experience across Europe and the Middle East. As a Director at Cracknell, he is an active and hands-on team leader for the design and project management of significant developments across a varied mix of sectors, scales and contexts especially in tourism and seafront projects & urban design and masterplanning.

Goncalo is deeply committed to delivering creative, project-tailored design solutions that are authentic, unique, sustainable, and meaningful responses to the context.

Ian has 26 years’ experience, 24 in the Middle East, working in varied roles on a range
of landscape projects at all stages of the design and delivery process. He spent 5 years
working as a landscape consultant on public realm for the Abu Dhabi City Municipality.

At Cracknell, having been Team Leader of one of the Dubai-based design units, he now
oversees the company’s project management of landscape projects globally. Passionate
about creating usable, responsive public places that improve the lives of end users, he is an
experienced speaker and mentor for UK Landscape Institute pathway candidates.

Passionate about positioning people at the heart of the company, Sarah integrates the HR function within the overall business strategy to support organisational growth and development. She enjoys working with diverse multi-cultural teams and harnessing the advantages of the different views they bring to the company.

Sarah believes it is essential to build a company people want to be part of by creating a supportive culture of inclusion, collaboration, teamwork and respect, and recognising the importance of the work/life balance. Emotional intelligence is also a particular area of interest; she works with people to build skills in this area to help them motivate, inspire and engage people to create extraordinary design.

Fairly new to the design industry, Sarah enjoys working with such a talented creative team and bringing her HR expertise to Cracknell’s global offices.

Sarah qualified in New Zealand and has 20+ years’ experience as an HR professional in the UAE across various industries.

Ahmed has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and 30 years’ experience in Government Affairs in the United Arab Emirates. As an Emirate, using his network of local connections and extensive knowledge of global legal and political affairs, he supports and guides Cracknell on its business practices within the context of UAE legislation and regulations.

Over the course of his twenty years with Cracknell, Ahmed has contributed to the company’s continued success by supporting the company’s engagement with UAE policies, monitoring and investigating regulatory and legislative developments and proactively working with the management team to ensure that the company’s interests are considered and protected.

Colleen has over 30 years’ experience in planting design and specification from diverse regions of the world. She has been instrumental in expanding the plant typologies used in the MENA regions, challenging local standards and adding ecological and resilience value.

Colleen is passionate about introducing and working with a native/indigenous plant palette and encourages local nurseries to propagate & stock water-wise native plants. With her knowledge of tropical, arid and temperate species, she brings each project to life, creating memorable, dramatic landscapes with distinct character and sense of place.

Eric is an architect with over 30 years’ experience, 16 years in the Middle East. As a Senior Director at Cracknell his role includes oversight of Project Management, Quality Assurance and Commercial Operations ensuring that the bidding, contract administration, risk management and quality assurance systems for the delivery of all projects are coordinated and well integrated.

Eric brings a wealth of experience, attention to detail and a passion for delivering projects in the best ways possible supporting our design teams and providing our clients with the confidence that their projects are being delivered efficiently to the highest standards.