Tom Wright (born 18 September 1957) is a British

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

best known as the designer of the

Burj Al Arab The Burj Al Arab ( ar, برج العرب, ''Arab Tower'') is a luxury hotel located in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Managed by Jumeirah hotel group, it is one of the tallest hotels in the world, although 39% of its total height ...

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

Biography

Born in Shirley, Croydon,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

in 1957, Wright studied at the

Royal Russell School Royal Russell School is an independent school in the Shirley area of Croydon, South London. It is a co-educational day and boarding school. The motto of the school is ''Non sibi sed omnibus'' meaning "Not for one's self but for all". The school ...

and then later at the

Kingston University , mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress" , established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute , type = Public , endowment = £2.3 m (2015) , ...

School of Architecture. Wright qualified as an architect the same year he was accepted as a member of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

in 1983 and went on from there to become a director of the architectural practice Lister Drew Haines Barrow, which was taken over in 1991 by

Atkins Atkins may refer to: Places in the United States * Atkins, Arkansas, a city * Atkins, Iowa, a city * Atkins, Louisiana, an unincorporated community * Atkins, Nebraska, an unincorporated community * Atkins, Virginia, a census-designated place * ...

. Wright became head of Atkins' architecture arm. Wright became design director for the

Jumeirah Beach Jumeira Beach is a white sand beach that is located and named after the Jumeirah district of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on the coast of the Persian Gulf. It stretches along the coast south of the city's historic district to the junction with Th ...

Resort, Dubai, and designed the

(Tower of the Arabs) at the same time. It was conceived in October 1994 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 The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

is with

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "'' ...

is with

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. The hotel is built in the shape of a

dhow Dhow ( ar, داو, translit=dāwa; mr, script=Latn, dāw) is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with settee or sometimes lateen sails, used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Typically spor ...

's (a traditional Arabic ship) sail to reflect Dubai′s seafaring heritage combined with a modern aspect moving forwards into the future. It costs 2,700 dollars on average per night to stay in a room at the hotel. In 2013 Tom Wright, Geku George and Hakim Khennouchi left Atkins to create a new practice called WKK Architects incorporating in July 2013. WKK is also headquartered in Epsom Surrey,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. One of his most recent projects is the co-design of Celebrity Cruises' new ship, Celebrity Edge, which brings a number of innovations to the cruise ship industry

References

External links

Tom Wright websiteWKK website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Tom 1957 births Living people Architects from Surrey People educated at Royal Russell School Alumni of Kingston University