Six designers and design studios have been selected as the winners of the first AlUla Design Award.
The announcement was made during a ceremony on Friday at the Saudi Design Festival, which completes its 20-day run on Saturday.
The winners are Harry Dobbs Design x Rukun, a British and Saudi design studio; Nour Shourbagy and Reem Bashawri, both designers from Saudi Arabia; Lebanese designer Tarek Elkassouf, who works in Australia; Niko Kapa, a Greek designer in Dubai; and Saudi studio Mohamad Baalbaki x AlJoharah AlRasheed.
The winners were selected via open call from 400 applications, with shortlisted designs selected by a jury comprising individuals from the fields of architecture, design, and media. Among the jury are Princess Noura bint Faisal Al Saud, who works at the Saudi Fashion Commission, Summayah Al-Sulaiman, chief executive of the Saudi Architecture and Design Commission, and Cyril Zammit, a designer adviser and consultant working in Dubai.
The open call asked designers and creative practitioners to “interpret the region’s natural and cultural legacies into exceptional products for contemporary audiences”, taking into consideration AlUla’s landscape, archaeology and history.
For his winning proposal, Kapa has designed a collection of accessories drawing from AlUla’s natural landscape, while Bashawri has envisioned a line of luxurious winter shawls and Shourbagy wants to create travel carry-ons and clutches with motifs drawn from the heritage site’s landscapes.
As part of the award, the winners will have their designs produced and presented by the Royal Commission for AlUla.
In a statement, Nora AlDabal, the arts and creative planning director for the Royal Commission, announced that the next edition of the AlUla Design Award will open for submissions “shortly”, asking contemporary designers to “share their inspirational interpretations of AlUla for the world to admire and enjoy.”
Champions League Last 16
Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) v Bayern Munich (GER)
Sporting Lisbon (POR) v Manchester City (ENG)
Benfica (POR) v Ajax (NED)
Chelsea (ENG) v Lille (FRA)
Atletico Madrid (ESP) v Manchester United (ENG)
Villarreal (ESP) v Juventus (ITA)
Inter Milan (ITA) v Liverpool (ENG)
Paris Saint-Germain v Real Madrid (ESP)
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
Hydrogen: Market potential
Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.
"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.
Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.
The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
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