Senior RMJM architect quits Dubai office
Chris Jones had been at business since 2001
The managing principal of RMJM’s Dubai office is leaving to take up a role at one of the firm’s clients.
Chris Jones joined the business back in 2001 and is credited with bringing in a number of contracts for RMJM in Turkey.
Last week Jones told staff he was quitting the business and BD understands he is joining the government team behind the revamp of the Atasehir district of Istanbul which is rapidly being turned into the financial centre of Turkey’s largest city.
Earlier this year the firm said it was given planning approval for a near 300m tall tower in the area which will include offices and a 30,000sq m shopping mall. RMJM also designed a nearby mixed-use scheme called Varyap Meridian.
Jones was recently asked to look after two key contracts in Bahrain – a new headquarters building for the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance and the National Oil and Gas Authority tower – which had previously been handled by Tony Kettle and Colin Bone out of the firm’s office in Edinburgh.
But Kettle and Bone both left in April forcing RMJM to draft Jones in to look after the Bahrain contracts for its client, local developer Edamah. “He’s fed up with the way things have been recently and he’d had enough,” one source said.
In spring, Dubai design principal Jonathan Knight was himself parachuted in to head up the Hong Kong office following the departure of Nick Cordingley to local firm 10 Design - set up by a number of former RMJM staffers.
RMJM declined to comment.
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Readers' comments (12)
Cue Big John T to offer his pearls of wisdom..
Another departure
No assurance from Peter Morrison that key Dubai RMJM players will not be given marching orders? Is this final straw for managing principal?
NOBODY CARES ANYMORE
What a shame, such a committed and successful project winner feels the need to move on.
What took you so long mate? Good luck with collecting monies the family owes you
I hope i havebt keep you up waiting on my "Pearls of Wisdom"...which is just really opinions on things that BD writes...which is on par with the scotsman. Not very exact or from our "sources".Super investigative Journalism....on par with the scotsman!
Another departure, well good luck to him, as people do come and go in business but again BD highlights the departures and anything they can dish up about RMJM to get it readers....and now even using so called quotes from clients....
Like another comments, we're all passed caring....move onto to something else and i'm sure like most large pratices will find their feet in these tough times and allow other employee's their chance at glory or failure as it them who make or break the big players of design and architecture.
NIGHT ALL.
A few shandies last night Declan?
Are the Scotsman about to publish something big and you haven’t managed to gag them by any chance? – thanks for alerting us all!
Been a while since the Scotsman dished up dirt on these dirties. As Stan says - thanks for the update. You missed one small detail BGT, people seem only to go from this business despite what BD does or does not do. Not that anyone cares anymore, but tell your mates to give up - beyond embarrassing now. You three stooges triple handedly ran a decent company into the ground, can you not taste the dirt?
An Englishman and Irishman and a Scotsman take over an architecture practice........ wait, is this some kind of joke.....