Tom Wright

Who is Tom Wright?

Tom Wright is a British architect. His most notable design is the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Born in Croydon, a town in Greater London, United Kingdom on 18 September 1957, Wright studied at the Royal Russell School and then later at the Kingston University School of Architecture. Qualified in 1983, Wright went on to become a director of the architectural practice Lister Drew Haines Barrow, which was taken over in 1991 by Atkins,.

The Burj Al Arab was conceived in October 1993 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 is with Sydney and the Eiffel Tower is with Paris. The hotel is built in the shape of a modern yacht sail to reflect Dubai′s seafaring heritage combined with a modern aspect moving forwards into the future.

Between 1999 and 2013 Tom Wright worked for Atkins as Head of the International Architecture team based in Epsom, London.

On 1 October 2013 Tom Wright left Atkins with two other design directors, Hakim Khennouchi and Geku Kuruvilla, to create WKK a new practice dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in architecture, masterplanning and design.