Shaun Killa

Driven by design excellence, Shaun Killa is an award-winning architect with international experience spanning over 25 years. Throughout his career, Shaun has focused his design philosophy on sustainability, with an emphasis on innovative low carbon buildings with unique structures, challenging the norms of designing recognizable projects.

Shaun received his Bachelor of Architectural Studies (B.A.S.) and Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) from the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Beyond his built portfolio, Shaun is a RIBA Affiliated member, and participates as part of the advisory committee for University of Sharjah’s School of Architecture, Dubai School of Architecture, and British University in Dubai (BUiD) for the Masters in Environmental Design Program (MSc). Shaun is also a regular participant and speaker at the ‘Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat’ (CTBUH) conferences.

During his time as Director of Architecture at Atkins Middle East, he worked on several high-rise commissions such as the Bahrain World Trade Centre, the world’s first large-scale integration of wind turbines into a building, which contributed to the green building movement in the Middle East.

Other recognized projects include Address Boulevard, Habtoor Towers, Dubai Opera House, Almas Tower, and several large-scale developments in India, Saudi Arabia and China. Shaun has also led masterplans like Cairo Smart City, Dubai Creek Harbour, Dubai Theater District, Emaar Boulevard, Cape Town Waterfront, and several new developments in Riyadh and Jeddah.

Shaun co-founded Killa Design office in 2015, where he worked on signature projects, including the award-winning designs for the Museum of the Future and SRG Tower, the Address Jumeirah Gate Hotel, a W hotel in India, Vida hotel in Marina, Aykon Twin Towers, and the Office of the Future, the first occupied printed building in the world. Shaun is passionately invested in mentoring young talent and creating a harmonic design studio of a talented team which collaboratively assembles ideas that
grow into innovative solutions.