The best interior design and architecture projects as well as design and interior professionals in Qatar will have a chance to gain official recognition and pick up industry accolades with the launch of the ‘Qatar Design Awards’.

Details of the competition – in its first ever edition – were announced yesterday by the organisers of Interiors Qatar (IQ), an exhibition set to take place in Doha from February 2 to 4, 2015.

“IQ will bring the latest and most innovative products and solutions for commercial, residential, hospitality and public sector interiors to Qatar,” an organiser explained.

The Qatar interiors and fit-out market has an estimated value of $0.81bn as of April 2014 with a value expected to double to $1.61bn by the end of the year.

“With the investment in Qatar’s construction projects continuing to rise, there are so many excellent new and upcoming projects and designers working here in Qatar that deserve recognition,” said Anna Canning, event manager.

Open to interior designers, developers, operators and architects, the Qatar Design Awards will reward both projects and individuals located within Qatar; projects eligible for entry can be either completed or under-construction.

From hotels and restaurants to apartments, offices and hospitals, the Qatar Design Awards are open for entries across 12 categories: Corporate Facility; Cultural, Institutional or Educational Facility; Healthcare Facility; Hotel or Resort; Residential Unit; Restaurant or Food and Beverage Outlet; Spa or Recreational Facility; Art Installation; Sustainable Initiative and Landscape.

The Awards will also recognise the excellence of individuals with the title ‘Best Interior Designer’, ‘Best Architect’, ‘Best Young Architect’ and ‘Best Young Designer’. Winners from both project and individual categories will be selected by a judging panel of regional and international experts.

Appropriateness and context, aesthetic and presentation, creativity and innovation, sustainability, adaptability, corporate social responsibility, project vision and innovation are the key elements that the judges will be looking at when selecting the winners.

Participants have until October 26 to register their participation in the awards e-mailing [email protected]. Judging will take place between November 9 to 13, 2014 with shortlisted projects announced on December 7, 2014 and winners on February 1, 2015, the night before the opening of IQ Exhibition.

IQ, which is expected to attract interior designers, architects and design industry professionals from both Qatar and the other Gulf states, is to take place at the Qatar National Convention Centre.

Further information on the competition is available on IQ website at http://www.iqexhibition.com/features-events/qatardesignawards.