07/ Brian Johnson Raj Patel

DESIGN DIRECTOR & PRINCIPAL

Managing Partner

Since 1975, Brian Johnson has maintained an almost constant presence in the Gulf region, opening the Godwin Austen Johnson headquarters in Dubai in 1991.

Johnson's distinct style and unwavering commitment to design excellence have made him and the firm a preferred partner for many distinguished projects throughout the region. His guiding principles are based on the desire to provide bespoke one-off design solutions that respond to and build on the client's hopes and aspirations to provide a long-lasting, functional, and appealing environment.

Johnson and the design team have had a busy year, completing and handing over ten projects in the last 12 months including ISG School in KSA; Citizens School, and Ladybird Nursery in Dubai; Warner Bros Hotel in Abu Dhabi; DoubleTree by Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island Residences; DoubleTree by Hilton Sharjah; Ramallah School Palestine; and others.

Under his leadership the firm has a number of projects currently under design or under construction like a large cultural project in KSA, Arcadia Global School, Dubai, a large residential project in Riyadh, Serenia Living, Dubai Jumeirah Bay House, Dubai, Sharjah National Park, and more.

According to Johnson: “2023 is already showing signs of being an exciting year ahead for GAJ with new schools, museum, residential and hotel projects all lining up well to take us through the year. Following the significant increase in Dubai’s economy in 2022 it is evident that the market has wholly recovered from COVID-19 issues and this, combined with the changes in world politics, clearly suits Dubai’s resilient and flexible business model.”

Raj Patel, who has over 27 years of international experience, joined Gensler four years ago as Design Director and Principal. He is also the Regional Design Synergy Community Leader and Regional Practice Area Leader for mixed-use and retail centres in Gensler's APME region (Asia Pacific Middle East). He is a registered American Architect with a Master of Architecture (M. Arch.) degree from Yale

University and a Bachelor of Architecture (B. Arch.) from the University of Cincinnati. In the past, Patel has worked on prestigious projects such as Dubai Expo 2020 Village, Kuwait Investment Authority HQ, and Paramount Towers by DAMAC. Today, major Saudi government clients rely on his skills and expertise; and recently he and his team were distinguished by AIA’s Middle East Award for their 1364 project in the Diplomatique Quarter, Riyadh.