The project—the new hub of Oman Telecommunications Co., or Omantel, the top telecommunications company in Oman—includes as a major feature a stainless-steel woven mesh “shroud” that encircles the building on its exterior and wraps around its six-story atrium. The cladding has “complex contoured and inclined faceted planes,” says the project’s submission for the ENR awards competition. The design of the steel exterior evokes the massar, a type of flowing and overlapping cloth headdress worn in Oman and nearby countries. 

The stainless-steel mesh also is one example of the project’s emphasis on sustainability. In addition, the new headquarters includes solar panels on the exterior and has water-saving features. It received a LEED Platinum certification, one of the first projects in Oman to achieve that designation. The project also reported no lost-time injuries in more than 10 million work-hours.