RIYADH: A trade mission, organized by the US Department of Commerce, in cooperation with the American Institute of Architects, the American Council of Engineering Companies and the Saudi Council of Engineers, arrives in the Kingdom on Monday.

Represented in the mission are 11 US companies related to architecture and engineering services, which will tour till Oct. 22, with stops in Riyadh and Jeddah.

The purpose of the mission is to introduce American architecture and architecture engineering service companies to the Kingdom, identify areas of cooperation, encourage the design and development of sustainable building codes in Saudi Arabia addressing green and smart build solutions, discuss the training and development of future Saudi architects and civil engineers, and develop stronger ties to leading centers of higher education in Saudi Arabia in the engineering sciences and architectural arts.

Trade mission participants include A and A Consultants (transportation engineering), AK Consulting (civil, transportation and urban design), Alcoa (lightweight metal technology for buildings), ARCOM (water/wastewater, infrastructure design, Creative Machines (civil and urban artwork, museums), CTL Group (consulting engineering and materials science), Harding Partners (education/university design, urban design, public buildings), Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates (performing arts centers, universities, public buildings, master planning), Meplan (health care), Stanley Consultants (project design, value engineering, cost estimation, construction management, and project scheduling), and Ted Jacob Engineering (green build, urban buildings, hospitals, education centers, science/technology facilities).

These mission participants reflect the depth of specialization that is found in the field of modern architecture, urban planning, and civil engineering. The years of experience and the national and international awards received by these firms reflect the honor and professionalism that these companies and engineers have bestowed to the architectural arts and sciences.

The architecture mission participants will have direct meetings with Saudi Arabia’s major architecture and civil engineering companies.

In addition, the mission will be meeting with the Saudi Council of Engineers and academic leaders in the architecture and civil engineering disciplines to discuss greater cooperation in developing building codes and standards in the Kingdom, the training of Saudi Arabia’s future architects and engineers, and to showcase the latest in building technology and trends that would be beneficial to the Kingdom as it continues to move forward on housing and other needed infrastructure projects.

The mission, which comes here from the UAE, will next move to Qatar.