Dar Al-Handasah Consultants (Shair and Partners; Arabic: دار الهندسة) is a privately owned international consulting company active in engineering, architecture, planning, environmental consulting, project and construction management, facilities management, and economics, founded in 1956. Its principal design offices and technical support facilities are located in Beirut, Lebanon; Cairo, Egypt; London, United Kingdom; Warsaw, Poland; Pune, India; and Amman, Jordan, with 46 local branch offices located in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
Over the years, Dar has provided consultancy services to more than 950 clients in 60 countries and has handled over 4,000 projects involving a collective investment of over US$300 billion (construction costs for executed projects, excluding planning projects). With a permanent staff of 9,250 (including 6,300 professionally qualified engineers; architects; town planners; environmentalists; economists; finance, marketing and management specialists; quantity surveyors; and others) and over 4,000 successfully completed projects, Dar Al-Handasah does work in a wide range of engineering fields.[2]
History
Dar Al-Handasah was established in November 1956, and given the Arabic name دار الهندسة Dar Al-Handasah meaning "the house of engineering". It was founded by Kamal Shair (1930–2008) and Dr. Nazih Taleb (1928–2020) and three fellow professors in Engineering from the American University of Beirut (AUB) Engineering School.[3] Later it was named Dar Al-Handasah Shair and Partners.
In 1986, the company acquired the United States-based design firm of Perkins and Will.[4]
