The “Silent Walls House” project, designed by Adjunct Professor Thaer Qubba in collaboration with architect Tala Shalbayeh, a 2018 graduate of the School of Architecture and the Built Environment at the German Jordanian University (GJU), won first place in the 2025 Arab Architects Awards in Cairo in the Private Residence category.
Organized by the Arab Architects Association under the Arab Engineers Union, the 2025 edition of the awards—the third cycle—saw the participation of 183 projects submitted by 99 entrants from Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. Three projects were shortlisted for each category, and after a thorough evaluation by a prestigious jury in Cairo, the Silent Walls House project secured first place following strong competition with two projects from Lebanon.
Engineer Thaer Qubba expressed his gratitude to the festival’s organizing committee, the Arab Architects Association, and the Arab Engineers Union, while praising the jury for their efforts in maintaining a high standard befitting Arab architects. Qubba emphasized the responsibility he felt as their project was the only one from Jordan on the shortlist, noting the jury’s appreciation for the project’s bold concept, solid architecture, and deep design thinking.
The project’s name, “Silent Walls House,” derives from the concept of designing a home without exterior windows, directing the building instead towards diverse interior courtyards to maximize privacy in a contemporary style. The project’s design coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlighted the importance of gardens and outdoor spaces in homes, resulting in lively, protected, and tranquil courtyard environments, separated from the outside world.
This achievement reflects the exceptional quality of the faculty and alumni of GJU’s School of Architecture and the Built Environment, following in the footsteps of Professor Rami Daher, a faculty member who previously won this award in earlier editions.