Architect takes on airport projects despite signing climate manifesto

Architect takes on airport projects despite signing climate manifesto

Having called for an 'urgent need for action' on the environment, Norman Foster's design firm is now involved in two Saudi schemes

Norman Foster's design firm has been criticised by climate-concerned architects for its links to the Saudi ventures.

Photograph: Ander Gillenea/AFP via Getty Images

One of Britain's most famous architects is under fire for agreeing to design an airport and terminal in Saudi Arabia despite signing a climate emergency manifesto that called for an "urgent need for action“ on climate change.

Norman Foster's design firm, Foster and Partners, was one of the founding signatories of the profession's Architects Declare manifesto last year. However, The Architects' Journal last week revealed that several new Foster and Partners projects in Saudi Arabia have caused controversy in the profession over their links to the aviation industry.

Last year the practice won the design contract for an airport for a luxury resort, known as the Red Sea Project, in Saudi Arabia. And last month it was also revealed that it had put forward a proposal to build a terminal and control tower to serve a similar project: the Amaala luxury resort.

Amaala is described as being 'akin to a private members' club' and is currently being built on a 400,000