Some wins are built long before the awards night. On 24 September 2026, the Commercial Interior Design Awards MENA returned to the Joharah Ballroom at Madinat Jumeirah for a landmark twentieth edition, welcoming around 1,000 guests across 35 categories.
Two decades is a real milestone for our industry, so the night already carried extra meaning. It carried even more for us, because our very own Steven Lessels was named Project Manager of the Year at the CID Awards MENA 2026 (Commercial Interior Design).
A Category That Rewards the Quiet Work
Great fit-out projects rest on great project management. Behind every finished space, someone holds the plan, the programme and the hundred moving parts together. That work rarely makes the headlines. Yet it decides whether a project lands on time, on budget and to the standard a client expects.
Project Manager of the Year recognises exactly that. The judges look for leaders who deliver complex projects calmly and consistently. They reward the kind of steady, detail-focused approach that clients come to rely on. Steven brings all of that, and he does it with a warmth that makes him a pleasure to work alongside.
From Shortlist to Stage at the CID Awards MENA 2026
Summertown went into the evening with two of our team in the running. Steven earned his place on the shortlist for Project Manager of the Year, and Adrian Menor was shortlisted for Unsung Hero.
To see two colleagues recognised among the region’s best was a reward in itself. To then watch Steven take the title made it a night to remember. You can look back at how the shortlist came together in our earlier update.
The Projects Behind the Recognition
An award like this reflects years of work, not a single project. Steven’s recent portfolio shows the range. He led our transformation for the Abu Dhabi Investment Council at Al Bahr Tower, a five-floor, 2,748 square metre workplace delivered in 296 days inside a live building. He also guided our fit-out of the Dubai International Financial Centre Innovation Hub, alongside several Aldar projects across Abu Dhabi.
Different sectors, different briefs, one consistent thread runs through them all: Careful planning, clear communication and a refusal to let the details slip. That is what turns an ambitious brief into a space that genuinely works for the people inside it. And it is what clients remember long after handover, when the space is simply doing its job, day after day.
Part of a Strong Year for Summertown
Steven’s award caps a strong run of recognition for the team. Earlier this year, Summertown was named among the region’s leading firms on the Fit-Out Power List 2026, which celebrates the companies shaping commercial interiors across the Middle East. Awards are never the goal in themselves. They are a welcome signal that the way we work, built on sustainability, collaboration and real care for the detail, resonates well beyond our own four walls.
A Win for the Whole Team
We often say that genuine collaboration is a delivery mechanism, and a project manager sits right at the centre of it. When Steven succeeds, our clients feel it in smoother projects and stronger results. So this recognition belongs to everyone who stands alongside him, on site and in the studio.
Congratulations, Steven, and very well deserved. Congratulations too to every nominee and winner who helped make the evening such a brilliant celebration of our industry.
If you are planning a commercial fit-out and want a team that treats your timeline as carefully as its own, we would love to talk. Get in touch with the Summertown team to start the conversation.
