London-based studio Weston Williams+Partners (WW+P) beat out Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) and others to win the commission for Cairo’s “Science City.” To be officially known as the “6th of October City,” the project will cover 1,345,490 square feet is located 20 miles west of Cairo’s city center.

The city will be a national institute for scientific innovation. Run by the Library of Alexandria institution, the competition’s jury panel included American architect Michael Sorkin. Its brief called for “a set of buildings and spaces that will be inspiring inside and out, and express a particular vision of the quest for knowledge and the pursuit of science.”

In a press release, Chris Williamson, one of the Founders of WW+P said: “We are proud to have won. Needless to say that Egypt has a unique cultural heritage, but we were also attracted by the ambition of the project, clearly expressed through the brief. We look forward to developing the design and creating something worthy for Egypt’s future generations.”

Zaha Hadid Architects, meanwhile, came third in the competition. Here are the results, courtesy of Building Design“

1: Weston Williamson & Partners, U.K.
2: Ngiom Partnership, Malaysia
3: Zaha Hadid Architects, U.K.
4: Gansam Architects, Korea

Honourable mention: Petras Architecture & XCON Housos, Greece
Honourable mention: Joaquim Caetano de Lima Filho, Daniel Henrique Ribeiro, Giliarde Silva, Guilherme Oliveira, Raissa Shizue and Lucas Moretti (Brazil)
Honourable mention: Francisco Jorquera, Spain
Honourable mention: Whitespace Architects, Dubai