Gulf Construction Online

UAE Focus

Update

01 October 2014

Turner wins Burj 2020 deal

LEADING US construction company Turner has won a contract from Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) to project manage its upcoming Burj 2020 District development in Dubai.

The Burj 2020 District is being constructed as a result of customer demand, in particular from large regional corporates, multinationals and multi-business entities, and aims to provide companies with a commercial property offering which is unique to the Dubai marketplace.

The development will also be home to the world’s tallest commercial tower which was named Burj 2020 in honour of Dubai’s Expo 2020 win.

The key benefits include single ownership and contiguous Grade A commercial office space in the heart of Dubai.

DMCC executive chairman Ahmed Bin Sulayem said: “By appointing experienced project managers such as Turner we are laying strong foundations for delivering the Burj 2020 District which will further drive sustainable growth for Dubai.”

Hill wins $51m Dubai Parks deal

HILL International has received a contract in connection with Phase One of the Dubai Parks development in Dubai.

The two-year show and ride construction management consultancy services contract from Meraas Leisure and Entertainment has an estimated value to Hill of Dh186.9 million ($50.9 million).

The Dh9.5-billion ($2.6 billion) Dubai Parks will be a 30-million-sq-ft leisure complex, which will feature numerous theme parks with hotels, retail, dining and entertainment facilities in the Jebel Ali region as well as an inner-city family entertainment centre with retail and dining facilities in the Satwa region of Dubai.

Mohammed Al Rais, senior vice-president and managing director (Middle East) for Hill’s Project Management Group, said: “We are honoured to be part of such an important development that will have a significant impact on tourism and the local economy.”

Expo 2020 enters design stage

MASTER planning for the Dubai Expo 2020 venue at the Dubai Trade Centre in Jebel Ali is progressing steadily and has entered the design stage.

While site readiness activity is under way, construction will begin after approval is received from the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) by November next year. The 438-hectare site includes a dedicated 150-hectare expo area and an additional surrounding residential, hospitality and logistics zone.

The work is being undertaken by a consortium made up of HOK, a leading firm of architects and urban planners, and Arup, infrastructure experts and engineering partners, which continues its association with the project from the successful bid phase.

Dubai housing hits record peaks

AN ECONOMIC rebound has catapulted house prices and rents in Dubai to Manhattan-like peaks, forcing increasing numbers of residents to move to its cheaper outskirts or even to consider returning home abroad, said the city’s top property website Dubizzle.

Rents fell one per cent in the third quarter after 10 straight quarters of price rises, property consultants CBRE reported. But the sustained cost of living surge has driven hundreds of families to relocate to smaller homes on the fringes of the opulent, high-rise urban canyon that soars out of empty desert.

Research by Dubizzle showed rents and house prices in Dubai’s prime locations now match those in Manhattan, US. “We’re talking about $2,000 to $3,000 (a month) for a rental in Manhattan,” said Ann Boothello, the property product marketing manager at Dubizzle.

Work starts on nuclear plant unit

THE Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) has achieved yet another milestone in the construction of the UAE’s first nuclear energy plant by pouring the safety concrete for the reactor containment building for Unit Three.

This follows the receipt of the construction licence for units Three and Four from the Federal Authority of Nuclear Regulation. More than 1,954 cubic-yards of concrete were poured during a concrete pouring ceremony attended by senior Enec and officials of Korea Electric Power Company (Kepco), the contractor on the project.

Construction of the building will be completed over the next three years and Unit Three is on track to enter commercial operations by 2019.

“The concrete pouring is yet another key accomplishment for Enec and the UAE’s peaceful nuclear energy programme,” said Mohamed Al Hammadi, CEO of Enec. “Enec is working hard to reach its construction targets on schedule and deliver safe, efficient and reliable nuclear energy to the UAE starting by 2017.”

Aubrilam launches outdoor range

AUBRILAM, a French site solutions designer, has launched in Dubai new products designed for outdoor spaces. The collections have been categorised as “pure space”, reflecting operational and functional excellence, and “smart space”, highlighting intelligence and innovation.

The company, which manufactures poles, lighting points, urban furniture, terrace furniture, and pedestrian and car shelters, said the collections are offered along with a package of services such as site analysis, colour-coding advice, installation and worksite follow-up all the way through to post-installation maintenance.

Aubrilam has a presence in the region through its local partner Gargash Lighting System and aims to set up an industrial facility which will offer products “designed in France and made in UAE”.

DI subsidiaries secure orders

DUBAI Investments (DI) said 18 of its subsidiaries including Glass, Emirates Building Systems and Dubai Cranes have won a several contracts across the region.

Among the notable projects are glass orders for Dubai Design, Habtoor Hotel, Masdar’s office in Dubai, and Credit Lebanese’s headquarters in Beirut, steel structures for Riyadh Public Transport, three petrochemical projects for Saudi Aramco, end-to-end steel building solutions for Fifa 2022 World Cup stadiums in Qatar, petrochemical projects in Oman as well as residential and airport developments in the UAE, and overhead crane kits for projects with Emirates Aluminium (Emal), Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) and Dewa (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority).

Trauma centre expansion on track

THE expansion of the Trauma and Emergency Centre of Dubai’s Rashid Hospital will be completed by July next year, according to a top Dubai Health Authority (DHA) official.

The Dh161-million ($43.8 million) expansion of the trauma centre is the first phase of the Rashid Hospital masterplan announced by the DHA in May 2013.

Essa Al Maidoor, director-general of the DHA, said the expansion will add 160 beds.

Construction work on the project began in June this year, using a pre-engineering concept and the project will be completed by July next year, he added.

The DHA’s Dh3-billion ($816.7 million) masterplan includes six new specialised health centres, one four-star and another five-star hotel, villas and flats for staff accommodation, a mosque, lake front and landscaping and open spaces for children and families. Also, the main hospital will be rebuilt and will have three towers with 900 beds.

New parking system marketed

OMAN’S Ipark in association with Simmatec Korea is marketing a new-age automated parking system in the UAE.

The automated multilayer parking system enables parking and retrieving of cars using a computerised system that controls the movements of pallets, lifts and carriers. When a motorist leaves the car at the entrance of the multilayer parking lot, the system transports the vehicle horizontally or vertically to a designated slot. A similar operation handles retrieval too.

“We have received very good response from builders and developers in the UAE,” said Shabbir Boriywala, chairman of Ipark. “In a conventional multi-storey car park more than 30 per cent of the space is wasted in the form of driveways, staircases, lift shafts and also the space required between two cars. By using our system, one gets 30 per cent more parking space, he added.

Ipark is offering a package of five solutions – stacker systems, puzzle system, rotary system, tower system and cart type system – for cars.

FM services market to hit $5.4bn

THE boom in construction projects in the UAE could drive the facilities management (FM) services market to approximately Dh20 billion ($5.4 billion) per annum by next year, said an industry expert.

The statistics included FM services that ranged from cleaning services, pest control, office services, landscaping, waste management and building management systems with the exclusion of security services. An average of 60 per cent of the industries in the UAE may outsource their FM requirements, said Nigel Hall, the newly appointed UAE director of Outsource Service in G4S, a leading security service provider in the emirates.

Dubai-based Hall said that the emirates’ on-going delivery of new commercial and residential buildings, coupled with an increasing demand for higher levels of service provision, will see the industry continue to grow healthily into the next decade.

Jumeirah Corniche project on target

DUBAI’S Road and Transport Authority (RTA) has completed Phase Two of the 7-km-long Jumeirah Corniche development, taking the project’s rate of completion to 77 per cent.

The completed Phase Two, spanning 2.5 km, has helped extend the beach side open to the public to 4.5 km and was scheduled to open to the public last month.

The Jumeirah Corniche Development project comprises a 5-m-wide walk, 4-m-wide jogging track, and resting areas including retail kiosks, shaded benches overlooking the beach as well as public and health amenities.

Final launch of the project is expected in October next year, according to Maitha bin Udai, CEO of the RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency.

Asteco opens new Dubai office

ASTECO, a leading real estate company in the Middle East, has opened a new corporate office at the Rolex Tower in Dubai.

The company has registered a number of notable commercial milestones with a 30-year pedigree and has a high-profile client list covering asset management, sales, leasing, valuation and advisory, sales management and owner associations.

John Stevens, managing director, said: “With Asteco set to celebrate 30 years of business in the Middle East in 2015, this was a calculated move designed to bring the team together under one roof as we embark on our next phase of development with the imminent launch of our franchise model in the region.”

The company currently manages a total of 350 developments with 7,500 units in three countries and has sold 13 million sq ft of projects, which account for 6,814 units purchased by 91 nationalities.