The 120-m-long stainless-steel sculpture sprawls in front of Dubai Chamber of Commerce headquarters building.
Grankraft fabricates bespoke masterpieces
From glistening orbs that will sit along the Red Sea to the longest stainless steel sculpture in the region, Grankraft Industries says it continues its mission to fabricate bespoke metal structures and enhance the visual appeal of some of the landmark projects under way in the region.
01 July 2023
Some of the visually intriguing steel and stainless steel structures for prestigious developments in the region are taking shape within the UAE facilities of Grankraft, a specialist in 3D seamless stainless steel/aluminium facades, bespoke architectural metal and glazing works and free-standing structures.
These include the futuristic orbs that form villas at a resort and feature roofing/shade structures at a hospitality facility within one of the region’s most ambitious regenerative tourism projects along the Red Sea; large canopies for a mixed-use development in Madinah; in addition to projects that Grankraft is involved in with leading architects for Neom, the $500-billion futuristic city, and the AlUla archaeological, cultural and touristic destination.
This follows the recent completion in Dubai of what is believed to be the longest stainless-steel sculpture in the Middle East. The 120-m-long structure (true length is 190 m including curvature) sprawls majestically in front of Dubai Chamber of Commerce headquarters building.
“Known as the Ribbon Sculpture, which is designed to inspire the mind, the 46-ton structure has a stainless steel mirror finish and was engineered, manufactured and installed by Grankraft,” Thomas Joseph, Group Business Development Director, Grankraft, tells Gulf Construction.
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The futuristic orbs for Sheybarah Island resort were fabricated at Grankraft’s Hamriyah facility. |
The structure was designed by Dar Al Handasah. It comprises 316L special grade stainless steel procured from the world’s leading stainless-steel manufacturer Outokumpu, Finland. Grankraft is led by chairman George Jose and CEO Suhaila Al Najjar.
Commenting on the challenges in creating and installing the structure, Joseph says: “Size was the challenge, given its true length is almost 190 m including curvature. Another challenge was the orientation change at different locations and the 5-6 m cantilevered areas. We used special rolling and bending machines to achieve the required curvature and the welding was done by robots.”
Given that the sculpture has a mirror finish, it does not require any surface treatment, he points out.
Meanwhile, following its success in the fabrication of 73 shiny, space-age pods that form overwater and beach villas at a resort on Sheybarah Island, Grankraft has clinched the deal to produce 70 feature roof/shade structures for various assets of the Hotel Central Zone 3 (HC3) project at Shura Island. These structures will protect diverse facilities ranging from villas to restaurants, and the arrival hub to the leisure club. It will also fabricate landscape and buggy shades and canopies.
Grankraft is responsible for producing bespoke feature 3D-shaped canopies and decorative roofing structures for each of these assets, which comprise a combination of curved structural steel, aluminium standing seam, pebble ballast roofing, decorated fabric shades, and an innovative product, 3D curved aluminium nosing with GRC finish.
“Design and engineering of mock-ups is under way and the project is due for completion by end of 2024,” he says.
Work in the Sheybarah Island resort has involved fabrication and delivery of 73 villas and other key buildings for common areas such as the reception lobby and specialty restaurants. Of the 73 villas, 38 are overwater villas built on piles and the rest are beach villas. These villas are produced in different sizes. The one-bedroom villas are 18 m in diameter, the two-bedroom villas are 22 m in diameter. The larger villas, such as the three-bedroom units, are 26 m in diameter.
The approach to the façade design has been to minimise visual impact, with each villa having 3D curved or ellipsoidal polished seamless stainless-steel cladding that reflects the water, the sky, and the reef with the rich sea life below. This material is the key feature of the project and is used in various locations such as the lobby, specialty restaurants, water and beach villas.
Joseph comments: “Everything about this design is unique, especially the futuristic ellipsoid shape and the polished stainless finish that reflects the pristine environment. Grade 316L stainless steel is used for the exterior façade and its ribs. The primary structure is manufactured from painted structural steel.”
He points out that offsite manufacturing was central to ensuring that the environment near the resort remains largely untouched. As the villas have been designed to meet LEED Platinum standards, Grankraft has taken several measures to ensure compliance.
Providing an update on the progress of work on the Sheybarah Island resort, Joseph says, a total of 36 of these pods have been delivered to site, of which 30 have already been installed. The remaining are getting ready for delivery at Grankraft’s facility at Hamriyah.
Among other projects, GKI successfully completed architectural metal works in Zahia City Centre, Sharjah in 2021. For the development, 4,500 sq m of 120-m-long wave-formed steel canopy was built with perforated infill panels.
“The challenge and innovation involved was to reduce the number of columns. Here, bespoke scaffolding was made for erection since it was built on top of the basement,” he explains.
As a specialist contractor in bespoke architectural metal and glazing works, Grankraft has expanded its scope of services with civil, MEP and fit-out works divisions coming under one roof to provide one-stop solutions.
Grankraft is registered in Saudi Arabia where it has a strong market presence working for prestigious clients like Red Sea Global, Seven, Neom and other leading contractors.
Established in 2000 as an engineering and manufacturing company specialising in the creation of bespoke structures, architectural glass, and metal works, Grankraft can take on challenging and complex jobs, and is specialised in free-standing structures, large canopies, seamless 3D metal and stainless-steel facades, large stainless steel sculptures and skylights.
Today, Grankraft has grown to over 800 team members, with six production facilities and a strong market presence across the GCC with footprints in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
