Gulf Construction Online - Consultant offers an integrated approach

Al Ain Mall

Consultant offers an integrated approach

01 November 2001

Khatib & Alami, a multi-disciplinary architectural and engineering consultancy company, says it offers clients an integrated approach towards the ever-increasing need for efficient and reliable project delivery systems.

The firm has enjoyed a sound international standing in its area of expertise, being continuously ranked since 1984 among the top 100 international design firms as published by Engineering News Record (ENR)

The company was established in 1963 in Beirut, Lebanon. It became a corporation last year when eight directors joined Prof Mounir El Khatib and Dr Zuhair Alami as their partners.

With more than 1,000 employees, the company operates in various countries including the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Syria and Tunisia.

Khatib & Alami plans to expand to other Arab countries and will soon be opening an office in Morocco.

Services offered by the firm are exclusively restricted to consulting activities, the company points out.

Its extensive services include preparation of feasibility studies, preliminary designs, detailed working drawings, technical specifications, bills of quantities, conditions of contracts, analysis of tenders, construction management, supervision of construction, preparation of interim and final payments, control of materials testing, plant utilisation and cost control, provisional and final take-over of projects, system design and integration, designing and building databases, application design and development, simulation and modeling.

The firm provides its consultancy services in architectural and planning, structural, electrical, mechanical, transportation, environmental, industrial and process engineering fields, geographic information systems (GIS) and information technology (IT).

The company has been quick to implement quality control measures in its operations. In 1996, its Saudi branch obtained the ISO 9001 certification with Khatib & Alami UAE following suit in 1998 and the Lebanon head office in 2000.

The company says it handles mainly landmark/specialised projects. Its current projects include Fairmont Hotel on Dubai's Shaikh Zayed Road.

Other major projects in the UAE include Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc) headquarters, Eppco headquarters, Al Bustan Hotel, Al Reem Tower Creek Tower (all in Dubai), Adma-Opco and Adgas headquarters and Shaikha Mariama Tower (Abu Dhabi), Al Sayegh office building, Salem Abdullah Tower and Sharjah Cement Company (Sharjah).

Elsewhere, it has been involved in projects such as the Khatib & Alami headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon and the Holiday Inn in Bahrain in addition to many schools and hospital projects in the region.