Gulf Construction Online - Al Habtoor sets quality in stone

Grand Hyatt Dubai

Mwafak Marak.

Al Habtoor sets quality in stone

01 April 2003

Dubai-based Al Habtoor Marble notched up yet another successful project with the completion of marble flooring, wall cladding, columns and special furniture in the impressive atrium and public areas of the Grand Hyatt Hotel, according to the company.

The very high quality (and therefore expense) of the raw materials (the majority of which was sourced from Italy), the detailed design and complex engineering required and the sheer size of the components involved combined to make the project one of the most important ever undertaken by the company, says Mohamed Barakat, commercial and marketing manager for the company.

Working from broad concepts provided by the designer, Al Habtoor Marble provided in-house CAD drawings showing the final appearance of the installed marble down to the finest detail, including how the grain of each individual marble slab would be book-matched to its neighbour. This process was complicated further by the need to book-match the curved marble cladding for the 12 m columns in the main lobby.

Once the detailed design was approved, the marble slabs were cut and shaped using Al Habtoor Marble's computerised water jet cutting machines. The final element of the company's one-year commitment on the project was the installation of the various elements, achieved well in advance of the deadlines set by the overall project plan.

The Grand Hyatt project follows a string of prestigious contracts undertaken by Al Habtoor Marble. Projects currently under way in the UAE are a Dh15 million ($4 million) contract for the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai as well as a Dh27 million deal for the Conference Palace Hotel and a Dh12.5 million contract for the new Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) headquarters, both in Abu Dhabi.

From the Sheikh Rashid Terminal at Dubai International Airport and the Airport Free Zone (where the company supplied and installed all marble and granite requirements) to the Burj Al Arab and Emirates Towers hotels (where the company supplied and installed all marble surfaces and more than 45,000 sq m of granite), Al Habtoor leads the way in the UAE market.

However, the company has also broadened its horizons in recent years, having completed projects in Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Germany and the UK. For the Sandy Lane Hotel in Barbados, Al Habtoor was awarded a $4 million contract to design, cut, shape and polish more than 5,000 sq m of marble in Dubai, then air freight it and an 80-member team more than 7,000 miles to the Caribbean for installation.

Al Habtoor Marble was established in 1975 and has two large factories in Dubai - a 160,000 sq m facility in Rashidiya , which comprises the company's offices, workshop and stores - and a new 200,000 sq m yard in Jebel Ali Industrial Area. The company claims to possess the largest stock of marble and granite in the UAE, procured from Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Brazil, India, South Africa, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and China.

The company's engineers discuss each project thoroughly with the client to ensure that designs serve not only the practical purposes for which they are required but also complement the ambience and character of the building as a whole. Once the designs and shop drawings have been finalised on the CAD systems, the marble or granite is cut precisely to the shape and size required using computer-controlled cutting machines and are then polished and finished for installation.

"Marble needs to be skillfully crafted to maintain its natural beauty and therefore every processing phase requires great care and technical expertise," says Mwafak Marak, the contracts manager.

Its well-equipped engineering department consists of competent, dedicated architects, engineers and draughtsmen who use sophisticated computerised CAD programs. Site staff include engineers, masons, fixers, polishers and assistants who work under the close supervision of the company's project managers, ensuring that the materials used are client approved, that site work is carried out according to the project programme and that the work is completed on time.

Dr Kasem Al Arouk, the general manager, attributes the company's success to the stability of this workforce. "Many of our architects, engineers, surveyors and technical foremen have been with the company since 1975, and this unrivalled experience, linked to our responsiveness to client objectives in project management, cost and schedule control and excellence in workmanship has enabled us to achieve a reputation worthy of our prestigious regional and international clients," he says.