Gulf Construction Online - Seaside paradise

Barr Al Jissah Resort

The resort is due for completion by the end of this year.

Seaside paradise

Nestled against a backdrop of majestic mountains and the blue sea, Oman’s largest resort complex with three new hotels is set to open by the year-end, offering the holiday maker a unique destination in the region. Gulf Construction was on site to get a first-hand report on the work under way at the charming location.

01 March 2005

ADRIVE up the steep mountains10 km south of Muscat is a remarkable experience in itself but as one descends to the shore, the eye espies a project of breathtaking proportions unfolding along the shore of the Gulf of Oman.

The resort, known as Shangri La Barr Al Jissah Resort, is now structurally complete and sits nestled against a backdrop of spectacular mountains on three sides with the azure blue sea in front. The site was a hive of activity with some 2,600 workers on site – at the peak of construction – when Gulf Construction visited it last month.
A tour of the development – which cost RO56 million ($145 million) to build – indicates that the project continues to evolve with new innovative features being incorporated through the ideas of a band of dedicated workers who are determined to make the resort a truly unique one in the region.
Chris Harris – country manager of Turner Construction International, the project manager for the development – is highly enthused by the project that has brought with it enormous challenges, which the company and the professional team behind it have surmounted and tackled efficiently.
The project is owned by the Zubair Corporation (60 per cent) and the Omani government (40 per cent).
“From the very outset the owner has set out selecting the best team to carry out its project, right from a very good concept planner to a reputable operator,” says Harris. “The client has refused to cut corners, has been keenly environmentally aware and knows clearly what it wants.”
The resort will bring on the market a total of 680 luxury rooms and suites in three separate hotels when it opens in a phased manner by the end of this year. Each of these hotels is said to be larger than any existing facility in the Sultanate. Set upon 500,000 sq m of beautiful beachfront, the complex also includes a modern spa and health club, meeting and banquet facilities, an Omani heritage village, swimming pools, a lazy river ride and nine restaurants and 10 other food and beverage outlets.
The general concept in designing the three five-star hotels – the Al Husn, Al Bandar and Al Waha, (previously known as Castle Hotel, Town Hotel and Village Hotel, respectively) – was to create a warm resort ambiance, hence all the buildings are low-lying varying from four to five storeys high. The lobbies of all the hotels open on to large windows overlooking the sea or the swimming pools to ensure that the ‘wow’ feeling guests experience while descending to the hotel is maintained as they enter each hotel.
Of the 500,000 sq m area allocated for the project, only 230,000 sq m is to be developed, as the balance area will be retained as a mountainous jebel. The developed area is split into the following categories:
• Building area – 70,000 sq m.
• Roads/car parks – 50,000 sq m;
• Hard landscape/footpaths – 20,000 sq m;
• Soft landscape/beach – 40,000 sq m;
• Utility areas – 20,000 sq m.
Given its rather remote setting, the resort will be almost entirely self-sufficient with its own 33 kV sub-station, reverse-osmosis fresh water plant, sewage treatment plant, industrial laundry, chiller plant, standby power generation system, and waste management facilities.

Al Husn
Perched on an elevated plateau above the rest of the resort, the five-star deluxe Al Husn enjoys commanding views of the ocean and surrounding landscape and is designed to set the standard for luxury hotels within Oman.
Accessed via an exquisite tree-line driveway and footpaths into an imposing porte cochere (entrance archway) area, the boutique hotel will offer a combination of 180 deluxe rooms and suites, world-class dining facilities, exclusive swimming pools including a 600 sq m infinity edge pool, elite fitness facilities, and a private beach.
Al Husn is linked to the Al Bandar by an elevator, which descends eight floors below to the centrally-placed hotel.
Another aspect of the Al Husn is a large courtyard with water features, echoing Oman’s Al Hamra style of architecture.

Al Bandar
The 198-room Al Bandar - which accommodates all the kitchen facilities - is expected to be the first of the hotels to open within the resort. Situated along the main beach area, the five-star Al Bandar is expected to be the focal point of resort activity with its paved piazza area surrounded by numerous restaurants and retail facilities. The area is aimed to create a suq environment and provide an ideal night-time venue.
The hotel has been designed so as to create the image of a series of small buildings resembling a seaside town built in traditional Omani architecture. Hence, it has varying facades and colours with touches of mashrabiya for the balustrades and fenestrations, to create the impression of a number of buildings that have come up over time as opposed to one big structure.
Set in lush landscaping, the premium hotel includes a 1,500 sq m ballroom (700-seat) and pre-function area, nine meeting rooms, a poolside amphitheatre and external dining facilities, and 2,600 sq m of swimming pools.

Al Waha
At the eastern edge of the resort, separated from Al Bandar and Al Husn hotels by a steep and narrow jebel and accessed from the main entrance via a tunnel, the five-star Waha enjoys a secluded setting for families and youngcouples. Also set in a lush landscape, the 302-room family hotel has its own restaurants including a beachfront seafood restaurant, children’s play areas, swimming pools including the ‘Lazy River’ water ride.

Spa
The development also includes a 3,000 sq m world-class spa and health club set in a number of gardens. It comprises a reception building and a spa building, which will feature saunas, steam rooms, plunge pools, fitness equipment and private treatment facilities, including 18 treatment rooms. This area will also include eight spa villas.

Omani Heritage Experience
The Omani heritage village is the main cultural area of the resort. It features a multi-purpose arena for equestrian and outdoor events with stadium-type seating on the embankment. Fenced off within this village is a typical Omani village, which houses some archaeological artifacts dug up from the site.

Central utilities compound
A central utilities compound has been built to house all central plant and utilities that support the hotel, including a chiller and reverse osmosis building, boiler room, fire protection pump room, emergency standby generators, central laundry, 33 kV substation, sewage treatment plant and waste collection and management centre. This area includes the Engineering Locker Building (ELB) – the first structure to be built on site to accommodate all the site offices.

Construction challenges
Work on the project started in July 2002 and faced its first major hurdle – the non-existence of a road to the site that is surrounded on three sides by mountains. Hence, Carillion-Alawi was awarded both the Muscat Municipality’s road construction contract as well as the enabling works package at the Barr Al Jissah. Both operations were supported by a major marine mobilisation effort and involved excavation and site infrastructure works. Carillion-Alawi later went on to be awarded the overall general contract for the project.
It was Carillion’s previous experience and willingness to take on the challenge presented by the marine transport that secured it the first package on the project, according to Harris.
“For the first 10 months of the project we didn’t have a road to the site. Marine mobilisation was a major challenge and initially we used a barge that travelled between Qantub, a fishing village, to the site located a couple of kilometers away,” says Alan Field, senior quantity surveyor with Hanscomb, the cost consultant and quantity surveyor on the project.
“Everything from potable water to pipework and people had to be transported by the barge on a daily basis,” Field reminisces.
Another major challenge was the construction of the road to the site.
“What speeded up the process was that Carillion was awarded the contract for the construction of the road by Muscat Municipality and as the firm also had the infrastructure works on the contract, they could tackle it from both ends,” explains Harris.
Carillion had to blast through the mountains to link the site to the highway to the interiors of Oman – a distance of 4.5 km.
The construction of the Engineering Locker Building was accelerated to accommodate the site offices, thus saving on the cost of erecting substantial temporary buildings, he adds.
Carillion Alawi set up a batching plant on the site, which was operated by Al Turki. “We looked at trucking material to the site but we found that operating a plant on the site proved to be most cost effective and provided a better control on the quality and quantity, and also eased the logistics as otherwise concrete would have to be trucked in from Ghala, which is quite a distance away,” says Harris. Some 70,000 cu m of concrete will go into the construction of the project.
All the buildings have been constructed using conventional techniques without requiring high-tech gear, apart from few tower cranes on rails. The external facades essentially comprise plastering and rendering.
With the launch of works on the project, another hurdle was finding the right contractors to take on the various packages involved in the project, he adds.
“The sheer size and complexity of the project meant that few contractors had the required experience to carry out the project,” he explains. “Given the size of the Omani construction market, international contractors could not be tempted to take on the project when there was a far more lucrative market in neighbouring Dubai. Hence we were limited with the number of contractors who were tendering – especially with the M&E (mechanical and electrical works) where there are few who can take on the job given the scope and size of each package. For example, each of the M&E packages is equivalent to the typical annual volume of work that any of the four M&E contractors on the project performs in Oman,” says Harris.
Aster Airmech won the M&E package for the Al Husn, L&T Oman secured two packages – one for the Al Bandar and the second for the central utilities compound - while International Electrical Company (IECO) won the M&E package for the Al Waha.
Finishing packages are being undertaken by a joint venture of Carillion-Alawi and Zubair Furnishing.
Contractors who took on the challenge of the job were soon faced with the escalating prices of construction material.
“Steel prices increased from RO90 to RO200 per tonne and cement has gone up by 30 per cent during the span of the project,” says Field. “Besides, the escalating costs of these basic building materials, costs were further hit by the fall of the dollar which increased the cost of equipment and components such as kitchen and light equipment that was procured from Europe.”
Another major problem was that the site – located a significant distance from the national grid – is not connected to the power supply. The government had indicated that the site would be connected to the national power supply by 2003, however when this failed to materialise, a power line was installed from the Al Bustan Palace, according to Harris.
“We have had to arrange temporary power from the Al Bustan to meet our project requirements. It has meant installing a line over a distance extending up to 10 km. That was never anticipated,” says Harris. “The 12-month contract for the link-up was awarded by the government last November,” he adds.
On site, work is ongoing on the spa, swimming pools and decks while external finishing works are in progress on the buildings.
“Given all the challenges, the project has gone on remarkably well, thanks to the large number of good and reputable companies involved,” says Harris. “We’ve had a good team on the job, and the owner has provided excellent leadership.”
Citing an example of how the project continues to evolve, Harris points out to an overhanging cliff that was trimmed off to create a safe working area for the project. The team behind the construction then put in a causeway and created a flat reclaimed area that will be grassed and available as a small private outdoor area with a sheltered beach area.
Harris was full of praise for Carillion-Alawi’s work on the project, and particularly its keen attention to “environment health and safety issues, which are very important to Turner, and this was a big plus to us,” he says.
“There are not many contractors who could have carried this project on programme,” Field adds.
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, the operator of the project, has insisted on the very best for the project. However, it has also adopted a pragmatic approach by avoiding unnecessary costs. Citing an instance, Harris says: “Rather than insisting on a highly sophisticated BMS system, the operator recommended a very practical solution.”

Environment
Environmental issues were given high priority for the client, which commissioned WS Atkins International to conduct an environmental impact analysis. The client’s concern for the environment is demonstrated by the attention given to the Hawksbill turtles that nested at the site, the coral reefs and the archaeological importance of the area.
“To date we haven’t lost any turtle nests although some of the habitat may have been lost because of some of the work on the beach such as putting in revetments to prevent erosion,” says Harris. “The operator wants to maintain the turtle nesting as a feature of the hotel and is engaging a turtle ranger.”
Prior to the launch of construction works, a survey identified the coral reefs in the area. The owner imported technology from the US to transplant corals on to 40 to 50 reef balls that have been placed in different areas, which in fact has created more habitat and a better environment for the coral to grow, he says.
Turning to the archaeological finds, he says the client enlisted the help of world-renowned archaeologist Dr Geoffrey King to conduct rescue archaeology and the archaeological relics have now been preserved and form the heart of a mock Omani village in a large arena known as the Oman Heritage Experience.

External works
The soft landscaped external works have been designed to reflect the mood of the respective hotels and will comprise generally of trees, palms, shrubs and grass. The hard landscaping will again reflect the respective hotels and utilise various types of hard finishes such as concrete paving, clay paving, coloured concrete, natural stone sets and marble. The pool in the Al Waha is linked to that of the Al Bandar with a two-direction ‘Lazy River’ feature including tunnels.
The resort will maintain an on-site plant nursery as a guest attraction as well as an operational centre. The area that is earmarked to have a jebel/desert landscape will maintain the ambiance of a mountain and the flora will be selected accordingly.

Future construction
Sometime this year the government plans to begin construction of a convention centre on the site. The excavated material from this project will be used to create a breakwater and marina in an area on the western edge of the property.
This phase will enhance the appeal of the Barr Al Jissah resort which promises to be a unique place, attracting a business clientele besides being a quiet holiday destination.
Given the spectacular mountain backdrop and scenic beach, the facility will probably be the only one of its kind the entire Gulf region for some time to come.