Gulf Construction Online - Engineering challenges

Barr Al Jissah Resort

The entrance to the Al Bandar hotel.

Engineering challenges

01 March 2005

The client’s brief was clear and concise: Barr Al Jissah Resort Company wanted to design and build a resort to international standards – an aspiration that is now being delivered to its satisfaction, says Roger Nickells, resident engineer, Atkins.

The project has been fraught with inherent technical challenges – many of which relate to the location of the project along the sea front and away from the infrastructure facilities that Muscat has to offer, he says.
These challenges range from the non-existence of a road to the site when project was launched, to designing the buildings around traditional concepts with services that would support is the remote location and the tranquillity of its setting.
As executive architect and engineer on the project, Atkins was responsible for the structural and M&E designs as well as the construction documentation. It is also the consultant for the spa. Early on in the project, the firm’s services were enlisted to conduct an environmental impact analysis for the site.
Taking each element in turn, Nickells says: “Getting access to the site was very difficult as there was no road to it when the project started. A 4.4 km long road was then commissioned by the Muscat Municipality, designed by Atkins and constructed by Carillion Alawi.
“This road began at sea level, rose to a maximum height of 65 m and then back down, requiring a combination of rock cutting and construction of embankments. More than 650,000 cu m of rock were removed in less than six months, with rock cut to a height of more than 50 m.

Architecture
The design of the project is based around traditional aspects of local architecture and Atkins had to ensure that the architectural solution it delivered contained the correct level of detail.
“Here Mohammed Al Zubair, chairman of Barr Al Jissah Resort Company, was instrumental in guiding the team towards the correct approach in the context of each aspect of the design,” Nickells points out.
Meticulous attention was paid to the use of GRC screens and timber elements, to create three buildings with different architectural styles but with a single distinctive theme.

Landscaping
The design brief aims to provide a landscaped environment that is in keeping with the surroundings.
“Whilst this sounds simple in concept, the actual delivery of this design has been complex, as it had to strike an optimal balance between meeting the needs of a modern resort facility and blending it well with the local heritage of the Sultanate. In the solution, the design has found a balanced median.

Building services
Given the resort’s remote location, scale and complexity, a range of building services was designed to ensure the operational efficiency of the resort and the comfort of guests.
The most challenging aspect of the services design, according to Nickells, is the water and wastewater cycle.
As the resort is not connected to the mains supply of the Sultanate, the project has its own reverse osmosis water generating facility, which converts seawater into fresh, potable water.
“Sea water is extracted at the beach head through a series of deep wells, then treated in the services compound before being distributed through the resort,” he explains. “Wastewater is collected and treated in an on-site plant. The by-products of the wastewater treatment cycle are used for the chiller cooling towers and for irrigation of the resort.
“This may sound simple but the whole cycle is interlinked and in fact is affected by the occupancy levels in the complex. For example, the highest requirements for irrigation and cooling traditionally occur when the occupancy is at its lowest (mid-summer). Low occupancy means less wastewater to convert to TSE for the cooling plant and the irrigation,” Nickells points out.
To maintain the tranquillity of the resort, noise was one of the many aspects tackled while designing the air-conditioning network.
“The remote location of the site and the need to maintain tranquillity at the beachfront led to a design which uses a central plant facility at the back of the site,” says Nickells. “This facility houses four water-cooled chillers linked to cooling towers which utilise TSE (treated sewage effluent). This chiller plant then distributes all of the chilled water around the complex through a series of large pumps.”
Turning to electrical supply, he says that due to the size of the site and the load requirements, the most efficient way to distribute power is by using 11 kV distribution. “Therefore, we have established a site ring main system which supplies the various elements. The total connected load for the development is around 18 MW,” he says. “Due to the fact that the resort has one connection to the main power supply, it is necessary to provide stand-by generation with generators large enough to support all of the electrical installations except the cooling. This is also linked into the 11 kV distribution system. The standby power facility is around 3 MW.”

Co-ordination
A team comprising various practices from all parts of the globe have enriched the project through the innovative design of the various elements of the resort. However, the co-ordination of the design effort has been a complex task due to the differing stages of the design and the construction and due to the ever-evolving needs of the various stakeholders in the project, says Nickells.
“In order to make this easier, we have used a collaborative web-based information tool called iPronet which allows all of the design information for the project to be stored and used in one location,” he says.

Construction
While the technical construction supervision for the works is being carried out by the related designers, Atkins is playing a key role by working with all of the teams on site to instigate a common approach to the building and inspection process.
Given the scale and prestige of the project, safety is a key issue and all of the supervision teams, contractors and sub-contractors are participating in monthly initiatives to improve the safety culture, he concludes.