To the casual observer, its design is bold, beautiful and modern: a semi-pyramidal grey concrete monolith, surprisingly almost devoid of glass, with the huge American crest emblazoned on the front elevation, silently stating its mission without words.
Leed is a voluntary certification that may be sought at various levels – platinum, gold and silver – and the criteria include mandatory prerequisites such as no-smoking, energy efficiency and air quality.
It’s the most ambitious development the tourism, leisure and entertainment world is set to see and will add a further dimension to Dubai’s status as a leading international holiday destination. The Dh18-21 billion ($5 billion-$5.
AN innovative self-locking glazing system recently launched in Dubai is set to take the glazing industry by storm because of its simplicity and unique features, according to its inventor.
There’s no stopping Dubai. From the tallest to the largest, to the most luxurious and the most hi-tech – the emirate is aiming for it all. The vibrancy is palpable to every visitor the moment the aircraft touches down at Dubai’s showpiece airport.
Dubai-based Tejari, the leading online marketplace in the Middle East, has recently launched Tejari Project Collaboration (TPC), which it claims will revolutionise project management in the engineering and construction industry through the use of paperless planning techniques.
Tremco, a leading manufacturer of polyurethane (PU)-based sealants and coatings, has long been a strong advocate of liquid-applied waterproof membranes.
Jotun, which has just opened a state-of-the-art factory in the Al Quoz industrial area of Dubai, has supplied its products to a string of prestigious projects in the emirate over the past year. These include the Madinat Jumeirah, the Festival City, Al Murooj Complex, the Autodrome and the Higher College of Technology.
Gulf Extrusions, a UAE-based pioneer and market leader in aluminium extrusions for the GCC, projects a 15 per cent market growth for 2004.
While Dubai is pushing ahead with mega projects which are shaping into mini-cities, engineering firms should look at the macro-level and investigate how the resources of these developments can be conserved or re-utilised to enhance their economic viability, says Khaled Bushnaq, managing director of Energy Management Services (EMS)-Emirates.
Work is nearing completion on a Dh1.4 billion ($381.5 million) expansion of the Burjuman Centre in Dubai which will almost treble its retail size.
Al Wahaj Metal Industries – a producer of high-quality profiled sheets, composite panels, and Z-purlins – is gearing up for the challenges of an increasingly quality-conscious and competitive market.
Unimix, one of Dubai’s leading producers of readymix concrete, has started production with the first fully containerised mobile concrete batching plant in Dubai from German specialist manufacturer Lintec for its contract on the Jumeirah Beach Residence project.
With the award of the foundations contract on the Burj Dubai, developer Emaar Properties has launched work on site on what is designed to be the tallest building in the world. The Burj Dubai is the ‘jewel’ of the entire Burj Dubai development, a city within a city that will be a future global icon for seven-star lifestyle.
Backed by extensive experience gained over the past 35 years in the business, Dubai-based Al Rostamani Real Estate Company (ARRE) is poised to scale further heights with a number of landmark projects on its drawing boards and a major programme to revamp its properties in the UAE.
Canada-based Aluma Systems is currently providing table forms for two projects at The Residences coming up at the Burj Dubai development. It is supplying the systems to Robodh Contracting, the subcontractor on two tower blocks (W2 and W3) as well as to Hamed Development and Construction, the subcontractor for an additional two towers (E1 and E2).
ANEW landmark off Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Highway is nearing completion following the recent topping out of a 14-storey hotel tower and eight distinctively-shaped 12-storey residential towers connected by seven-storey buildings.
AS A boom of breathtaking proportions pervades Dubai’s construction industry, leading contractor Al Habtoor Engineering (HEE) is upbeat about the developments and is of the belief that the buoyancy will continue for years to come, given the forward-focused and trendsetting nature of the emirate.
IN one of the major pours to be carried out in Dubai, some 10,500 cu m of concrete was poured for the foundations of a 50-storey residential tower at Dubai Marina at the end of last month.
Doka formwork is helping meet critical schedules on the 43-storey Al Seef Tower being built in Jumeirah, Dubai.
Atlas Copco’s XATS760Cd air compressors have been providing essential airpower for tools to remove the tops of bored piles so as to make them ready for the fabrication of pile caps and basement slab on Dubai’s Jumeirah Beach Residence. The XATS760Cd, which provides a free air delivery of 357 litres/sec at bar 10.
ACO International, a world leader in the manufacture and supply of corrosion-resistant external and internal polymer concrete and stainless steel surface drainage systems and a wastewater engineering specialist, has opened an office in Dubai at the end of last month.
WE HAVE all seen it take shape. Some have looked at it from 30,000 ft above, peeping out from the comfort of their airplane seat; others have seen satellite images shot from outer space.
Construction work on Dubai International Airport’s second phase of expansion, which began in the first quarter of 2002, is well under way with concreting works in progress but the completion dates have been pushed back by about a year, as the airport redesigns to welcome the world’s biggest passenger jet.
What are the islands being built of?Each island is being built of around 100 million cu m of rock and sand. Where is the sand and rock coming from?The foundation rock for the breakwater is coming from quarries around the UAE. It is being taken to the site by barges to minimise any disruption on land.
