QATAR Rail has appointed Dutch architectural firm UNStudio as principal architect for the Qatar Integrated Railway Project (QIRP), which will see the firm design more than 30 stations in the first phase of the Doha metro network.

BRITISH construction firms have won contracts worth £1 billion ($1.65 billion) linked to the Fifa World Cup 2022 in Qatar. The biggest contract worth £316 million ($524 million) was clinched by Carillion in December 2011 to build a five-star Mandarin Oriental hotel, offices and apartments in Downtown Doha.

Attiya Motors opens workshop ATTIYA Motors and Trading Company (AMTC), the exclusive importer of Renault Trucks in Qatar, has opened a new custom-built and state-of-the-art workshop in Doha. Built at a cost of QR24 million ($6.

DUBAI-BASED construction company Arabtec is close to completing the planning and design stage of its $40-billion deal to build one million homes in Egypt, the company said. Arabtec originally announced in March that it had agreed with the Egyptian army to build the homes at 13 locations around the country on land provided free by the armed forces.

DIYAR Al Muharraq said it has completed the foundation work on the Dragon Mall and Dining Street in Dragon City, in Bahrain. Nass Contracting Progress has put at 21 per cent the progress of construction work on the project, which commenced in May.

BAGNODESIGN, a UAE-based provider of innovative bathroom solutions, is bringing its luxury retail offering to Qatar with the official opening of a 580-sq-m contemporary bathroom showroom this month (October 21).

DOKA Group, the formwork technology division of Austria-based Umdasch, has acquired the formwork technology department of Australian construction company Grocon, a move that is expected to strengthen its presence in the emerging markets, including the Middle East and East Asia.

DRAKE & Scull International (DSI) has won four major turnkey contracts worth Dh168 million ($45.73 million) in Oman.

BAHRAIN has recently awarded infrastructure contracts worth BD7.42 million ($19.5 million) in addition to inviting bids for seven more tenders worth an estimated BD4.09 million ($10.8 million). The contracts for roads, sanitary and construction work were awarded in August. The bulk of the contracts by value went to the sanitary sector with a BD4.

FOUNDATION work for a state-of-the-art school has begun at the Southern Governorate in Bahrain at a cost of BD4.6 million ($12.20 million). The 14.9-million-sq-m Hunainiya Secondary School for Boys is a four-storey structure comprising 40 classrooms with a capacity to accommodate 1,000 students, said Education Minister Dr Majid bin Ali Al Noami.

THE construction of a new advanced public hospital in Bahrain is set to start next year as part of the GCC Marshall Plan. The BD31-million ($81.7 million) three-in-one complex in Muharraq will include a maternity section, a diabetes centre and a long-stay facility.

AS PART of the Oman National Railway project, Oman Rail Company is planning to construct a number of key facilities along the Sohar-Buraimi stretch currently under tender.

MORE than 68 per cent of plots at the $2.5-billion Bahrain Bay in Bahrain have been sold and many projects of third-party developers are nearing completion.

OMAN’S Ministry of Transport and Communications has invited bids from consultants for supervising the Ibri-Yanqul dualisation project (second segment). The project involves conversion of an existing single carriageway between Ibri and Yanqul to a four-lane dual carriageway.

MODERN Abrasives Middle East has set up a new manufacturing facility in Bahrain fitted out with machinery from Italy. The new company has been established in collaboration with Ekamant of Sweden, whose products are sold in more than 50 countries around the world.

AL MEERA Consumer Goods Company has opened a new mall in Legtaifiya in line with its expansion in Qatar. The company will continue work on the construction of eight other malls set to open by the end of this year, in addition to launching a new store in the Gulf Mall.

QATAR and the UAE are among the top five most attractive markets for infrastructure investment in the world, according to a new report. The second Arcadis Global Infrastructure Investment Index said the Middle East is the most dynamic infrastructure investment market for investors. Singapore topped the index, while Qatar came in second.

THE value of new infrastructure projects across the GCC region is poised to hit $86 billion in 2014, up 77.8 per cent compared to last year, said a report. Saudi Arabia continues to dominate the region with projects worth $1.1 trillion, thus netting the highest market share of 44.3 per cent followed by the UAE which holds 30.

THE proposed $5-billion King Hamad Causeway, the second terrestrial link between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, is expected to deliver a significant economic boost to Bahrain, according to global real estate consultancy Cluttons.

FIVE major tourism projects in Oman aimed at attracting both international and domestic tourists are expected to get the green signal by the year-end, a senior official has said.

MAJID Al Futtaim, a leading shopping mall, retail and leisure pioneer in the region, will build a 10,000-sq-m retail corridor at City Centre Muscat that will include 60 new stores and dining options. The new retail precinct on the ground floor will connect each end of the shopping mall, and aims to ease traffic flow and accessibility for visitors.

BRITISH construction machinery giant JC Bamford Excavators, popularly known as JCB, is predicting bright regional prospects. “The Middle East market is a big one for us to focus on,” said Graeme Macdonald, chief executive of JCB, a world-leading manufacturer of heavy machinery used for construction, demolition and agriculture.

KNAUF Danoline’s entire range of acoustic ceilings and wall linings now comes with a revolutionary air-purification feature called the ‘Cleaneo Technology’, which is aimed at ensuring better living and indoor comfort.

INVESTMENT in medical facilities in the GCC is expected to rise by 25 per cent over 2013, with countries in the region likely to spend about $9.53 billion on new hospital projects and upgrade of medical facilities by the year end, said a report.