ME Consultant December 2018

For the construction specialist

Hail to the Chief AECOM’s Lara Poloni discusses business, investing in technology and gender diversity ON TOPIC

Designing for health and wellbeing in the MENA region

IN PRACTICE

Diane Thorsen on co-living and co-working spaces

ON SITE

Women in Construction profile: Sarah Huskie

ISSUE 054

December 2018 Publication licensed by Dubai Production City A product of Big Project Middle East

© 2018 LACASA Architects & Engineering Consultants All Rights Reserved

I’m Ibrahim Salah and I am a

SR. PRoject ManageR

www.lacasa.ae

Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised.

It is not only loyalty or internal motivation that drives us forward. We must write out a high quality plan and create an absolutely clear path. This will help us to move forward and reach our destination.

Ibrahim Salah SR. Project Manager

LACASA is committed to providing quality-driven designs within a multidisciplinary environment.

Established in 2006, the firm has grown significantly over the past eleven years. Today, LACASA boasts a diverse portfolio encompassing all types of developments and across the entire MENA region.

While it is said that perfection doesn’t exist, we believe that perfecting design can be achieved by cultivating extraordinary talent.

CONTENTS

On topic InDustRy VIEWs fROM aCROss thE MIDDLE East

07 anaLysIs

06

07

10

16

18

24

28

32

36

40

Cavendish Maxwell’s Manika Dhama outlines how Abu Dhabi’s residential sector performed in Q3 10 nEWs

Saudi Arabia to build 16 nuclear reactors over 25 years; EmiratesGBC announces Building Retrofit Programme; Etihad ESCO and Siemens to reduce energy consumption

In practice anaLysIs, InsIghts anD IntERVIEWs

18 IntERVIEW

AECOM’s Lara Poloni on business opportunities in the GCC, investing in technology and addressing gender imbalance within her firm and beyond 24 IntERVIEW

Perkins+Will’s Diane Thorsen on the benefits of co-living and coworking spaces and the challenges of making them a reality in the Middle East 28 IntERVIEW

Arup’s Hrvoje Cindric on why it’s important to rethink and redesign Middle Eastern cities within their environmental context

On site CasE stuDIEs, OpInIOns anD snapshOts

36 pROfILE

We talk to AESG’s Nivine Issa about her influences, career and gender diversity in the construction industry 40 shOW REVIEW

The third annual ME BIM Summit welcomed over 250 delegates from across the regional construction industry 44 thE BaCk pagE

Parsons’ George Arvanitis and Tarek Elmalatawy discuss the benefits of transit-oriented development 2 DECEMBER 2018

Pace is a leading multidisciplinary consulting firm providing architecture, engineering and planning services to a wide range of clients.

Our story goes back 50 years as one of the region’s leading consultancies operating internationally.

Whether it’s the comfort for a new city, the detailed design of a rail network, managing the construction of a skyscraper or the improvement of a management process, we plan, design, manage and construct solutions.

www.pace-me.com info@pace-me.com

pace_me @pacemiddleeast

WELCOME

Group EDITOR’S NOTE

See you at the 2018 MEC Awards Nominations for the 2018 Middle East Consultant Awards closed on schedule and thanks to our panel of judges, we now have our winners. All will be revealed on December 10 at our home away from home, the Ritz Carlton JBR Dubai. If you’ve been shortlisted, expect a call from someone from the Middle East Consultant team.

Wrapping up this section of the event was gratifying for me because despite the industry facing a challenging year, we received 20 more nominations than we did in 2017 (170 vs. 150). Every category received several nominations and some categories were very competitive indeed, which I thought was a positive sign of things to come in 2019.

I’m pleased to reveal that the Women in Construction: Professional of the Year and ME Consultant’s Rising Star of the Year categories were two of the most popular. It’s great to see companies putting women and young people in general forward and those sentiments were shared by my fellow judges. In case you’re wondering about specifics, the former category received 21 nominations while the latter received 14 – these are solid numbers, however I’ll be looking to better these next year.

Going over all the nominations was no easy feat and while the overall quality of submissions has improved compared to 2017, there’s still room for improvement. The one thing I want to impress on everyone reading this is that the supporting documentation is not what catches the judge’s attention – particularly when you’ve sent over a PDF that’s over 60 pages long!

What you have to focus on is making your case in the ‘Reason for Nomination’ and ‘Summary of Achievements’ sections. Again, you don’t have to submit a novel, just something that’s concise and that accurately conveys why you think the person, company or the project should be chosen as a winner. A bit of research and a snappy submission is the only thing you really need. As the saying goes, work smarter, not harder. See you on 10 December.

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ON TOPIC

MOST POPULAR

ReAdeRS’ COMMeNTS

feATURed

SAUdi ARAbiA TO iNveST $206M ON eighT ROAd SAfeTy PROjeCTS

CONSTRUCTiON

World’s largest sports mall to open in Dubai

It may rightly only be a footnote to this story (Saudi Arabia to invest $206m on eight road safety projects) but if that figure of $1.17bn of material losses is CONSULTANT

correct, then that alone

Emrill opens regional staff training facility

should be focusing minds on where the money should be spent on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s road network.

feature: Opinion – The importance of

However, as anyone who

safety system inspections and audits

has ever driven or been a passenger in Saudi will know, people are

CONSTRUCTiON

still prepared to risk

Al Futtaim’s Festival Plaza to open in December 2019

theirs and others’ lives by driving recklessly in the Kingdom. The Vision 2030 programme being pursued by the government should not just be about pumping money into

CONSTRUCTiON

construction projects,

Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Street to undergo infrastructure upgrade

but also education. That won’t solve the problem overnight, after all it took European countries a generation to take safe driving seriously, but the sooner it starts in Saudi (and the other GCC countries where risky driving is commonplace)

PROPeRTy

Imkan announces Thanaya on track for handover in Q4 2019

6 DECEMBER 2018

feature: event Review – Trimble’s The Construction Summit 2018

the better.

Name withheld by request

ON TOPIC

ANALYSIS

Q3 Capital Focus

Cavendish Maxwell’s Manika Dhama outlines how Abu Dhabi’s residential sector performed in Q3

D

uring the third quarter, prices and rents for residential properties in Abu Dhabi investment zones continued to decline, albeit at a slower pace than in 2017. The Property Monitor Index, which tracks prices and rents in key communities across investment zones, presented apartment price declines of 2.7% on average over the last 12 months during the third quarter. For villa/townhouse units, the declines were steeper at an average of 2.8% quarter-on-quarter and 4.2% year-on-year. Among the communities under study, the Al Reef villas registered the highest quarterly decline of 3.7%.

Residential rents in Abu Dhabi investment zones continued to decline at a faster pace than prices, registering year-on-year declines of 5.6% on average. Among the key communities, apartment rents in Al Reem Island and villa/townhouse rents in Al Raha Gardens and Saadiyat Beach declined by more than 6%.

On Al Reem Island, one-bedroom apartments can now be rented for $23,000 on average, down 6.2% over the last 12 months. Similar levels of decline were registered for three-bedroom villa/townhouse units in Al Raha Garden, which are being rented for $41,000 on average.

Meanwhile, marginal declines in gross investment yields have been recorded over the last 12 months and with further rental declines expected over the next six months, further yield compression is expected in the short to medium term.

The rental market performance has provided tenants with wider choice and quality remains a key determinant of occupancy levels within communities, thus putting further pressure on older stock. Landlords are more responsive to tenant retention and are willing to negotiate on rents, with incentives such as multiple cheque payments being offered.

Prime properties have been the most affected during rather sluggish sales momentum since the start of 2018. Many potential buyers are still DECEMBER 2018 7

ON TOPIC

q-o-q% change Q2 2018 - Q3 2018

Abu Dhabi villa/townhouse price performance 12-month % change Q3 2017 - Q3 2018 Average price, Q3 2018 (AED per sq ft) -0.5%

-1.0%

-1.5%

-2.0%

-2.5%

-3.0%

-3.5%

-4.0%

-4.5%

-5.0% Al Raha Gardens Al Reef Villas Saadiyat Beach

1500

1350

1200

1050

900

750

600

450

instance, on Saadiyat Island, the Louvre Abu Dhabi and upcoming Guggenheim museums, as well as New York University and Sorbonne educational institutions, are the anchors to promote the area as a cultural and educational destination alongside the waterfront residential community Mamsha Al Saadiyat.

Meanwhile, Imkan’s new launch at the Dubai-Abu Dhabi border in Ghantoot is positioned as a “Riviera” and ”nature reserve”, and the first phase will have 293 villas. These launches underpin the overall strategy of the emirate to focus on tourism and real estate investment and continue the drive for economic diversification beyond the oil & gas sector.

In the near term, the underlying pressures on businesses and job growth and the related impact on the housing sector are expected to continue, thus affecting rents as well as capital appreciation opportunities on residential assets. On the demand side, UAE nationals and GCC investors still make up the majority of investors in Abu Dhabi residential real estate. A focused expansion of this target market segment to include other nationalities presents an opportunity to enhance overall demand and create a more sustainable real estate investment environment.

Additionally, the recently announced Tomorrow 2021 stimulus package for the emirate is expected to improve economic activity, especially through licensing initiatives aimed at the commercial sector and visa reforms for residents. The direct impact of these on the real estate sector remains to be seen.

Abu Dhabi apartment price performance 12-month % change Q3 2017 - Q3 2018

Average price, Q3 2018 (AED per sq ft)

-0.5%

-1.0%

-1.5%

-2.0%

-2.5%

-3.0%

-3.5% Saadiyat Beach Al Raha Beach Al Reem Island Al Ghadeer Al Reef Downtown

1500

1350

1200

1050

900

750

600

450

300

150

8 DECEMBER 2018

Sources: Cavendish Maxwell, Property Monitor

q-o-q% change Q2 2018 - Q3 2018

300

150

waiting for better investment deals and further bottoming of prices over the last quarter of the year. However, off-plan transactions have continued to dominate market activity, which remains subdued overall.

Meanwhile, since the second half of 2017, developers have launched projects in the middle-income segment, including Pixel Towers in Al Reem Island by Imkan, with studios starting as low as $152,000, and Al Ghadeer Phase II by Aldar, with studios starting at $95,000 and two-bedroom villa/townhouses starting at $273,000.

On the supply side, developers have been cautious to stagger the delivery of projects through a phased approach. According to the Property Monitor Supply Tracker, an estimated 3,200 residential units were handed over across investment zones in Abu Dhabi during the third quarter. The majority of these were handed over in Al Reem Island, Al Reef and Al Raha Beach.

At the beginning of Q4, approximately 7,700 units are scheduled for handover by March 2019, though actual completions may vary.

The key locations for upcoming supply within investment zones are Saadiyat Island, Yas Island and Al Reem Island, which have a total of over 2,500 units scheduled for completion by the end of 2018. Of the total upcoming supply, approximately 76% is apartments.

Against this backdrop, developer focus is around building integrated communities with a central theme supporting the residential segment, within a larger master plan that houses complementary assets. For

ON TOPIC

EmiratesGBC announces Retrofit Programme

Saudi Arabia to build 16 nuclear reactors over 25 years A report from the Saudi Press Agency has said that the Kingdom plans to build two nuclear reactors for energy in the coming years, and as many as 16 over the next 25 years. Construction on the first reactor is already underway and is expected to be complete by the end of 2019.

The design of the reactor comes from scientists from the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), with the support of global experts. It has been designed to follow all International Atomic Energy Agency safety standards.

The projects are among several inaugurated by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on November 5. The Crown Prince also unveiled projects in the fields of renewable energy, water desalination, genetic medicine and aircraft design.

During his tour of KACST headquarters, the Crown Prince also reviewed the ongoing solar-powered water desalination projects in the Al Khafji and Yanbu areas of the Kingdom.

According to the report, the Al Khafji plant will boast a capacity of 60,000cu/m per day, while the Yanbu plant will have a capacity of 5,200cu/m per day.

10 DECEMBER 2018

The Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC) has announced that it will offer an advanced Building Retrofit Training Programme in Dubai on December 12 and 13. The course will be in partnership with the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE) and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar).

According to a statement, the two-day training course will instruct professionals on critical elements of retrofitting buildings and support the streamlining of their technical capacity for more effective post-retrofit maintenance and preventive care. Those who successfully complete the course will become EmiratesGBC-certified Building Retrofit Specialists.

“Retrofitting existing buildings is fundamental to driving sustainable built environments and achieving the UAE’s energy goals. Tackling the existing building stock is crucial in tackling global carbon emissions and achieving the global target of net zero carbon buildings by 2050 in line with the Paris Climate Change Agreement. EmiratesGBC’s Advanced Building Retrofit course is specifically designed for professionals in the building sector to equip them with the skills to achieve highly efficient, sustainable buildings.

Working collectively, we can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of buildings,” said EmiratesGBC chairman Saeed Al Abbar.

The course aims to deliver in-depth knowledge of building retrofit principles relevant to the MENA region.

ON TOPIC

ACTS begins QC work at Kuwait Airport

Etihad ESCO and Siemens to reduce energy consumption Etihad ESCO and Siemens are undertaking a retrofit project that will result in a reduction in the energy consumption of 115 mosques and two buildings. The project scope includes measurement and verification over a six-year contract period.

According to a statement, Siemens will be supporting Etihad ESCO in providing heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC), water and lighting retrofit solutions, along with the installation of control systems to further reduce the energy consumption of HVAC and lighting. This will all be accomplished within the framework of the first phase of the programme.

Once the retrofit is complete, Siemens says it will guarantee a 20.43% reduction in annual energy consumption, resulting in yearly savings of over $816,000. The energy and equipment performance after the implementation of the current project will be guaranteed for six years, with a payback period of 3.7 years.

“We applaud the department’s commitment to supporting the Dubai Strategy and contribute to reduce 30% electricity and water demand in Dubai by 2030,” said Ali Al Jassim, CEO of Etihad ESCO. 12 DECEMBER 2018

Advanced Construction Technology Services (ACTS) has announced that it has begun large-scale quality control and testing operations at the new terminal project at Kuwait International Airport. The firm says it is using a team of more than 50 engineers, concrete experts, inspectors and technicians in a 280sqm high-tech laboratory along with an additional 1,000sqm for curing, offices and storage.

ACTS is running a CQCE programme, with a team of specialists working with the Limak Quality Control team to oversee the preplacement, placement and post-placement of concrete. The firm says this ensures effective and smooth concreting practices.

“We are glad to work with ACTS on the Kuwait International Airport as they demonstrate their deep knowledge in materials engineering and testing. We selected ACTS for the quality control and testing programme after a thorough consideration of their capabilities and expertise in large-scale projects. Till date they are well standing up to their reputation,” said Engineer Kayihan Bagdatli, country manager at Limak Kuwait.

Once complete, the new terminal will be able to accommodate 13m passengers per year in the first phase, with a gradual increase to up to 50m passengers with future developments.

ON TOPIC

MX3D and partners create first 3D-printed steel bridge

Meraas begins work on third phase of The Yard Meraas has announced that it has begun work on the third phase of The Yard development. The 200,000sqft expansion is slated to be delivered in Q4 2019 and will add new indoor and outdoor attractions.

The developer says the third phase will transform the development into a “social hub where families and friends can shop, dine, hang out, entertain and have fun”. In a statement, group chairman Abdulla Al Habbai said Meraas has its sights set on the big picture and seeks to create enriching experiences for people to come together, connect and grow.

“This is linked directly to the communities that we impact through our presence. We look for opportunities to answer the needs of the community, and The Yard has become in many ways the heart of a rich residential area in Al Khawaneej. Through making deliberate extensions to The Yard, we will give families in the neighbourhood more chances to spend time together.

This is in line with the Dubai Plan 2021, which aims to make Dubai a city of happy, healthy and empowered people,” Al Habbai said.

Géant plans to open a 50,000sqft hypermarket space at The Yard.

Roxy Cinemas will also open a cinema at The Yard and is planning to offer “premium services and luxury seating worthy of Platinum and Gold lounges”.

The destination will also play host to fashion and apparel brands, restaurants and cafés, and service providers such as telecommunication and banking. Meraas says a gym and fully equipped health centre will also open at the location. The Yard is expected to spread over 2.8m sqft once it is fully complete.

The world’s first 3D-printed steel bridge has been completed by MX3D, mathematicians from the Alan Turing Institute and Arup. The bridge is scheduled to be installed across a canal in Amsterdam’s De Wallen district in 2019.

Dutch designer Joris Laarman has been working with robotic manufacturing startup MX3D since 2015 to build the 12m-long pedestrian bridge. The bridge was 3D-printed at a MX3D facility outside Amsterdam, before being shipped into the company’s main workshop north of the city.

“We hope it will be installed in summer. We just started the permit process as we have now all the positive results from the tests. The city just started the renovations work on the canal wall we have been waiting for two years. This work could be done in six months,” a MX3D spokesperson said.

The 3D-printed bridge is said to feature sensors that will relay information back to designers and engineers. The smart bridge will monitor its own health, record the number of people using it as well as their speed, and take measurements of factors such as weight dispersion and air quality.

DECEMBER 2018 13

ON TOPIC

Phase Four of Al Maktoum Solar Park to generate 950MW of energy The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has signed an amendment that will see the total capacity of Phase Four of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park grow to 950MW. According to a statement, the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Acwa Power-led consortium now includes an additional 250MW of photovoltaic solar panels at a cost of 2.4 US cents per kilowatt hour – claimed to be the world’s lowest.

“The capacity expansion of the Al Maktoum Solar Park further consolidates the UAE’s leadership in the field of sustainable development and provides another impetus to our clean energy strategy,” said the Crown Prince of Dubai and chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

The total investment for the project is now said to be $4.4bn. The move is part of DEWA’s efforts to achieve the objectives of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050.

The project will use three technologies to produce clean energy: 600MW from a parabolic basin complex, 100MW from a solar tower and 250MW from photovoltaic panels.

14 DECEMBER 2018

GlassPoint signs MoU with Occidental of Oman GlassPoint Solar has signed an MoU with Occidental of Oman that could see the development of a 2GW solar thermal energy plant. Should the project move forward, the plant will be built at the Mukhaizna oilfield. Using GlassPoint’s solar technology, the plant could produce 100,000 barrels of solar steam per day, which could be used to produce heavy oil.

The firm’s steam generators are said to use large mirrors to concentrate sunlight and boil oilfield water into steam. Occidental of Oman would then purchase the steam under a long-term agreement, which GlassPoint says will provide a cost-effective, zero-emissions alternative to steam generated using natural gas.

Preliminary studies have been completed, paving the way for engineering work to begin scoping the project and drawing up field integration plans, a statement from GlassPoint Solar said.

“As we continue to diversify the country’s economy and develop the renewable energy sector, we are also identifying ways to save our natural gas resources. Oman’s vast heavy oilfields present one of the largest opportunities to deploy solar energy and conserve gas, which can instead be used to fuel industries and generate power. We’re pleased to see this progress between Occidental of Oman and GlassPoint, which can deliver substantial economic and environmental benefits to the sultanate,” said Oman’s Minister of Oil and Gas, Dr Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhi.

The solar project could save more than 800,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions each year, said the statement.

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on topic

OPINION

01 Dalia Wagdi is a sustainability consultant at AESG.

Designing for health and wellbeing in MENA AESG’s Dalia Wagdi on the importance of healthy buildings

01

T

he discussions around healthy buildings have increased noticeably over the last three to five years. In the hot, arid climate of the Middle East and North Africa region, most of our time is spent indoors. It is our role therefore to encourage planning and designing the indoor environment with comfort and wellness in mind, in addition to the promotion of public spaces and active cities.

Creating an environment that nurtures health and wellness, especially in offices, schools and healthcare facilities, is vital. This concept of putting people first, especially more sensitive and vulnerable users such as 16 DECEMBER 2018

young children and individuals with chronic illnesses, is a necessity, not a luxury. As such, there is now a fairly big movement towards the promotion of improved indoor environmental quality (IEQ).

IEQ benchmarks the quality of the built environment and addresses many factors including lighting, air quality, water quality, thermal comfort, acoustics and ergonomics.

In the Middle East, the UAE is leading the implementation of these measures in new buildings, with fourteen projects now registered under the WELL Building Standard.

With this growing market trend and in consideration of the principles of healthy living that involuntarily affect our health on a dayto-day basis, it is important that developers, designers and the public are aware of how the built environment affects our health.

Green Building Standards

The transition towards sustainable design and construction has increased exponentially in recent years, along with the development of new green building rating systems. Systems such as BREEAM and LEED, as well as other local systems such as ESTIDAMA, DGBR, Saafat and GSAS, have been widely adopted for new and existing buildings. While they address topics related to health and wellbeing and integrate requirements that address healthy buildings, new standards that adopt a much deeper assessment of health and wellbeing are available.

The WELL Building Standard was officially launched in October 2014. It is divided into seven chapters, with a framework to improve health and wellbeing through design. Another certification system is Fitwel, launched globally in March 2017, which similarly considers community health, social equity, nutrition, physical activity and occupant safety and wellness.

The WELL and Fitwel requirements focus solely on the health and wellness of building occupants. Nevertheless, simple steps to improve indoor air quality, increase natural light and introduce greenery have ancillary benefits related to building efficiency and performance. They also have a significant impact on the bottom line by improving employee productivity and reducing absenteeism, staff turnover and medical costs.

Although most studies and work around the topic of healthy buildings has focused on office buildings, it is prudent to apply these principles in schools, universities and hospitals, where building users are greatly affected by the quality of the built environment, given their typical increased occupancy and vulnerability.

In a study conducted in the UAE to evaluate IEQ conditions in elementary school classrooms, results show that acoustic, light and air quality did not meet recommended limits specified by local regulations. Poor indoor air quality in schools can lead to long-term respiratory problems including bronchitis and asthma. Meanwhile, poor lighting, acoustics

on topic

and thermal comfort can compromise student learning ability and performance.

What are the benefits?

While it is difficult in many cases to provide an exact quantification of the direct benefits on ROI, employee satisfaction has been proven to have long-term financial impacts.

Given the evidence on the positive impact of optimising the indoor built environment for human comfort and wellbeing, from reduced sick leave and improved productivity to the impact of ROI, the importance of occupantcentric design is non-debatable.

In a study conducted by Saint Gobain, a 90% improvement in indoor air quality and 40% improvement in acoustical comfort was reported. Further, approximately 40% of employees reported feeling more productive in the Malvern headquarters, while some 53.7%

reported an improvement in perceptions of health and wellbeing.

In another study, it was recorded that an average of 3.5 fewer workdays due to sickness were missed in Skansa’s remodelled office in Northern Hub, Doncaster, compared to its other offices in the UK. This saved the company approximately $37,500 in staff costs in 2015 as well as improving employee satisfaction by 20%. As the uptake of health and wellness in the MENA region increases, we anticipate that projects will start recording the benefits gained in this transition.

What can we do?

The approach to enhancing IEQ is multifaceted, with several key factors to consider when establishing workplace/corporate wellness.

These include promotion of physical activity, healthy nutrition, stress management,

smoking control and team building. Other considerations include programmes that encourage employee community engagement through volunteering activities and charity work, as well as promoting a culture of health through design and visual cues.

The recent trend towards healthy buildings emphasises the importance of designing buildings, while keeping in mind the primary element – the users who will inhabit them. The good news is that the uptake of certification schemes has helped improve wellbeing and satisfaction of building occupants in different countries.

As demand for healthy buildings continues to grow, materials and tools are becoming available in the UAE. It is our role and responsibility to become more mindful of the concepts that contribute to our feeling of comfort, happiness and wellbeing.

“The recent trend towards healthy buildings emphasises the importance of designing buildings while keeping in mind the primary element – the users who will inhabit them”

DECEMBER 2018 17

IN PRACTICE

INTERVIEW

Hail to the Chief

AECOM’s Lara Poloni on business opportunities in the GCC, investing in technology and addressing gender imbalance within her firm and beyond ECOM is a stalwart of the construction industry in the UAE, having operated in the country for over 50 years. In that time, the consultancy has worked on multiple high-profile projects, including Saadiyat Island, the Midfield Terminal Complex, Etihad Towers, Masdar City, Al Khail Road and Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi.

The Middle East falls under AECOM’s EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) territory, which is the responsibility of Lara Poloni, chief executive – EMEA at AECOM. In her role, Poloni leads AECOM’s second largest region (after the US) and is responsible for 20,000 professionals.

Discussing the region she oversees, Poloni says, “EMEA is the largest and most complex of our regions in terms of the sheer number of countries.

It’s 65 countries with many cultural differences, which makes it a huge but exciting challenge. It’s been a positive year, though there are going to be political and economic cycles when you look at such a large territory.

But if we focus on the Middle East, it’s certainly been one of the strongest performing markets. It is the strongest performing part of our business this year in terms of all of the regions of EMEA, and we’re positive about the future, especially when we see growth trends in places like Saudi Arabia.”

Poloni is an AECOM veteran, having been with the firm since 1994.

In 2015, she was named chief executive of EMIA, following her successful tenure as chief executive of Australia-New Zealand. Discussing the GCC markets as well as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, she is bullish about the future.

“We’re very excited, we’ve been involved in Dubai and Abu Dhabi with a number of very significant schemes. Warner Bros. World is an example of one that’s recently opened. We contribute every day to so many of the commercial projects that continue to flourish on the Dubai skyline, and they will continue to be a core part of our service offering.”

“The other key part to our business across the UAE and certainly into Saudi is our infrastructure business, whether it’s transportation or water. The scale is unprecedented, for example the major dams that are being designed and built in the Kingdom, and there continues to be major transit and road projects across the UAE. We have a long legacy of being 18 DECEMBER 2018

involved with those projects and we will continue to track and stay focused on them, all the way from initial concept through to the construction and operational phases. Those two key sectors remain the mainstay of our business, particularly here in the Middle East.”

Poloni is confident AECOM’s niche entertainment expertise will also continue to play a part in its success. “What’s great is, when you look at the entertainment sector, a global company like ours has very niche expertise in places like the US with Universal Studios and a number of world-scale entertainment precincts. We’ve leveraged that experience here in the UAE, which is great, and it’s one of the reasons why we were selected on those projects in the first place. Those experts have come to the region to deliver those projects in conjunction with our local team.”

While AECOM has had a healthy year, the market in the Middle East has been in flux and can be challenging to predict and address. Discussing AECOM’s approach, Poloni asserts, “We always try and look to market signals and make sure that our business, in terms of its scale and shape, is able to respond accordingly. Sometimes that means bringing in resources from other parts of the EMEA region, sometimes it’s about leveraging our global design centres, and other times it involves bringing in core technical expertise or niche skills from other parts of AECOM globally. There have

“I think it’s the obligation of leaders to make sure that we’re doing everything that can be done at multiple levels in our organisation, to make sure that we attract and retain the industry’s best and brightest women”

IN PRACTICE

DECEMBER 2018 19

IN PRACTICE

01

01 AECOM is leading a consortium in the UK that’s trialling autonomous vehicles.

02 The firm says it uses VR to provide an immersive experience to project stakeholders.

03 AECOM says it applied strong principles of design excellence and undertook transport and movement modelling to deliver Masdar City.

been some tough economic cycles here, but no different to the ongoing volatility that we’re seeing around the world.”

She elaborates, “I think we’ve definitely got better at navigating the market and appreciating that those cycles are normal and you need to have flexibility, particularly with your resource base. We made the decision this year to consolidate our African operations into the Middle East and Africa business. This came into effect on the first of September and has been great at opening up a broader skillset and resource base across the region, which can help us and our clients with regard to the projects in the Kingdom or in the UAE. So that’s one of the ways in which we’ve mobilised and are responding to some of the ongoing volatility in places like South Africa. It means that our employees have a broader stage on which to use their skills.”

Discussing volatility in the market and how AECOM stays on top of issues, she points out, “At a very basic level, we put a lot of emphasis on our technical practice groups being very connected in terms of deploying the technical capability around the world as required. Those practice groups, of which there are hundreds, stay in touch with market changes and technological changes, changes in software, etc.”

02

20 DECEMBER 2018

“But I think that’s one of the benefits of a global business; you have a much broader view of where resources need to flex up and down and can respond accordingly. If there’s particular volatility in one region, hopefully with the right signals and warning, we can respond to that in good time.

That’s working quite well for us at the moment.”

Poloni is also aware of the challenges of taking on large projects. “The scale of some of the projects, particularly in places like Saudi Arabia – if they start ramping up concurrently, they’ll require a lot of resources.

We are responding to that, even in terms of our internal talent strategies, and we were pleasantly surprised recently. We just had a feature article on KSA opportunities in what we call AECOM World Weekly, and we were inundated by people around the world who wanted to put forward their CV to work in places like that. So that’s one of the ways, internal talent and mobility strategies. And of course, we have to complement that with external talent acquisition as well. It’s working well at the moment.”

Committed to Infrastructure

Infrastructure is a major focus for AECOM and Poloni is confident that it will continue to contribute to the firm’s business, particularly with innovations such as driverless cars and drone-based transportation on the horizon. Asked whether AECOM is working with governments and policymakers to bring these futuristic transportation solutions to market, she reveals, “We definitely are, we’ve got long-standing experience in deploying infrastructure systems and sensors, whether it’s on a highway network or a rail network. We have a lot of experience with a variety of aspects that make up a smart city, whether it’s water, electricity, etc.”

“The regulatory part, which is often the challenge, is also something we support governments with. In fact, in the UK we’re currently leading a consortium that’s trialling

IN PRACTICE

“That’s one of the benefits of a global business; you have a much broader view of where resources need to flex up and down and can respond accordingly” autonomous vehicles, developing the systems and infrastructure needed for them to navigate safely, which we hope will raise confidence in this technology with governments, regulators and the public.”

With infrastructure management becoming increasingly digital, AECOM is also focusing on protecting these digital systems from threats, Poloni says. “We have a long-standing capability in cybersecurity, which operates across all the infrastructure domains. We’re increasingly incorporating this into a lot of the work that we do, particularly with our government clients. They are increasingly asking for advice and support around cybersecurity, and even at a municipal level around the world, sometimes we provide support with some of the security strategies, the resilience strategies, the incident response and even natural disaster events.

It’s a growing part of the business, given the way the world is moving.”

Technology is in fact a major focus for the firm on a global level. It has adapted its internal structure in recent years and continues to invest in resources to make sure it remains on the cutting edge. Poloni comments,

“We continue to invest incrementally and make sure that technology is a core part of our infrastructure and our business. We have for example, in a number of our businesses now, a chief digital officer that sits in part of the business. It’s something we invest in now, the digital technology team, for example at an enterprise level and at a geographic level – we’re growing those teams. Three or four years ago, we didn’t have that capability in-house. In conjunction with the IT support that you need to go with it, that’s a key area of investment for us.”

Adopting new technology and innovations is not without its challenges. Poloni says prioritisation and recruiting the right people are necessities. “One of the everyday challenges is just simple decisions made about what are the key pieces of software that you need to run your business to respond to some of those challenges. There’s a skill challenge, and we’re making sure that we’re recruiting for the engineers of tomorrow. There’s definitely a skilling up required, and certainly as we go to market, hiring people with more of that sort of digital know-how is going to be of interest 03

DECEMBER 2018 21

ON SITE 04 Poloni has been with AECOM since 1994 and was made chief executive of the firm’s second

to us and a real asset to bring into our business, in addition to core skills in the technical services and disciplines.”

Gender Diversity

With regard to addressing skill challenges and building teams for the projects of tomorrow, Poloni notes that it’s important to reach out to young people and build a diverse talent pool in terms of gender and culture.

“We absolutely have put it on the business agenda, just like we have with health and safety and CSR. It’s got to be on the agenda if you want to have a vibrant and diverse business that encourages people to join and be on our projects with as diverse a perspective as possible. We know that one of the simple 04 ways in which you create innovative outcomes is by bringing people together with different perspectives and experiences. So gender diversity is one aspect of that, as is cultural diversity. It’s a journey but we have to set ourselves some targets along the way.”

Explaining AECOM’s strategy to gender diversity, she says, “It starts at graduate level, where our strategy is to have a 50/50 graduate intake.

You’ve got to start at the very beginning. Our efforts, though, are going well beyond that. In the UK, we have about 150 STEM ambassadors that are going out to high schools to encourage girls about the benefits of a career in engineering. It’s a great career path, so you’ve got to create that interest at the earliest stage and break down some of these barriers and the gender stereotypes about just men being interested in mechanical and electrical engineering.”

She is also committed to making sure women have support once they become part of her firm and the industry. “We’re trying to be supportive in-house with some initiatives that have been very successful for us, such as the mCircles concept. mCircles is about women supporting one another and coming together in AECOM and having conversations in a local office, whether it’s sharing tips for how to negotiate a pay rise or how to improve communication. In the process of actually sharing some of this expertise, it’s actually creating a strong affiliation and networking opportunity for women in an office to come together. Often that presentation is led by a senior women or a senior man – a leader sharing perspectives. The topics 22 DECEMBER 2018

largest region in 2015.

are determined based on some of the issues that local women want more support on or want to learn more about from some of their senior colleagues.”

She adds, “The other thing that we’ve done is that we’ve had senior women running mentoring programmes. Each member of my executive team is assigned a couple of women, and they have to be a mentor or a sponsor, and coach these women. We’ve had really positive feedback around that as well.”

The mCircles programme has been quite successful in the EMEA region as well as in Australia and New Zealand, according to Poloni. That said, as AECOM’s first female chief executive, she also wants her firm to take up a leadership role within the construction industry.

“I would like us to take a much stronger industry leadership role. I think there’s more that we could do, and that will certainly be featuring in our plans in the FY19 year. During this year, at the EMEA level, we also created a diversity and inclusion steering committee which comprises leaders drawn from across our EMEA region – executive leaders, basically.”

She concludes, “I think it’s the obligation of leaders to make sure that we’re doing everything that can be done at multiple levels in our organisation to make sure that we attract and retain the industry’s best and brightest women. We’re also supplementing that pipeline by deliberate hires – we need to hire more women at various stages. You can’t just rely on the pipeline, it won’t happen fast enough. You have to build it using multiple tactics. It’s a big part of our business agenda and we know the business case is strong and proven, so we’re getting on with it.”

She concludes, “We’re one of the largest employers in our sector, we’re 20,000 people across EMEA, so I think we can have a very powerful voice.

I think that’s where the role of leaders, and particularly women leaders, comes into play – we have a unique voice and opportunity. You have a lot of power that comes with these roles to have your perspective shared.

The last point I’ll make is, I hear a lot of differing perspectives on this is the obligation of men, or it’s a men’s problem to bring women through and such – I always say that it’s actually a job of leaders, men or women.”

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IN PRACTICE

24 DECEMBER 2018

IN PRACTICE

INTERVIEW

From Concept to Regional Reality Perkins+Will’s Diane Thorsen on the benefits of co-living and co-working spaces and making them a regional reality o-living and co-working spaces are concepts that have taken hold in Western markets. Within the GCC region, however, they have yet to gain acceptance due to cultural and legislative issues. Here, Jason Saundalkar talks to Diane Thorsen, principal design director at Perkins+Will, about what co-living and co-working could mean for the market, the associated challenges and the approach to designing those spaces.

If you could start off with where the market is right now – who, if anyone, is doing anything interesting in this space?

It’s really interesting at the moment because the market has become quite soft within the region, which creates completely different opportunities. I think affordable housing is something which is very much needed in the property segment now. Developers are looking at two different options; they’re looking at launching luxury residential in a much smaller category because it’s already overcrowded, and affordable homes are where the opportunity is. This is where we are required to be inventive.

In light of this, the context of co-living and co-working actually changes the space in this region. I think the option is almost the glorified college dorms, where instead of it being students, you have digital nomads launching their start-up businesses. It offers this very inventive sense of community, which is driven by the changes in technology, where digital almost forces a loneliness. I think actually it’s arisen from things like REWORK, where they entered the co-living game in 2016.

They opened their real estate in the US and that’s kind of filtered through to the UAE. You’re starting to see that more and more, which I think is really exciting for this market.

Are developers following what’s going on with co-living and co-

developers who are the visionaries, who are seeing where the gaps in the market are and how to work and provide offerings in a soft market.

A few hotels are using the soft market to refurb and upgrade. Do you think we’ll see a situation where the hotel market focuses on co-living or co-working spaces?

I think the hospitality market has shifted because there is an oversupply of luxury hotels. They absolutely still have their place because there are travellers and tourists who look for that offering. However, the market here particularly has become very attractive for the millennial generation and their lifestyle.

Airbnb has disrupted the market in a positive way, because it means that existing hotels who are potentially struggling have an opportunity of either adapting or dying. So, the adaptation means that they change their offering, where customers can engage with the space in which they live. All the amenities, including Wi-Fi, meeting rooms, entertainment, recreation areas – you know, all of these types of things which typically the hotels don’t make money from, they can actually have these incorporated into a co-living, co-working building typology, which then actually gives a better return. I think it’s a very good new approach.

Outside the UAE, are any of the other GCC markets (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, etc) getting in on this strategy?

I think they will potentially follow. There are few that are starting within this region, but I think it’s something that will continue to expand into other areas. I think with Saudi, culturally, the market is very different and a little bit more conservative, so I don’t imagine that that would take hold.

The typical co-working space, yes, but I think the co-working, co-living will not necessarily be taken on board as easily. I think areas like Bahrain and Kuwait, the same thing would apply, just because culturally it’s a slightly different market – it doesn’t necessarily have the same appeal as it would in the UAE for the millennial generation.

working spaces in Western marekts?

Absolutely. I think the largest developer, Emaar, as well as a few other developers are looking into this. Nshama is another one. I think it’s those

Coming back to the UAE, for co-living, co-working spaces to take off, what has to change in terms of legislation and guidelines?

DECEMBER 2018 25

IN PRACTICE

01 Co-working spaces can be found in several North American, European and Asian markets.

02 Dubai has done well to attract young entrepreneurs through initiatives such as the Dubai Future Foundation and The Museum of the Future.

Legislation is one of the things that is most interesting for us as architects 01 and designers, because that needs to shift to enable this to really take hold.

Unfortunately, you’re dealing with tourism boards and existing operators with specific and restrictive brand standards, and it takes the two of them to make changes to enable this as a global shift to happen. If you look at Europe for example, they are far more open and willing to embrace change.

While the region is visionary, the movements are a little bit slower with the tourism boards, operators and government making those shifts to allow that reinvigoration of a new concept. It will be slow but it will come.

Saudi Arabia seems to be able to get aligned very quickly when something new has to be adopted. What’s your take?

I think as the market opens and with the changes that are happening within Saudi, I believe that is definitely going to be a concept that will be embraced, but it will be a slower transition. What you find right now is that people are willing to live in Dubai and commute to Saudi Arabia to work. That still exists. The market of co-living, co-working in Saudi Arabia, and of attracting millennials, I think is a little way out.

Is Perkins+Will running workshops or working with developers or hotel operators to educate around co-living and co-working?

Absolutely. It’s something that we’re passionate about because, for us,

“Resiliency relates to the reuse and repurposing of buildings – we see that as a huge opportunity because you have a number of structures that are either empty, vacant or are really struggling” 26 DECEMBER 2018

we believe firmly in sustainability and resiliency. Resiliency relates to the reuse and repurposing of buildings – we see that as a huge opportunity because you have a number of structures that are either empty, vacant or are really struggling. To reuse or repurpose these buildings as co-working, co-living, where you have all of these amenities within one building, it’s resiliency in its true form.

We are doing a number of different workshops, working with developers and operators. We recently had a discussion through a panel with the Rotana Group, and I think one of the key things, the takeaway for all of them from the discussion, was that the main constant is change.

Everything needs to be reinvented and looked at with fresh eyes.

When it comes to designing new spaces for co-living and coworking, are there any specific design considerations?

The key consideration that we look at is how to integrate the kinds of things that this market, which is very mobile and very technology-driven, will require. Gone are the things like all-day dining spaces that are used for breakfast and then stand empty for the rest of the day. It’s designing flexible spaces which can become a dining area, an art gallery, an area where you can relax and chill and hold events – spaces that can be used 24/7.

I think that is what is driving the design of spaces – how we can create very technology-driven environments that are cool to hang out in and where small businesses can make connections, because technology has almost disconnected us from one another. Whereas creating spaces like this really fosters a sense of community, and I think that is what we’re looking to do. With these spaces, you can literally leave that space and go and retreat to an area which is just your own private space, all in one area. You don’t need a car. It’s driven by managing costs and being part of a community. I think that’s what everyone is looking for now.

What are the challenges with new builds and existing buildings that are going to transition to co-living and co-working spaces?

I think the challenges are really presented in the rules and regulations and authority approvals. That, and getting the developers on board to understand that they need to embrace this and to work with us to create

IN PRACTICE

“I think it’s those developers who are the visionaries, who are seeing where the gaps in the market are and how to work and provide offerings in a very soft market” a different kind of offering, because that’s where the market is going. If we are able to work with developers to create these spaces that are a different offering, then there are no challenges. It’s dealing with the resistance.

Also, there’s the desire, which we call the race to the bottom, which is to create spaces at very little cost. That doesn’t support the reality because you’re delivering an end product that doesn’t have the longevity, which for us means sustainability and resiliency. It’s about finding the right value point, rather than being so focused on a commercial outcome and a very quick ROI. It’s finding a balance that we’re finding the most challenging.

Technology is being used to track and predict the usage of a building. Can this make a case for co-living, co-working spaces?

In terms of monitoring usage, if you just look at the data from existing operators and the feedback, the tourism board for me is what’s interesting.

Every single operator we speak to will always give us the feedback that the retail areas don’t give them any ROI. It’s a checklist 02 exercise where they need to have that to comply with the tourism board. They need to have meeting facilities and a business centre, which typically stand empty. They need to have all-day dining, which stands empty. If you look at the usage of what is currently within the tourism board’s requirements, that speaks for itself.

Those are the kinds of things that have to change.

The shift needs to happen at that level or you have to have developers be brave and create a new building typology, for which the results will also speak for themselves, in terms of how people will use it. It’s a philosophy that we have at Perkins+Will – create the space and people will come.

For us, good design and really great quality design speaks for itself; you don’t need to first

monitor in order to create it. We see the kinds of opportunities and then we see people come and use the space, so that’s what good design does.

How do you foresee the co-working and co-living market developing over the next 12-24 months?

In a softening market, we rely on working with visionary developers who want to embrace change and work with us to create opportunities. I see that there are some developers who are looking to do that and there is the opportunity of us, as really forward-thinking designers and architects, to work with them to challenge the market, and to create something that will respond. That is a very exciting opportunity for us, both in this region and beyond. It’s a requirement to do a few projects like this, which offer the differential to be able to shift the market.

Within Perkins+Will, are you reorganising for this segment?

We are. We’re doing a number of workshops with different developers and operators to collaborate and communicate with them on where we see the changes, how they can be addressed and how we can provide a new offering. We are working on some interesting projects with them, which are confidential at the moment.

What’s your approach in terms of talent for taking on work in this space?

As an international company, Perkins+Will has wide reach and experts in the workplace, residential and hospitality fields, so we’re perfectly positioned. Co-living and co-working buildings merge all three elements into one.

We have 25 offices globally and talent that we can reach with ease, which positions us perfectly to be able to bring real change to the market. We are very excited about that.

DECEMBER 2018 27

IN PRACTICE

INTERVIEW

Rethinking Cities Arup’s Hrvoje Cindric on why it’s important to rethink and redesign Middle Eastern cities within their environmental context

arlier this year, Arup expanded its Cities Alive portfolio with a new edition titled Rethinking Cities in Arid Environments. Cities Alive is, as Arup describes it, “a human-centred approach to rethinking how we should design and manage cities in the future”. The new edition talks about the need for a rethink of the way cities are built in arid environments such as those in the Middle East.

“Initially, we set out to make some of the great thinking in the series more pertinent to the Gulf and filter for what is most relevant to us, our clients and collaborators. As we were going through the research stages and in discussions with Arupians elsewhere, we realised there is original urban thinking that originates from the Gulf, and that there are of course lots of other places that share climatic characteristics with us. Hence, we looked at arid environments more generally, as there are lots of other geographies that can learn from what’s going on in this region and vice versa,” explains Hrvoje Cindric, associate at ARUP. The Cities Alive: Rethinking Cities in Arid Environments (CAiAE) document features thoughts, success stories and suggestions and is free to download, according to Cindric.

28 DECEMBER 2018

Discussing modern cities and their associated issues, Cindric is quick to point out that one of the biggest problems is that cities are still being built on old idea and to solve old problems. “The citymaking disciplines today were originally a response to the industrial revolution and the often terrible living conditions in industrialising cities in the 18th century. At the same time, the industrial revolution took place in the UK, northern Europe and northeastern America, which all have the North Atlantic climate in common. So the challenges that civil engineering and architecture were tackling were a response to those kind of living conditions in that climate. The resulting architecture, for example, was about bringing light into dark and dank living quarters.”

He notes that a completely different approach is necessary for the Middle East. “In the Gulf, we should be designing to keep some light and the correlating heat out. Professionals here are trained abroad, generally speaking, but even if not, the curriculum taught here is dominated by North Atlantic thinking and global truths become entrenched. There is of course a level of appreciation for the issue, and a few interesting projects that address this. But bigger picture, car-based, low-density, land-use segregated cities with glass towers are not a very sustainable model, and even less so in the desert environments we live in.”

IN PRACTICE

Asked how a change of thinking can be brought about, Cindric comments, “I think a bit of emancipation is needed, in that sense – we still seem to think as though the Gulf is somewhere innovation can’t come from, or that we’re looking to what x and y are doing and we’re trying to bring those ideas here. While we can’t force innovation, it has to be fostered, and Expo 2020 and Masdar are great examples of environments where this is happening to some extent.

Crucial in all this is the sharing of knowledge and experiences. It’s about knowing and appreciating that there are places out there in the world that are grappling with similar issues and we can learn from one another.”

He adds, “The way in which international development aid has been changing is a great example. There is a drive to change the way it is delivered by sharing approaches and experiences, rather than exporting institutions. We are suggesting a similar approach, moving away from a north to south export, and creating an arid to arid

environment exchange instead. Organisations such as the C40 are already doing exactly that, and by appreciating that city mayors can be more reactive to climate change than national governments and bringing them together, they’ve created this knowledge exchange network, which Dubai is currently chairing. We could create a subset within that for arid issues.”

In terms of how decision-makers in cities such as Dubai, which have been shaped by hundreds if not thousands of people over the years, can begin to rethink and redesign the city in relation to its ambient environment, Cindric believes awareness is key.

“It starts with awareness. Our climate is obviously different to that of London, New York, even Beirut and Mumbai. Accordingly, we should adapt the way we do things. Take the sustainability agenda, for example: when I first arrived here, people didn’t get detailed electricity bills, and now the bills tell you if you are consuming within the range that you should be. Like with most things, there needs to be a bit

“It starts with awareness. Our climate is different to that of London, New York, even Beirut and Mumbai.

Accordingly, we should adapt the way we do things” DECEMBER 2018 29

IN PRACTICE

01 Hrvoje Cindric is an associate at Arup.

of carrot, a bit of stick. This is where government policy has to come in and adapt, for example, codes that are being imported from elsewhere.

We as professionals need to communicate to our clients why things should be different. If a Fortune 500 company comes to Dubai in search of office space, they will have specific requirements which will often be global policy.

But the climate here is so different, so why should you expect the same glass tower as in Hong Kong, and why can’t your business attire reflect regional conditions?”

He continues, “A great example where this has 01 happened and where great ideas came with people from around the world is landscape architecture. Xeriscaping is now a fully accepted option, where in a drive to reduce water consumption, we don’t appreciate that not everything has to be a lush lawn anymore, especially something like a highway junction or a road median. I find it interesting to have met numerous landscape architects either from or trained in the American southwest in the Gulf. And you would think, ‘Of course, makes sense, it’s obvious,’ but I think we have some way to

“I should think that we should always start with the question ‘does this actually make sense?’ and make the effort to explore alternatives. I’m sure we will have surprising outcomes” 30 DECEMBER 2018

go. It is about spreading ideas and success stories, and that is why we pulled together Cities Alive: Rethinking Cities in Arid Environments, to showcase these and make a start.”

It seems obvious that being selective and adopting only the elements that make sense from foreign markets is the way to move forward.

Cindric agrees and says, “Yes, I should think that we should always start with the question ‘does this actually make sense?’ and make the effort to explore alternatives.

I’m sure we will have surprising outcomes. As a layman, I always thought that it doesn’t make sense to have green roofs in the Gulf.

In places where it rains a lot, it makes sense because you don’t need to irrigate it and it helps with stormwater issues. The latter is also true in the Gulf, but in addition, it has the benefit of reducing the energy loads because your air is not as hot when you suck it in to be cooled, compared to a typical concrete roof. We lack examples and full understanding of the application of green (or xeriscape) roofs, but we need to start to trial, error and improve.

“Another interesting thought in CAiAE came from our MEP contributors. Most of the knowledge comes from places where you have to heat buildings, and there it makes sense to pump out exhaust air at the top of buildings, because hot air rises anyway. We do the same thing in the region – however, we pump cool air out on the top of the buildings as well. If you’ve ever walked around any Gulf city in the summer, I’m certain you’ve noticed how cool air rushes out when a door is left open. Just imagine if we designed all buildings to pump out the cool air at the ground plain, where it will benefit everyone that’s walking around on the streets.”

He concludes, “This also comes back to emancipation and knowledge – we do x because of y, but y in Dubai is different, so go back and have a rethink about those elements and then apply them.

This cannot happen in isolation, though, so the client needs to see value in doing things differently, and approving authorities must be appreciative and not blindly insist on standards.”

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32 DECEMBER 2018

ON SITE

INTERVIEW

WIC Profile: Sarah Huskie Jason Saundalkar talks to WSP’s Sarah Huskie about her inf luences, career and gender diversity in the construction industry ollowing our special edition dedicated to women in the construction industry, Middle East Consultant continues to share the inspiration and experiences of women working in the male-dominated industry across the GCC. Here, we catch up with Sarah Huskie, head of Environment & Sustainability at WSP Middle East.

include the Marina Bay Sands Development in Singapore, Crossrail in the UK, VOX cinemas in the UAE and the Dubai Opera House.

I feel very lucky to be able to say that I have never felt held back by gender in any of my roles or positions. I am proud to be a working mum of two young boys, and I hope that my experience shows other women that it can be done and inspires them to follow their goals and dreams.

What are some of the barriers to women entering the construction

What drove you to get into construction and your very first role

industry? What was your personal experience?

in the industry? What were some of the influences that set you

I was always encouraged to follow my interest in science and maths, and it never bothered me that I was one of a few girls studying those subjects. I would say that it is essential to encourage girls interested in the STEM subjects from a young age, so that they specialise in these subjects in school and the university. I believe that this change has already started to happen and I am hopeful that this progress continues, so that there will be more women taking roles in the construction industry in the future.

on your path?

I have always had an interest in the science, technology, engineering & mathematics (STEM) subjects, and during a brief internship in a UK local government Environmental Health Department, I started exploring noise and acoustics. I realised how wide-ranging a subject it was, from monitoring noise levels at music concerts to designing opera houses.

Tell us about your career, mentioning key milestones.

While working in local government, I studied for my Institute of Acoustics diploma and shortly after left to join a private consultancy with an engineering company in the UK. I completed my MSc during that period, and two years later I joined WSP in London. I first left the UK in 2006 when I moved to Dubai to establish an Acoustics team for WSP, and I led that team for a number of years. I’m excited to say that I have now taken on a new role as head of Environment and Sustainability within WSP, and I’m really looking forward to this new chapter with a broader range of disciplines to manage.

How have you made your mark in the industry, working on projects specifically? What is your proudest moment?

I am proud to have worked on some of the world’s most incredible projects and feel a sense of achievement each time I visit them. Some of them

“The GCC is changing and there are a number of women in influential positions in government, which is fantastic.

Change takes time, but I am excited to see this change happening” DECEMBER 2018 33

ON SITE

How do you see the GCC

construction

construction

markets

face across the GCC

changing in the coming

countries? How can these

years?

your

challenges be addressed?

thoughts and views of the

One of the biggest challenges I have seen is the availability of flexible working hours. I have been lucky with WSP in that I have been able to work flexible working hours, so that I can pick up my kids from school and spend valuable time with them. I am very aware that this type of arrangement is still quite rare in the region, but I would love to see it become more common, as it will definitely give some of the incredibly talented women the opportunity to return to work.

Share

regional market.

The GCC is changing and there are now a number of women in influential positions in government, which is fantastic. Change takes time, but I am excited to see this change happening and I hope that this encourages more women into the workplace.

Everyone has a part to play in diversity and equal pay.

What would you like to see government authorities and

construction

sector

companies do to increase diversity and make pay a

In doing your job, what sort

level playing field?

of discrimination (if any)

For me it is very simple – everyone, whether in government, construction or any other industry, should be paid equally for the work they do, regardless of gender.

have you faced and how did you or WSP address it?

I can honestly say that I have not faced any discrimination in any of the companies I have worked for, so this has not been an issue for me.

As a woman in the industry, what has your experience been working in the GCC construction sector? If you have worked in markets

Do you feel there’s a limit with regard to how far you can progress

outside the GCC, how does your experience here compare with

within your organisation?

what you’ve experienced and observed in other markets?

I am fortunate to be working for a company that gives its people the right support and equal opportunities, regardless of gender.

The construction sector in the GCC has historically been a maledominated environment, but I have seen that change in the last few years. There are more and more women in influential roles throughout the industry. Having worked in the UK and Asia, I have seen changes taking place in those markets as well.

In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge women in the

How does WSP approach gender diversity in the workplace?

What more can your firm do to increase diversity?

WSP has a Women in Professional Services Group, which aims to give the women in our business the opportunity to engage with each other and address any issues we may face as a group.

“One of the biggest challenges I have seen is the availability of flexible working hours. I have been lucky with WSP in that I can pick up my kids from school and spend valuable time with them” 34 DECEMBER 2018

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INTERVIEW

WIC Profile: Nivine Issa Jason Saundalkar talks to AESG’s Nivine Issa about her inf luences, career and gender diversity in the construction industry ollowing our special edition dedicated to women in the construction industry, Middle East Consultant continues to share the inspiration and experiences of women working in the male-dominated industry across the GCC. Here, we catch up with Nivine Issa, head of Environment and Waste at AESG. What drove you to get into construction and your first role?

I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences and pursued my master’s degree later on in Sustainable Development.

Knowing that the construction industry has one of the largest global ecological footprints, I wanted to work in a field where I can influence change and build a career in an ever-evolving topic. My first role in the industry was working as an environmental consultant for the United Nations Development Program in the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in Lebanon in 2011, where I was exposed to some of the country’s largest developmental initiatives.

Share a brief about your career, mentioning key achievements.

After finishing my postgraduate studies, I knew I wanted to pursue a consulting role. Having spent four years of my professional career between the UK and Lebanon, I wanted to experience something new, hence I moved to the UAE. My first job here was a sustainability engineer on the construction site of the new Midfield Terminal Building at the new Abu Dhabi airport. That project helped me gain a lot of practical experience in the construction industry here in the UAE. Having a background in both environmental sciences and sustainable development helped me get exposure to a wider range of studies, projects and clientele, specifically with AESG, where I have been working for four years now. I am now the head of Environment & Waste, leading a team of environmental 36 DECEMBER 2018

scientists, engineers and ecologists working on some of the most interesting projects in the region.

How have you made your mark in the industry working on specific projects? What has been your proudest moment?

Even though it is predominantly a male industry, I have met some of the most interesting and impressive female executives working here in the UAE. It’s true the balance is not quite there yet, but I have never found it to be an obstacle being a woman working in the construction industry.

My proudest moment would definitely be heading up the Environment and Waste department at AESG and continuing to grow the department alongside my colleagues and clients, some of whom I believe are the most influential people in the industry.

What are some of the barriers to women entering the construction

“I believe the best example that the industry has started evolving is the number of women in managerial and leadership roles across the GCC. I am excited to see the market evolving and more women excelling in the industry”

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DECEMBER 2018 37

ON SITE

I can’t comment broadly on how things are on a global level, having only worked in Lebanon, the United Kingdom, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. What I can say is that my experience has been consistently pleasant in the markets I mentioned.

industry? What was your personal experience?

I never found it to be an obstacle, being a woman in the industry. In fact, I don’t believe anything related to my gender hindered my development in the company, the country, the region and the industry in general. Despite the negative stereotypes, I actually go to Saudi Arabia regularly for business meetings and I never found myself to be discriminated against.

The GCC construction sector

is

still

male-

dominated, but diversity is beginning to increase.

If you agree, comment on what is driving this and how you see the GCC markets changing in the coming years. If you do not agree, please share your thoughts and views of the market.

It is true the construction industry is male-dominated; however, this has changed significantly over the past few years. I believe the best example that the industry has started evolving is the number of women in managerial and leadership roles across the GCC. I am excited to see the market evolving and more women excelling in the industry.

In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge women in the construction sector face in GCC countries?

How can these challenges be addressed?

In general, I think one of the main challenges that women face in the male-dominated construction sector is the burden of always having to prove yourself. I think equal opportunity is still not fully practised across all organisations in the sector, but one can see a shift in normalising recruitment efforts and government initiatives in the region for empowering women. I think barriers can easily be broken down when you encourage yourself, your employees and your team to step outside their comfort zone and aim for things that sometimes seem difficult.

Do you feel there’s a limit with regard to how far you can progress

Everyone has a part to play in diversity and equal pay. What would

within your organisation?

you like to see government authorities and construction firms do

Being part of the senior management team in AESG, I don’t believe there’s any limit with regard to how far I can progress.

to increase diversity and make pay a level playing field?

Even though I don’t believe I have ever experienced this myself, and being part of an organisation that values and implements the principles of equal opportunity and equal pay, I would love to see both the private and public sector be more transparent and structured with regard to pay grades and job benefits. There’s no place in the professional environment for discriminating against gender, nationality and age; people should be hired and progress on merit.

What has your experience been working in the GCC construction sector? If you have worked in markets outside the GCC, how does your experience here compare with what you’ve experienced and observed in other markets?

38 DECEMBER 2018

What advice would you give to a woman entering the GCC construction industry today?

I think one of the key things that women in the Arab world feel is that they will not be offered equal opportunity and pay, and this has sometimes demotivated them from pursuing careers in what seemed to be male-dominated fields. I believe as these stereotypes are evolving, we will see more female leaders in the construction industry.

Despite the stereotypes, women have been able to excel and be in leadership roles in the industry, and this should be the greatest testament to the lack of importance of some of the barriers that one would think exist in the region.

ON SITE

EVENT REVIEW

Middle East BIM Summit 2018

Third annual event welcomed over 250 delegates from across the regional construction industry

B

ig Project Middle East and Middle East Consultant hosted the third edition of the Middle East BIM Summit on October 28, at the Habtoor Grand Hotel in Dubai. This year’s event was the biggest yet and focused on how new technology is being used in conjunction with BIM, and how BIM can assist sustainable construction.

With more than 250 delegates, panellists and speakers comprising consultants, contractors and government personalities, the event was a resounding success. Mediated by AECOM’s Farah Kurdi, the third event included three panel discussions and four presentations, followed by a networking lunch.

Kurdi kicked off the first panel discussion on how the construction industry is using new technologies and how these advancements are making way for an integrated approach towards BIM. Other interesting topics and themes were covered in the discussion, during which Architectural Corner’s Djordje Grujic said that technology should be 40 DECEMBER 2018

the base of a business and integrated project delivery helps everyone find information in one place. Accienta’s Carolina Fong Guzzy agreed with the sentiment and said, “Integrated design delivery needs collaboration between all stakeholders.” The panel concluded with Marwan Abu Ebeid, Turner International ME, reiterating that “BIM should be part of the daily process within the team”.

The panel was followed by a presentation from AECOM’s Prakash Senghani, who highlighted how BIM will evolve in the future.

Senghani also spoke about how contractors have started to adopt BIM in the last year.

A panel discussion on big data and BIM was next on the agenda, moderated by Craig Garrett from Bentley Systems. The panel discussed using the Internet of Things (IoT) on BIM projects and harvesting data and using it for the future. “With big data analytics, it’s possible to see how the model compares and understand how it will develop further,” said Joylyn Dela Cruz from Aurecon. The panel discussion ended with

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Garrett asking an important question about who owns the data, which made for a well-rounded discussion with some conflicting answers.

The second presentation of the day was from Bentley Systems’ Raguram Jayaram. A highlight of his talk was his view of the role drones will play in digital transformation.

The final panel discussion for the day was chaired by AESG’s Phillipa Grant, and examined the impact of BIM on achieving sustainable targets. The majority of the debate revolved around using BIM to create smarter buildings and cities and developing net-zero

energy buildings. The panel closed with the thought that “being sustainable is easier now, but it’s a matter of clients wanting to do it”.

Sunderasan Krishnan, S&T Interiors and Contracting, and Arsanious Abtnago, ASGC Construction, both agreed with this statement.

The second-last presentation of the day was given by Clifford Kneale of Pace, on the Asset Information Model and why it’s important for organisations to adopt COBie. Earlier panellist Marwan Abu Ebeid returned to give the final presentation for the day and discussed BIM standards around the world.

Thanks to all our sponsors

DECEMBER 2018 41

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OPINION

01 Louise Rodrigues is a project management consultant at Aquila.

Securing the Future Attracting a new generation to the construction industry is vital, says Aquila’s Louise Rodrigues It’s important to understand and acknowledge why the industry is failing to attract the next generation. Around the world, the construction industry has a reputation for being an outdated, traditional work environment that uses antiquated education and training methods. This is compounded by a long pathway to career progression, with an apprentice-style training route. It is believed that other industries offer a fast-track route to success.

There is also a perception that the industry is not glamorous, and it often isn’t.

We don’t need to pretend that it is, though, because it is actually fun and can be quite gratifying – breathing life into a design on paper and watching it become a real, life-sized dream that contributes in some way to our world is extremely rewarding.

01

Time to act…

G

lobally, there’s a reported shortage of skills in the construction industry, with a steady decline of new undergraduates and thus talent for firms to recruit. There’s an immediate need to appeal to the new generation so as to avoid a catastrophic decrease in the availability of skills, a spike in demand for the declining remaining talent and a skewed vision of the workforce, which will invariably have an impact on the value of the industry.

42 DECEMBER 2018

In order to attract the next generation of construction professionals, organisations within the industry need to start thinking about what they want to achieve in the future, and that means thinking about the people they want to attract. It may sound like a cliché, but construction companies need creative, fun, hard-working, energetic teams who challenge each other to create and deliver the best projects.

While it’s essential to promote the critical issue of attracting young people, it’s also important to send an appropriate message that appeals to them. We have to ask ourselves: Would the fact that an industry was screaming out in desperation for new recruits

have influenced us at career-choice stage? I think not.

Today’s industry veterans had the same desires as the new generation; the only difference is that young people now have a lot more exposure to exciting and interesting career options. Unfortunately for the construction industry, competition in terms of career options is extremely high.

For the industry to thrive and attract new talent, young people need to see the positive side of the construction industry. Today, I think it’s safe to say that it can be quite a hard sell. Potential candidates are all thinking: What is inspiring about the position? What would motivate us? Is it worth investing my mind and time (a luxury that few give away easily)? Thinking about all this, you also start to wonder what sold veterans on the industry all those years ago.

Some twenty years ago, my first job and first bosses were off-the-scale fun, encouraging and inspiring. They made coming to work enjoyable and had a positive leadership attitude. The deadlines were challenging and clients were demanding (nothing has changed), but the ‘work hard, play hard’ approach is something that still drives me now.

In fact, the reasons I chose the industry then are the same reasons I’m here today. I saw opportunities such as the following: • Meeting new interesting people, with diverse backgrounds • Opportunity to travel and work overseas • A career that was not bound to a desk in an office, with a good variety of tasks,

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both indoors and outdoors • Constant change, taking a project from inception to handover, in an everchanging environment • A career with possibilities for growth • Being part of and leading major project teams – we often take for granted the fact that so many people form a project team, each person with an important role to play on the project • The legacy footprint – I have worked on projects that will survive my existence by

many, many years. That in itself is such a special contribution to make What’s apparent now is that to attract the new generation to the industry, we have to cover all of the technical aspects; dispel negative stereotypes; create exposure to the variety of creative career options and paths; and offer work placements and better career advice at the school level.

Moreover, once we have new people expressing interest in the field, we still need to maintain the ‘people elements’ through a

positive internal and external work culture, by embracing new, progressive business models and work environments, and trusting staff, especially young people that are currently on board who already believe in the industry.

We also need to remember that these are the people who will take things forward and be the role models of the future – your business succession plan. The young people of today need to be able to see themselves in your shoes in the future, to inspire them to want to be there.

“In order to attract the next generation of professionals, organisations within the industry need to start thinking about what they want to achieve in the future, and that means thinking about the people they want to attract”

DECEMBER 2018 43

THE BACK PAGE

LAST WORD 01 George Arvanitis is MEA director of Master Planning and Urban Design at Parsons.

Reconnecting Dubai Parsons’ George Arvanitis and Tarek Elmalatawy discuss the benefits of transit-oriented development

01

A

s global trends of urbanisation accelerate, there’s a need to connect increasingly dense urban centers. To alleviate symptomatic congestion and deliver healthy, sustainable environments, cities should be human-centred and pedestrian-oriented, with a diverse mix of neighbourhoods and uses, easy access to modal transport and a vibrant public realm.

By clustering communities around highquality public transport, transit-oriented

development (TOD) can play a key role in promoting compact, livable, sustainable developments while providing quality amenities that are essential to health and well-being. This in turn can create synergy and opportunity to diversify development opportunities, linking working, living, shopping and recreation more intimately to deliver a more varied land value proposition and commercial return to shareholders.

A recent report by Knight Frank highlighted that residential property along key Red Line Metro routes has outperformed the wider residential market. Residential properties within a 10-minute walk command a 9% premium, and those within a 15-minute walk command a sizeable 32% premium over Dubai’s average residential property.

Parsons’ Urban Development Studio has been collaborating with Jumeirah Golf Estates and the RTA to master plan one of Dubai’s first TOD developments. We’ve transformed a landmark site along Dubai’s Mohammed Bin Zayed Road with future mobility networks into a livable, sustainable, high-density, mixeduse destination by promoting urban design principles that provide quality communities and public spaces: • Capitalising on future public transport, with extensions of the Red Line Expo Link transit station and Purple Line to Al Maktoum Airport and to the wider city

•

Building densely to leverage the land value from the vertical expansion • Preserving public spaces to create interaction and promote walkability • Promoting a diversity of uses to create livable open spaces • Delivering a mix of housing types with increased floor-plate efficiency • Providing neighbourhood centres with active ground floors • Creating quality streets that encourage walkability • Promoting cycling with active transport for community well-being • Reducing parking requirements • Creating environmentally friendly development by reducing the use of cars, thereby reducing the carbon footprint The advantages of TOD are not limited to creating more walkable cities that are less reliant on cars. They also include promoting healthy city living while reducing pollution and energy use.

In planning future communities, developers and authorities can capitalise on Dubai’s capacity to work in partnership and secure capital investment quickly to implement sustainable projects. However, we should concentrate on the interface of individual projects that, when combined, can produce a single sustainable Dubai greater than the sum of its developments.

“Cities should be human-centred and pedestrianoriented, with a diverse mix of neighbourhoods and uses” 44 DECEMBER 2018

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