Speaking to the people who know

There is a terrific quote from the great Steve Wozniak (one of the ‘two Steves’ who founded Apple). When he was asked if there were any particular reasons for the success that he and Steve Jobs enjoyed, he said: “Firstly, we were very much at the centre of the action; we weren’t in London, Hanoi or Budapest; we were in San Francisco at the heart of the microprocessor revolution. Then, we were dealing with people who really understood where the boundaries of the industry were, and who knew how to push things further on.”

Keeping in mind this importance of talking to the people who really know where the boundaries are, this issue of Middle East Consultant is something of an ‘interview special’ - we talk to key executives from Al Masaood Bergum, Cundall, JLL, and Omnium. Although we speak to them about a very broad variety of topics, what is perhaps surprising is that there is a significant alignment in the topics they actually bring to the table.

Throughout, there is, firstly, an ongoing quest for sustainability, even though the projects they refer to differ immensely. This can be manifest in many different ways: from JLL choosing to be in an LEED Platinumcertified building partly detached from the UAE’s national grid, though to Al Masaood finding ways of mass-producing and then deploying a new generation of sustainable building materials.

Then, there is a high importance attached to innovation. We might think that innovation is a somewhat romanticised concept, and that most developers simply want something of high quality that is tried and tested by the market, not something that’s going to raise eyebrows and cause debate. Yet at the leading-edge (as represented by our interviewees here), it’s prized immensely: all of them feel a commitment and obligation to raise the bar, and to find new, better - and perhaps faster and simpler - ways of getting the job done.

I hope that when you read these interviews, they will give you considerable food for thought, as they did for me, and show completely fresh perspectives on some of the region’s time-honoured debates. Good reading!

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RAK Properties Q1 revenue grows by 141% ernando, you’ve been working in the Middle East for more than 15 years: What do you see as some of the good and bad traits in the construction sector at present?

“Innovation - or rather the lack of it - is always something that comes to mind. As a whole, the industry has a long way to go in terms of innovation. That’s not to say that we never see glimpses of ingenuity, particularly in how information is collected and analysed due to market changes, but in terms of the build itself, we still see a lot of outdated practices that have been used for 100’s of years and you wonder when a revolution similar to the revolution that hit the manufacturing industry will hit construction, compelling us to rethink what we do.”

“Just look at how concrete and rebar continue to dominate modern construction practices. Whilst the emergence of 3D printing holds promises, there is still a long way to go. Large-scale applications often leave a lot to be desired particularly in the aesthetics and end-product. Nonetheless, it is imperative that we wholeheartedly embrace these new technologies, as they have the potential to