JULY 2010 / VOLUME 4 / ISSUE 7
An ITP Business Publication | Licensed by Dubai Media City
Is the era of supertalls now over?
NEWS, DATA, ANALYSIS AND STRATEGIC INSIGHTS FOR ARCHITECTS IN THE GCC
KSA FOCUS
PORTFOLIO
MEA visits Saudi Arabia to see what all the fuss is about
A Qatari restaurant, Saudi apartments and a new UAE city
JULY | CONTENTS
JULY 2010 VOLUME 4 ISSUE 7 2 WHAT’S ON THE WEB WHAT See mo more of MEA online, with u up to date news and arch of projects and an archive case studies
9 SNAPSHOT A short sharp summary of industry news from the last 30 days, including Saudi Arabia’s green future
16 WORK IN PROGRESS MEA visits Abu Dhabi to see how work is getting on at Sowwah Island
26 COVER STORY What role is there for tall buildings in a green-focused, money-conscious age?
6 OPINION Gensler’s Hisham Youssef says Cairo needs its very own n 2030 plan
12 ANALYSIS Critics argue that solar panels are not as sustainable as they look
22 THE INTERVIEW HOK vice president David Hajjar discusses the benefits of master planning in the development of the Gulf
32 KSA SPECIAL MEA visits Cityscape Jeddah, meets local Saudi fi rms and laments the loss of the city’s historic old town
43 CASE STUDIES A new city in the UAE, luxury apartments in Saudi Arabia and a new designer restaurant in Qatar
52 THE WORK A detailed reference section covering all the regional projects MEA has looked at in recent months
54 CULTURE Cool products, clever ideas =and some of the latest books in the world of design
56 THE LAST WORD CTBUH’s Jan Klerks tells us about working in the world of supertalls
www.constructionweekonline.com | 07.10 | MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT
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ONLINE | JULY
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MOST POPULAR • Kilometre high Kuwaiti tower ‘will get built’ • AED 4bn Khalifa Port contracts still up for grabs • All systems go at region’s largest airport • World’s largest solar hot water project in Saudi Arabia
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The Channel Tunnel and the Toronto CNN tower are included in the American Society of Civil Engineers list. EDITOR’S CHOICE
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• Bahrain’s midday work
COLUMNS & FEATURES
ban starts in July 1 • Schon: Dubai Lagoon is making impressive progress • Saudi Arabian property investments likely to reach over US$150bn by 2012
SPOT POLL
GREEN QATAR BOSS DEFENDS RANKINGS Qatari green building council say awareness is growing in the Gulf.
GHOST BUILDINGS
Do you think ghost
Unfi nished projects pose risks for designers looking to pick up where others left off .
buildings offer good opportunities for contractors?
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are dangerous and should be pulled down.
2
Head of Marketing Daniel Fewtrell Marketing Manager Annie Chinoy
take a stake in the
Defi nitely not - they
CW columnist Ilham Kadri says the Burj Khalifa is a great example of sustainability.
MARKETING
Yes - if contractors
42.9%
The fi rm’s development in Chongqing, China, could be a world fi rst.
Head of Database & Circulation Gaurav Gulati
Certain images in this issue are available for purchase. Please contact itpimages@itp.com for further details or visit www.itpimages.com
more likely to get paid.
SUSTAINABLE BY DESIGN
CIRCULATION
42.9% property they are
WOODS BAGOT IN 0% EMISSIONS TARGET
Group Production Manager Kyle Smith Deputy Production Manager Matthew Grant Production Coordinator Nelly Pereira Distribution Manager Karima Ashwell Distribution Executive Nada Al Alami
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14.3% Maybe - they give old contractors a chance to finish what they started.
MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
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COMMENT | EDITOR’S LETTER
ARABIAN SIGHTS SAUDI ARABIA Luxury flats and giant glass towers may not be what the KSA needs
GOT A COMMENT? If you have any comments to make on this month’s issue, please e-mail orlando. crowcroft @itp.com
T
he boost in web traffic that follows a story from Saudi Arabia on ConstructionWeekOnline, Middle East Architect’s sister website, proves conclusively that in 2010, Saudi sells. While other GCC markets are expanding fast it is the KSA that our readers are most interested in, and MEA’s trip to Cityscape Jeddah last month only re-affirmed this view. The vast majority of firms which are not already in the kingdom, are on their way in, and there were as many designers and architects at Cityscape as there were developers, if not more. When you ask people why Saudi Arabia is such an attractive market, the reply usually involves the figure 27 million, which is the expected
population by the end of 2010, and is quickly followed by the number 80, the percentage of the population under the age of 39. Delve further, and the kingdom’s need for housing, as well as the ambition of the royal family, will soon come up too. The perception is that once the country actually writes and passes its long awaited mortgage law, a massive number of young Saudis will go out and buy their first home and developers will be overwhelmed by cash-rich young families. Designers and contractors, for their part, will be drafted in their droves to make their client’s plans reality, and everyone, everyone, will get filthy, stinking rich. But a quick look at many of the projects on the boards for Saudi
Cities like Jeddah lack affordable homes, not luxury fl ats.
Luxury apartments do nothing to ease the KSA’s housing shortage, and if locals won’t buy them, it’s hard to see who will.
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reveal that there is a significant mismatch between the kind of properties that developers and designers are working on in the kingdom, and the kind that are needed. Developers seem ever-willing to point to Saudi’s need for housing, while erecting towers and villas that none but the richest of the population can afford. In an excellent article last month in the Saudi Gazette, a journalist went stand to stand asking Cityscape exhibitors how much of their developments were put aside for affordable housing – not one of them could give an answer. This is not just a moral issue either. The fact of the matter is that the emphasis on luxury developments in the KSA is unsustainable, and justifying these developments with Saudi Arabia’s housing shortages is not just shortsighted, it’s dangerous. Building luxury apartment blocks does nothing to ease the kingdom’s housing shortage, and if locals won’t buy them, it’s hard to see who will. This is the real challenge for Saudi Arabia. How can the country house the vast majority of its population who cannot afford to live in luxury flats? How can it effectively repair the infrastructure in run-down cities like Jeddah? How can it renovate its beautiful architecture without bulldozers and dynamite? This kind of work may not be glamorous, and it may not make anyone rich, but it is what Saudi Arabia really needs – and surely that has to count for something.
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COMMENT | CAIRO
FUTURE FORTUNES OPINION Cairo needs its very own 2030 plan
Hisham Youssef is an architect at Gensler, responsible for the fi rm’s projects in Egypt and North Africa.
O
nce a flourishing city on the banks of the Nile, Cairo has today arguably grown to become one of the ugliest urban metropolises in the world. Construction in the city has long gone unchecked, while the semblance of regulations that existed have been poorly enforced. Those who can afford it have fled to the lush gated compounds on the outskirts of Cairo, but the majority of residents still live in the cacophonous metropolis. While there have been commendable efforts to revitalise parts of the old city like al-Darb al-Ahmar, thanks to individual actions of many who care, and support by organisations like the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, there is still no overall vision. As the most
populous capital in Africa and the Arab world, Cairo deserves better. There is an urgent need to develop a Vision for the City – Cairo 2030. This must be a bold overall strategic and cohesive vision, within the ring road and not just downtown. Cairo is expected to have a population of close to 30 million by 2030 and the government needs to take responsiblity for the mess the city has become. This is about both national pride and heritage which, once gone, are irreplaceable. While there are efforts by government bodies to develop ideas for the revitalisation of Khedival Cairo, and by the National Organisation for Urban Harmony, to develop guidelines for the ‘beautification’ of the modern downtown, these efforts remain Cairo’s historic areas are a far cry from the rest of the city.
As the most populous capital in Africa and the Arab world, Cairo deserves better”
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MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
separate. They are necessary, but a cohesive integrated solution for the entire metropolis is urgently required beyond the CBD. In order to achieve these goals, the government must get serious. Cairo needs to create a semi-governmental corporate body, I propose the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), to be responsible for facilitating the re-development of existing buildings, and mediating between investors and the city agencies and municipalities. The government can therefore create both the right environment for development and restoration, as well as for investment. A critical ingredient to the proposed UDC remit is to empower it to be the sole conduit for coordinating the various efforts and agencies, to ensure a cohesive approach and make developments financially viable. The government must set the stage for sustainable developments by the private sector, but no funding will be required. With well over 15 million people in Cairo, the government’s efforts are better served focusing on infrastructure, education and healthcare. The real role for the government is to demonstrate leadership through vision and enforcement. Such efforts will go a long way to restore lost credibility, and provide clarity for developers architects to shape the 2030 vision. Cairo is not a tabula rasa like, say, Dubai or Doha. The task is a complex one given that the city is inhabited and densely developed already. It will be no walk in the park, but Cairo must start now, before it is too late.
Alumil Gulf fzc subsidiary of ALUMIL in the Middle East
Technology Park, RAK FTZ, RAK tel +971 7 2444106, fax +971 7 2444107 email support.uae@alumil.com, sales.uae@alumil.com
JULY | SNAPSHOT
The expected height of Kuwait’s City of Silk tower (Page 24)
THIS MONTH’S NEED TO KNOW “If a client wants a modern design we do a modern design, if he wants something that reflects the region, then we do something that.”
“The idea is that
Ammar Al-Sabban (Page 40)
and then they can expand upon that as much as they want.”
40
The number of projects that RMJM architects have underway in the Middle East (Page 11)
“The amount of rating systems in operation in the last two to three years is not healthy.” Sultan Faden, Saudi Green Building Council
architects coming in will have a base standard of great quality,
Abdullah Al Shamsi, Mubadala (Page 16)
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“On a tower on Sheikh Zayed Road, solar panels are just saying:
THE NUMBER OF CATEGORIES IN THIS YEAR’S MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT AWARDS
‘Here is my nod to the environment’.”
(Page 11)
(Page 10)
“There are a lot of consultants who fly in in the hope of winning work, but we don’t expect to win work until we have a presence in the kingdom.”
Nicholas Lander, Inhibit (Page 12)
The size of RNL’s new city in the Empty Quarter (Page 44)
Charles Collett, Aedas (Page 32)
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BRIDGES WILL JOIN SOWWAH ISLAND WITH ABU DHABI (Page 16)
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SNAPSHOT | JULY
Cities like Riyadh need their own standard for green design.
MULTIPLE GREEN RATINGS ‘A FIASCO’ IN KSA Saudi sustainability body hits out at ‘confusing’ plethora of green accreditations The multitude of ratings systems for sustainable building has been a ‘fiasco’ for the GCC, according to one pioneer for green construction. Sultan Faden, an architect, former consultant and founder of the Saudi Green Building Council, said that although he and the council are generally in support of systems that measure a building’s carbon footprint, the plethora of different criteria to choose from has confused the market just as the idea is taking hold in Saudi Arabia. His comments come just one month into his membership of the Gulf-wide Green Buildings Committee, which is seeking to create a better criteria for assessing a building’s energy and water use, given the Middle Eastern climate, than the
LEED or BREEAM rankings. “Today we have a number of different systems from different backgrounds,” he said. “The amount of rating systems in operation in the last two to three years has been confusing. It is not healthy. Most of these systems are similar.” He added that sustainability is not high enough on the agenda of the Saudi government, pointing out that the new rules will be tailored to the government in that they will set a benchmark by which developers and planners must comply. “With government-related projects the guidelines for sustainability are slightly different,” he said. Discussions around green building have reached a high point in recent
The amount of ratings systems in the last two to three years have made things confusing. It is not healthy.” Sultan Faden, Saudi Green Building Council (SGBC)
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years, with a number of projects pushing for LEED accreditation. However some say that any ratings system adopted from the US or Europe is unsatisfactory as criteria for regional developments, even if schemes such as LEED or BREEAM have adapted their criteria suit the climate. This is particularly true when considering water use and cooling, which are far more onerous in the Gulf climate.
JULY | SNAPSHOT
IN BRIEF
GOING FOR GLORY
ABU SAVVY
BUSY BODIES
Nominations for the Middle East Architect Awards 2010 need to be submitted in advance of the awards ceremony at the end of September. There are 14 categories this year, including awards for individual architects, projects and sustainable initiatives. Visit www. constructionweekonline.com/meaa for more information.
Multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy Buro Happold is expanding its Abu Dhabi office as it contends with a surfeit of projects from the Corniche to Sowwah Island and the Louvre. “Our office in Abu Dhabi is full now, so we took the decision to invest in additional space and people,” said director Kevin Mitchell.
Global design fi rm RMJM currently has 40 active projects in the UAE, as well as work underway in Bahrain, Turkey, Sudan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Oman, Nick Haston, the company’s CEO, has revealed. “We have had some great success with new business both in the UAE and the emerging markets of the Middle East and North Africa over the past few months. Many of these we are unable to talk about at this stage but we hope to announce some major developments in the near future,” he said.
TALL ORDER
Dubai’s Burj Khalifa was crowned best tall building of 2010 by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). CTBUH announces four winners every year, one from the Americas, Asia and Australasia, Europe and the Middle East and Africa. The Burj will feature at the CTBUH 9th Annual Awards Ceremony in Chicago in October, when one of four winners will be chosen. HOWDY SAUDI
A redevelopment programme targeting Jeddah’s slums was unveiled at Cityscape Jeddah last month. The scheme will see hundreds of thousands of residents of the city’s so-called ‘unplanned settlements’ relocated while buildings are torn down and redeveloped.
PISA MIND ADNEC ’s Capital Gate tower in Abu Dhabi will be included in the Guiness Book of Records as the furthest leaning manmade tower in the world. Capital Gate has been built to lean 18 degrees westwards more than four times that of the world famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. The tower has been under construction since 2007 and will be completed later this year.
www.constructionweekonline.com | 07.10 | MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT
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FEATURE | SOLAR
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MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
SOLAR | FEATURE
BLACK HOLE SUN Solar panels may look the part, but critics feel there are better ways to help buildings save energy
F
orget grey water re-use, pre-cast concrete and carbon off-setting, there are few things that scream sustainability like solar panels. But critics argue that it is a misconception that the Middle East is a natural home for solar power, just as it is that solar panels can substantially reduce the energy gain of a building. Solar may help boost a building’s green credentials, but in terms of energy saving there are far better options available. “Developers like photo-voltaic (PV) solar panels because they are visible, and people look at them and say: ‘Hey, check out that building, it’s got solar panels so it must be green’,” said Nicholas Lander, senior associate at Inhabit. “Well that’s not the case. On a tower on Sheikh Zayed Road it’s just saying: ‘Here is my nod to the environment’.” Lander points out that on a large scale residential or office building, even covering the
entire façade with solar photo-voltaic panels will likely only succeed in providing 2% of energy needs. The real drain on most office developments is lighting, which can account for up to 50% of a building’s total power output. “If you are looking at a small building with no local power access then PV panels can be an excellent source of power for the building. But if you are talking about commercial, PV panels are only useful as part of large scale power plants,” he said. It is not that solar panels are inherently useless, if every home was to install them the effect could be dramatic, but currently there is little fi nancial incentive to do so. One of the problems in the Middle East, and particularly in the UAE, is that excess power generated by PV panels cannot be fed back into the country’s national grid. This does not incentivize people to install panels, as they know that the power they don’t use will be wasted.
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FEATURE | SOLAR
2-3%
Despite their pitfalls, PV panels remain popular in the GCC.
LIKELY REDUCTION IN ENERGY CONSUMPTION “You’re better off FROM USING PV PANELS ON AN OFFICE improving the efficiency BUILDING of the systems in your
building. You will spend a lot less money doing that,” he said. It is an attitude that Jacob Zukek, principal architect at Henning Larsen, the firm responsible for the master plan of the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Saudi Arabia, shares. In its plans for the KAFD, Henning Larsen has stressed that sustainability is not about installing token green measures after a building is constructed, it is about planning from the earliest stages. “If you are looking from an individual building point of view then adding solar panels will only give you maybe 2 or 3% reduction in energy consumption,” Zukek said. Rather than looking to initiatives such as PV panels, Henning Larsen requires architects working on parcels of the KAFD site to design buildings that are appropriate for the climate. Shading, in addition to the increase of natural light in an office
development, reduces heat gain and artificial light use, and is far more valuable than solar power. This is a view that Till Stoll, CEO of green consultancy www.greendestinations.ae, agrees with. He believes that many architects look at energy saving initiatives as an afterthought, rather than part of planning at an early stage. Despite claims to the contrary, aesthetics still often come first. “When we have a piece of land the first thing we do is measure the wind direction and strength and how much water we have available – those factors really limit our design, but they have to come first if you’re serious about building green,” Stoll said. Heating water is an area where solar panels in the Gulf can be valuable. At the KAFD, Henning Larsen estimate that solar panels could provide 80% of hot water, seriously reducing the need for gas or electric boilers. But even then, Stoll adds, there is a misconception that because of the region’s constant sunshine, panels have a major role in a green building –
You get so much dust out here that solar panels require a lot of maintenance. After a week or two the dust seriously minimizes the efficiency.” Jacob Zukek, principal architect, Henning Larsen
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MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
actually, because of the dust and sand in the UAE, solar only has a limited impact on overall energy reduction. He gives the example of a significant hotel in Dubai which purports to use a few solar panels to heat its water, when in reality the building would need some 7,000 panels. At the same time, Stoll said, the hotel in question has to regularly hose down the panels from dust and sand. Henning Larsen’s Zukek agreed. “You get so much dust out here that solar panels require a lot of maintenance. After a week or two the dust seriously minimizes the efficiency.” Bassam Elassaad, business development director for the Middle East at GEA Consulting, goes further. He argues that even using solar panels for heating water is unnecessary during the hot summer months in the Gulf. “Anybody who has taken a shower from May to October can tell you that the sun heats the water on the roof of buildings and your cold tap becomes the source of hot water,” he said. Conversely, one area where solar can be useful, Elassaad said, is in cooling water and the air inside a building. He said that new technological advances in solar energy actually allows panels to do this. Elassaad explained that desiccant materials, which absorb moisture and then can be dried by adding heat, can be used to aid cooling in a building. These systems use a wheel containing the desiccant material turning slowly picking up humidity and discharging it to the outdoors. The energy to drive the wheel and the heat needed to dry the material can be supplied from solar panels making the system virtually operation cost free. “Such systems are a boost to solar and renewable energy in general. By expanding the use of solar panels in residences beyond heating water, solar energy will increasingly contribute to smart and environmentallyfriendly homes,” he said.
AEDAS | ADVERTISEMENT
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1. Mandelina Marina, Sibenik, Croatia 2. Salalah Hasik Resort Hotel, Oman 3. New Jeddah Masterplan, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Charles Collett Country Manager KSA Bahrain Tower, 2nd Floor, King Fahad Road, Riyadh 12214-2393, PO Box 8953, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Tel: +966 1 279 5235 | Fax: +966 1 279 5101 | Mob: +966 55 952 2026 | charles.collett@aedas.com Lucy Casey Business Development Manager - MENA 8th Floor, Burjuman Business Tower, Trade Centre Road, P.O.Box 49927, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 4 3557 233 | Fax: +971 4 3557 232 | Mob: +971 (0 )507089386 | lucy.casey@aedas.com
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WIP | SOWWAH ISLAND
SOWWAH ISLAND WORK IN PROGRESS SPECIAL
Middle East Architect took a tour of the island set to become Abu Dhabi’s new CBD
S
owwah Island is one of the largest ongoing projects in Abu Dhabi so it is little surprise that the site is a hive of activity. The flagship development, Sowwah Square, has rocketed up since work started last year, with three of the four commercial office towers reaching their fi nal heights, and large portions of the façade now installed. Meanwhile, construction work on the Cleveland Clinic hospital
16
is beginning, with workers laying the foundations of the 260,000sq2 building after enabling works were completed earlier this year. The core of the Rosewood Hotel – the third building on the island with work underway – currently juts out in the site on the other side of Sowwah Square. Four other developments have been confi rmed for phase one of the three phase development of Sowwah, although construction work has not yet started. These include two more
hotels, the Four Seasons and the Viceroy and two commercial towers planned by the National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Al Hilal Bank. As for phase two and three, they are still very much in the planning stage. Phase two will eventually feature residential and commercial buildings as well as community facilities and parks while phase three, in the north of the island, will be home to Sowwah’s transit centre. All in all, Sowwah is a massive
MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
SOWWAH ISLAND | WIP
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WIP | SOWWAH ISLAND
development for Mubadala Real Estate and Hospitality, the company behind the development of the island on behalf of the Abu Dhabi government, and not just above ground. The entire island is being built on a 14 metre podium, with roads, pavements, lobbies and pedestrian access above ground and utilities, storage and maintenance access below. Much of the infrastructure, including a number of bridges and main thoroughfares, have now been completed, and work is underway on the utilities and substructure below ground. Eventually the low level will include pedestrian walkways and retail outlets, providing access to other parts of the island. In terms of design, Abdullah Al-Shamsi, a senior architect at Mubadala, is tasked with ensuring that the individual buildings – which were planned and developed by
the site owners – match the overall master plan for the site. Mubadala require individual designers to follow a set of architectural guidelines, that tackle the style of design and include requirements for sustainable initiatives. “We’re going through the process of developing an architectural guidelines manual set which essentially goes from plot to plot and maintains base guidelines for the developer. When they buy the plot or they bring somebody else in to develop a plot, the guidelines allow for cohesion to happen,” he said. “Within every site the environment is going to be different, the orientation of the buildings is different, the reaction of one building to the ones adjacent to it is different. We’re not limiting the material use but we’re limiting the greater material so
that the design is relative, and can have a flair to it without losing touch with its direct surroundings.” Al-Shamsi said that the imposing such guidelines on developers in designers is nothing new, plenty of cities set out detailed master plans to ensure that buildings relate to their neighbors. This is all the more true when considering sustainability, a hallmark of the design so far and an important factor for Abu Dhabi’s green conscious government. The three buildings currently under construction on the site were designed before the onset of Abu Dhabi’s ‘Estidama’ framework, but Al Shamsi said that Sowwah Square building is likely to get a two or three pearl rating when completed. It has also been LEED gold certified. “Because there were no (Esti-
THREE
OF THE FOUR TOWERS AT SOWWAH SQUARE ARE NOW AT FINAL HEIGHT
DEVELOPMENT SO FAR… Sowwah Square
Sowwah Square comprises four offi ce towers and the new headquarters of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). As of June 2010, 3 of 4 commercial towers have reached their fi nal heights, façade installation is underway and retail podium and car parks are structurally complete. COMPLETION DATE: Towers 1 and 2 due for completion in Q1 2011. ARCHITECTS: Goettsch Partners
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SOWWAH ISLAND | WIP
The core of the Rosewood Abu Dhabi is starting to emerge.
DEVELOPMENT SO FAR‌ Rosewood Abu Dhabi
This business-focused luxury hotel is located on the waterfront adjacent to Sowwah Square. It will be 34-storeys high and include 189 guest rooms and 139 serviced apartments. Enabling works are now complete and construction work on the site has recently commenced. COMPLETION DATE: 2012 ARCHITECT: Handel Architects
SOWWAH IN NUMBERS
75,000 The expected working population of the island once complete
13 The number of bridges linking Sowwah with the rest of Abu Dhabi
5.4 the length of the boardwalk that will surround the island
5,200 The number of off-street parking spaces included at Sowwah Square
30,000 The expected residential population of the island
105 The size in hectares of the site
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WIP | SOWWAH ISLAND
dama) standards at that time we took it upon ourselves to bring on the best standards that we knew out there, which was the LEED system, and apply that on Sowwah Island,” he said. The Sowwah Square towers feature a double glazing system with a built in air pocket that allows for a reduction of heat transfer from the exterior. It also
has condensation units in between the panes, so any condensation runs into a collection system which is used as gray water within the development as a whole. Floor to ceiling glass allows more light to come in, and shades on the western elevation reduce the heat gain of the building. “The idea is that these architects coming in will have a base standard that is of great quality, and then they can expand upon that as much as their respective developers would want,” Al-Shamsi said. Despite the pace of development of phase one, Al-Shamsi said there is little worry that phase two and three
We wanted to bring on the best standards that we knew, which was the LEED system. ” Abdullah Al-Shamsi, Mubadala
will lag behind, leaving a half fi nished development, the sort of which can be seen all over Dubai. Mubadala has clauses written into the contracts that stipulate a strict timeline of planning, design, construction and completion for developers. “In general, within the sale of every plot we’re given the owner or developer a five year life span, to start working, get things on the ground. So there is not situation where you left with empty lots,” Al-Shamsi said. “We won’t sell the land to somebody and have them wait to see whether the price will improve, we’re doing it the other way around. We take longer to sell and reach an agreement, until we know that they want to build. We’ve learned from some of the master developments in the UAE that went wrong, and are working very hard to prevent that happening,” he said.
12,000 THE PEAK NUMBER OF WORKERS ON SITE AS OF JULY 2010
DEVELOPMENT SO FAR… Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi
The award-winning Cleveland Clinic will serve local and international patients, and is due to be Abu Dhabi’s fi rst high-end medical facility. Enabling works are complete and construction has now commenced and is on schedule for completion in 2012. COMPLETION DATE: 2012 ARCHITECT: Henningson, Durham and Richardson International and Work is underway on the foundations of the award winning Cleveland Clinic hospital.
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MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
Aedas Architects
ENDORSED BY
BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE ORGANISERS OF:
ORGANISED BY
21-22 NOVEMBER 2010 ADNEC, ABU DHABI, UAE
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Image courtesy of Repton School in Dubai. www.reptondubai.org
Building Future Education MENA, exhibition and conference allows: • Architects, Consultants and Contractors to target key decision makers; including Education Ministries, International Institutions, Private Education Operators and Developers • Construction Product Manufacturers to target speci¿ers building Schools, Colleges and Universities
To discuss exhibition, workshop involvement and sponsorship opportunities contact: Matthew Robarts, M: +971 (0) 50 1142303 matthew.robarts@ubm.com or Ahmed Zakaria, M: +971 (0) 50 6114469 ahmed.zakaria@ubm.com United Arab Emirates • Saudi Arabia • Egypt • Qatar • Oman • Jordan • Kuwait • Libya • Bahrain CO-LOCATED WITH
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INTERVIEW | HOK
WELL SPREAD THE INTERVIEW: HOK
Middle East Architect spoke to HOK vice president Daniel Hajjar about the new role for master planning in the Gulf
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ith the emphasis on building faster, higher and taller, thinking big never came easy during Dubai’s construction boom – resulting in a city that lacks public space and is so often all too reliant on the car. But this attitude has changed since the fi nancial crisis, with other GCC countries keen to learn from Dubai’s mistakes. Saudi Arabia has a number of master planned mega-projects on the boards, while Abu Dhabi has put big picture-thinking at the centre of its 2030 plan.
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It is a good environment to be in for a fi rm with a track record like HOK. The design fi rm responsible for Dubai Marina, Festival City and, most recently the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), HOK does not need to go far to point to its credentials. But Daniel Hajjar, HOK’s Dubaibased vice president, believes that it is not just attitudes to the importance of master planning that have changed, but the nature of master planning itself. “Master planning has really become more than an engineered
MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
HOK | INTERVIEW
Sheikh Zayed University in Dubai was designed to use ‘spill air’ to cool outside areas.
statement. It has become about looking at how you can create quality within the urban environment, as opposed to looking only at how to break a development up into the most convenient grid,” he said. It was something that HOK tried to achieve with its Dubai Marina framework, one of the few new residential sites in Dubai that is not dissected by highways and unbearable outside in the summer heat. “It was perhaps one of the fi rst ones that responded to the public realm, within the city. In the sense that it really was, and remains, truly public. People can go down, walk along the waterfront, and you have these pockets of urban space where you can relax and watch the world go by,” he said. “In that sense I think it’s done very well for itself.” Of course, the Marina is very much an exception to the rule in Dubai, a lesson not lost on the rulers of Abu Dhabi. The emirate’s 2030 plan has set down guidelines for everything from building height to the width of pavements, and ensured that the planned metro system effectively links the city. “The thing that should be admired with Abu Dhabi is the fact
that the political will is there to address some of the issues that we continually talk about but that we never do anything about,” Hajjar said. “It’s going to be an interesting exercise primarily because no other place has done it in the Middle East. We’ve had master-planned communities but never a master planned city.” It is well-known that the climate is one of the biggest challenges for designers in the Middle East, and creating habitable outside space is one of the aims of Abu Dhabi’s plan.
Hajjar pointed out that since HOK fi rst started planning communities and developments in the Middle East in the 1980s, people’s attitudes to the heat, and what temperature is bearable, have changed. “When I fi rst came to Dubai no one would sit outside in March, April, May, now you see people quite often sitting outside. As long as it is comfortable,” he said. “If you actually take away the humidity, it is hot but you don’t need very much to make it comfortable for yourself.”
www.constructionweekonline.com | 07.10 | MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT
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INTERVIEW | HOK
HOK has looked at a number of strategies within particular projects to tackle the issue of heat. One of which, using spill air to cool down outside areas, has proved effective at Zayed University, where a large outside ‘quad’ area is cooled using air from the classrooms. And then there is KAUST, of course, the current poster boy of sustainable development in the Middle East. KAUST was designed by a joint effort of nine HOK offices across the world in order to deliver it on a tight time frame. “KAUST was specifically designed with the classrooms quite tight together primarily because we did not want a lot of sun penetration between the blocks, because that would go against the whole philosophy of providing shaded alleyways and pedestrian access between the buildings,” he said. But aside from the significant achievements made at KAUST in terms of sustainability, Hajjar
believes that it is a truly masterplanned development, a campus designed on a similar idea to university towns in the US or Canada. “I think the interesting thing behind that project is there is a tremendous affi nity between the different components, it’s not just some campus stuck out in the middle of nowhere without residential or commercial to support it, it has almost become the classic university town,” he said. Like many fi rms, HOK sees a future market in Saudi Arabia, a place that has money, ambition and a very real need for infrastructure, housing, schools and facilities for its growing population. “I don’t think anyone in this part of the world can ignore the Saudi market, and we never have actually. The Saudi market has always been an important market for us,” he said. Qatar too will be an important market for HOK, and Hajjar points to the country’s focus on education
We even had people calling from as far as Central Asia who wanted to develop like Dubai.” Daniel Hajjar, vice president, HOK Architects
Providing habitable outside space is essential when designing communities in the Middle East.
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and the gas industry. Qatar also has ambition, demonstrated by its audacious bid for the 2022 World Cup and its plans for the new Doha International Airport, which HOK will be the design architect for. Wherever HOK is working in the next few years, Hajjar thinks that the market in the Middle East, and the mindset of developers here, has changed since the fi nancial crisis. Developers no longer want to replicate the growth seen in Dubai in 2009, so designers are no longer required to fulfi ll their clients’ weird and wonderful demands. “One of the issues that became extremely acute was that when the boom was happening many people looked to Dubai and said: ‘We want to develop like that.’ We even had people calling from as far as Central Asia who wanted to develop like Dubai,” Hajjar said. “But Dubai developed like that because of certain conditions. I think there is a change of attitudes now. Muscat is not Dubai, Manama is not Dubai and Abu Dhabi is not Dubai. There is a very real character within each of the countries in terms of how it should be looked at, what it needs to be looked at as, and how it needs to develop as well.”
HOK master-planned Dubai Marina.
COVER STORY | SUPERTALLS
Because the City of Silk was conceived as much as a diplomatic symbol as it was a functional piece of architecture, it mobilises more capital.� Eric Kuhne, Civic Arts
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SUPERTALLS | COVER STORY
hen Dubai’s Burj Khalifa reached its final height of 828 metres – becoming the tallest building in the world by over 200m – it did so against a background of global financial uncertainty. As a result, by the time the iconic tower was finished most of its competitors had fallen by the wayside. Among them were plans for a 1,001m tower in Kuwait and Dubai’s Nakheel Tower, also clocking in at over one kilometre. Another kilometre-high tower, in Saudi Arabia’s coastal hub of Jeddah, is alleged to be ongoing, but information about the project is limited. But building supertalls is an expensive business, and with financial uncertainty ongoing, it would be no surprise if the Burj holds onto its world’s-tallest crown for some time. At over 800m, the Burj is significantly bigger than the Taipei 101, the current world’s second tallest, and the Shanghai Tower (632m) currently under construction in China’s financial hub.
“It is likely that the global financial crisis, current problems with rentals and asset values, and the lack of capital generally will mean that building super-tall will be out of fashion,” said Richard Marshall, an engineer at Buro Happold. Marshall added that if anyone is going to buck that trend, it is likely to be either China or certain areas of the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia. “With capital and a relatively unconstrained decision making elite, they are more probable locations for the next generation of super-tall buildings,” he said. Although it will clock in at a good few metres lower than the Burj, Gensler’s Shanghai Tower, in the city’s Lujiazui district, is already proving that point. The tower will overshadow the Shanghai World Financial Centre (492m), currently the third tallest building in the world, by some 150m. Gensler’s Chris Chan, who designed the tower, admitted that financial considerations are paramount when drawing up a design for a tall building, but he added that in a city where space is seriously constrained
With finance hard to come by and sustainability paramount, supertalls seem to have the odds stacked against them in 2010
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COVER STORY | SUPERTALLS
in comparison to the population, tall towers become all the more viable. “Pound for pound a tall building will cost more in terms of construction, but you also have to factor in the amount of land area you are creating,” Chan said, adding that the Shanghai Tower is creating 380,000m2 of space on a tiny footprint. It is an argument that Eric Kuhne, the designer behind the proposed City of Silk tower in Kuwait, agrees with. “They are hugely expensive, but because the City of Silk was conceived as much as a diplomatic symbol as it was a functional piece of architecture, obviously that mobilises more capital,” he said. Kuhne’s tower is planned to be the centrepiece of a 250km2 development on the Kuwaiti coast, which will include a new airport, a business district and thousands of units of new housing, offices and commercial units. It is made up of seven 30-storey buildings, separated by four-storey sky-gardens and supported by twisting three towers together. The project was commissioned by the Kuwait government before the financial crisis shook the country, and is currently
City of Silk, Kuwait (1,001m)
COMPLETION DATE: Unknown DESIGNER: Civic Arts THE BLURB: The tower is made up of seven 30-storey buildings, separated by four-storey skygardens and supported by twisting three towers together. Once fi nished, the tower will be the tallest in the world by a long shot, and form a centrepiece to a whole new business, residential and transport hub in Kuwait City. THE TRICKY BIT: Currently in elevator design cables can’t be effi ciently manufactured and maintained for more than 500 metres. To get around this, the designers put the elevators inside the centre of the tower, where the three blades overlap in the center of the plan. The express lift will operate like an express train, you get out at your sky garden and take another elevator to your home. KEEPING GREEN: Civic Arts, the fi rm that designed the tower, is planting seven million trees in the area surrounding the tower to off set the carbon used by an estimated one million inhabitants.
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The Nakheel Tower is strengthened by six sky gardens.
MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
still in the design phase. Financial constraints are something that Woods Bagot, the firm behind the 1,000m Nakheel Tower, knows about first hand. Half of buildings foundations had been built when it fell through at the end of last year. More than six months on the firm is still hoping that the tower will eventually be finished. “As always it comes down to someone wanting to do it. Clearly going up to this kind of height is extreme and the way that a project like this stacks up financially is not just the tower, it’s all the other stuff around it,” said Alfred Seeling, design director at Woods Bagot. The Nakheel Tower scheme included a significant amount of real estate surrounding the building, including housing, office and retail space – like Downtown Dubai, the value of this real estate would be boosted by the presence of the world’s tallest
SUPERTALLS | COVER STORY
building, helping pay for it. “This is one of the only places where you can get hold of these large parcels of land, you couldn’t do this in New York, you just couldn’t make it stack up on a small floor plate in Manhattan,” Seeling said. But it is not just the financial crisis that has taken the wind out of the sails of tall buildings in 2010. The ongoing focus on green design has also played a role. Governments, developers and designers are keener than ever to boost their sustainable credentials, and building supertalls is not seen as a way of doing it. “There is an argument that tall buildings are unsustainable, but there is also the reverse – if a tall building is designed sustainably and in particular if there is an associated reduction in infrastructure and transportation usage as a consequence then ‘real’ energy use could be considered lower,” said Buro Happold’s Marshall. City of Silk’s Kuhne is firmly in the latter camp. “When you concentrate people in a central space you get the highest efficiency of sustainability because of the fact that you have more people
in one place and their movement, which is the biggest negative of energy consumption is reduced down to the most efficient level,” he said. But Kuhne is not hedging his bets either. The City of Silk designers have calculated how much carbon will be used by an estimated one million people that will use the tower and surrounding area, and planted enough trees to offset it. “We know that in the Middle East it takes three trees to carbon balance for every individual. We pushed the tree proportion per person to seven, so for that group estimating a million people that’s 7 million trees that we’re going to plant there,” he said. Woods Bagot’s Seeling also believes that the argument depends on how narrowly you define sustainability. Unlike some other supertalls, the Nakheel Tower contains more than 200 floors of usable space, with floor plates around 3,600 m2 . “You’re not taking up so much land, a building like this has got a population of 12,000. If you were to spread that out over a normal density it would take up a lot more land all your infrastructure has to be much
Nakheel Tower, Dubai (+1,000m)
COMPLETION DATE: Unknown DESIGNER: Woods Bagot THE BLURB: The Nakheel Tower was to be built on a plot close to Jumeirah Lake Towers in Dubai, and clock in at over a kilometre in height (although the final height was never revealed). Made up of four towers, joined by sky bridges every four levels, the tower allows wind to flow through the middle of the building. THE TRICKY BIT: Financing the tower has been a nightmare for Nakheel in light of of the financial crisis. Launched in 2008, the project was officially cancelled in December 2009, and as of July 2010 there remains little chance that it will get built any time soon. KEEPING GREEN: Waste air from the towers 200+ floors would be forced down through the tower and re-used to cool the basement and car parks.
“It is likely that the global financial crisis will mean that building super-tall will be out of fashion. Richard Marshall, Buro Happold
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COVER STORY | SUPERTALLS
Shanghai Tower (632m)
COMPLETION DATE: Unknown DESIGNER: Gensler THE BLURB: Once completed the Shanghai Tower will clock in at 632m, have 128 storeys and contain an area of 380,000m 2 . It will be the tallest building in China and the second tallest in the world, at last allowing China to at last overtake Taiwan’s Taipei 101 tower. THE TRICKY BIT: Shanghai has an exceptionally high water level, meaning that Gensler had to do one of two things: drive pylons all the way down until they reached bedrock, or use a fl oating platform as an artifi cial bedrock. They decided to do both. KEEPING GREEN: The tower’s twisting feature allows rainwater to be collected and used in the tower’s air-conditioning and heating systems.
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more spread out,” said Seeling. The last challenge for the next generation of supertalls is engineering, and first among these practical concerns is wind. As a tower rises, the impact of wind increases, with gusts varying in direction from top to bottom. The Nakheel Tower and Kuwait’s City of Silk have devised very different solutions. “The way the tower is designed with the three blades like the three spokes, that come out are like a tripod, bracing the building against the wind. So instead of tapering to a sharp point, we’re got these blades that are orientated towards the principle wind directions and they help brace the tower,” Kuhne explained. The designers also fashioned aerolons that imitate the technology used on airplane wings and move dynamically with the wind on the six corners of the tower. Woods Bagot came up with a different solution to the problem of wind. Rather than
allowing it to go around the tower, it goes through the middle. A close look at the Nakheel Tower reveals that it is in fact four towers, joined together at 25 floor intervals by sky gardens. The wind flows through the center of the tower, and the sixteen corner walls that form the core of the building. Of course, it remains true that despite the detail and ambition of current plans for supertalls, none are underway in any tangible sense. The question is whether, with the economic and environmental factors stacked against them, there is still a future for tall buildings. Gensler’s Chan feels sure there is. “If history is an indication of what our future will be like, then there will always be new technology and new techniques for making buildings taller,” he said. “Since the dawn of mankind, since the Pyramids, there’s always been something in our human condition that makes us want to build higher and taller, in order to reach the skies.”
632M
THE HEIGHT OF THE SHANGHAI TOWER WHEN FINISHED
MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
KSA SPECIAL | CITYSCAPE JEDDAH
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MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
CITYSCAPE JEDDAH | KSA SPECIAL
Middle East Architect reports from Saudi Arabia, the new frontier for designers, contractors and developers in the GCC
www.constructionweekonline.com | 07.10 | MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT
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KSA SPECIAL | CITYSCAPE JEDDAH
t was no surprise when Cityscape Jeddah was billed as the best yet, with Saudi Arabia remaining the region’s most attractive market for developers, designers and contractors. The presence of the Gulf’s major architectural fi rms, as well as prominent developers reflected the excitement that those in the Middle East feel about the Saudi market. The event saw old Saudi hands, new kids on the block and local fi rms rubbing shoulders with the Saudi money-men who are fi nancing the kingdom’s seemingly unstoppable construction boom.
It is an exciting time to be making a move into Saudi Arabia, explained Charles Collett, Aedas’s man in the kingdom, from the fi rm’s large stand in the Jeddah Exhibition Center. While Aedas has worked on design projects in Saudi Arabia, its opening of a new office in Riyadh last month demonstrated a its focus on KSA. “The plan here is similar to the way we go into many countries, we create a local presence fi rst and I think the projects follow from that – rather than having a lot of big projects,” Collett said. Collett said that in order to crack the Saudi market, fi rms had to have a hands on approach to the kingdom,
to be able to meet people and have a solid base in the country. He added that Aedas plans to open an office in Jeddah within a year. “There are a lot of consultants who fly in with the hope of winning work, but we don’t expect to win work until we have a presence in the kingdom,” he said. “We want to get things really moving. This is a great time to be entering the market but there’s a lot of competition.” A design fi rm with a fair bit of experience in the kingdom is DWP, the Bahrain-based architects behind a number of developments in Al Khobar. Kristina Zanic, execu-
Saudi Arabia is opening up to the world and there are a lot of opportunities. They have these really huge visions and they are looking for something mega.” Kristina Zanic, DWP
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MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
CITYSCAPE JEDDAH | KSA SPECIAL
“Their vision and long term strategy tells them that they should hire companies like us to come and establish here and help this development reach its target in the shortest time. Dia Malaeb, Emaar
tive director and founding partner, points out that Saudi Arabia not only has the money to fund massive construction projects, but it has the will to see them through. “They have the space so they are going to look at things that are more ambitious but I also think that Saudi Arabia is opening up to the world so there is more opportunity for consultants here. They have these really huge visions and they are looking for something mega,” she said. Zanic, whose fi rm has offices in a number of challenging markets, including Vietnam, China and Thailand, said that developers in Saudi Arabia tended to have a real respect for foreign designers, making working in the kingdom far easier than in other areas of the world. “There are a few different challenges to working in Saudi Arabia, but not as great as other countries in Asia. I think Westerners are really accepted in terms of design and architecture and people are looking
for good advice and good design,” she said. She added that the new focus extended to the style of design, with Saudi Arabian developers keen to see new, ambitious projects rather than only those that reflect the past. “I think with Saudi opening up they are receptive to looking at things with a very modern approach,
not looking at everything look old. They’re opening it up to the world so they want it to be iconic,” she said. Meanwhile, Emaar’s Middle East CEO Dia Malaeb, speaking from the company’s huge stand in the middle of the exhibition centre, said that Saudi Arabia remained a key market for the fi rm. Emaar won three awards at the Cityscape
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Exhibitors were positive about the large turnout in Jeddah.
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KSA SPECIAL | CITYSCAPE JEDDAH
There are a lot of consultants who come in, fly in, in the hope of winning work, we don’t expect to win work until we have a presence in the kingdom.” Charles Collett, Aedas
ZFP’s Ammar Al-Sabban meets punters on the Saudi fi rm’s stand.
Awards, including one for the Jeddah Jeddah was still lacking, although Gate development and another for a massive redevelopment scheme Economic City. Dia said he expected for the city’s downtown area was Saudi Arabian growth to continue. unveiled by the Jeddah Develop“Saudi Arabia is growing, and it ment and Urban Regeneration is taking care of its people. They Company (JDURC). need to build new homes as soon as The scheme will see possible. Their vision and long term hundreds of thousands of strategy tells them that they should residents of the city’s so-called hire companies like us to come and ‘unplanned settlements’ relocated establish here and help this developwhile buildings are torn down. The ment reach its target in the shortest JDURC will seek public private time,” he said. partnerships (PPPs) with a number Dia was upbeat about the recepof developers in Saudi Arabia to tion that Emaar got at the event, redevelop over 50 sites, the area of where it showcased its part in the which amounts to 22 hectares of soon-to-be-fi nished Mecca Clock land and is home to around one milTower, the second tallest building in lion people. the world, and Jeddah Gate. The 54 unplanned settlements “We have a good response from have been grouped into four people, many people didn’t know categories, ranked according about our profit and now to their attractiveness to they do. This is the purprivate developers on a pose of Cityscape,” sliding scale. Those he said. believed to be the In terms of project most attractive will SAUDI RESIDENTS launches, Cityscape be redeveloped fi rst,
ONE MILLION WILL BENEFIT FROM JDURC’S HOUSING REDEVELOPMENT
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MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
while some category four sites will be developed by Jeddah’s municipality itself. At the close of the event, organisers announced that Sumou Real Estate and Development Company has signed up to be the Principal Sponsor for Cityscape Jeddah for the third consecutive year in 2011, while Emaar Middle East has committed to being the Principal Sponsor for the Riyadh leg of Cityscape in December of 2010.
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KSA SPECIAL | LOCAL PARTNERS
Saudi architects have benefitted as international firms seek local partners, but are partnerships more than marriages of convenience?
ZFP’s design for the SABIC Research Center in Riyadh.
ocal partnerships are an essential part of doing business in Saudi Arabia, and as a result local design firms continue to benefit from the construction boom. Saudi law requires international designers to either go into partnership with a local consultant, or set up their own office in the kingdom with a Saudi representative, and both strategies have been widely used by international firms. But while international firms have little choice but to take a Saudi partner if they want to operate in the king-
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dom, these relationships are not only driven by necessity. A global firm can benefit from having a partner with a local focus, while a local partner can benefit from an international firm’s wide-ranging experience. “They need each other, it is a two way benefit,” said Yasser Hejazy, director of Saudi Arabian firm Yasser Hejazy Consulting Engineers. “Saudi firms can gain experience, learn about the industry and also learn to think outside of the box.” Yasser Hejazy has just signed a partnership agreement with DEP, a Lebanese engineering company
MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
LOCAL PARTNERS | KSA SPECIAL
with offices in Paris, Dubai and now Jeddah. Hejazy explained that Saudi Arabia can sometimes be a tricky place to do business, and partnerships help to bridge that gap. “International firms can often be unfamiliar with Saudi Arabian culture and the way that people think here. Joining with a Saudi firm helps them understand Saudi culture, so they are much more likely to be able to penetrate the market,” he said. For Zuhair Fayez Partnership Consultants, Saudi Arabia’s largest architectural firm, working with international firms has become a part of life. Founded in Jeddah some 30 years ago and now employing upwards of 3,500 people, Zuhair is currently working on some massive projects in Riyadh and Jeddah, as well as overseas. Ammar Al-Sabban, head of landscape architecture at ZFP, said that rapid change has occurred in the Saudi market, leading to many firms who previously worked on small, individual projects suddenly getting involved with major developments. “When we used to work it was just the Saudi firms working here, all the international firms were based in their own countries,” he said. “But what happened with the economy and globalisation the world
“Saudi firms can gain experience, learn about the industry and also learn to think outside of the box. Yasser Hejazy, director, Yasser Hejazy Consulting Engineers
just became like a small city. So now clients of ours are just looking to mix up the talent, to look at some new looks for their projects.” Al-Sabban says that international firms also benefit from getting an onthe-ground understanding of how to do business in Saudi Arabia. “The Saudi firms are giving them more knowledge of the market itself. We have a lot of areas that people do not know how to deal with: how to get your pay, what the client really wants, and how to get that message across,” Al-Sabban said. Hejazy goes further. He believes that a local firm’s knowledge about design and Islamic architecture is an asset to a firm that is new to the region. This is particularly true in Jeddah, where a unique ‘Hejazi’ strain of architecture has evolved. “The architecture of the area has a mixture of different cultures, because of Islam and even before Islam pilgrims used to come to this area from all over the world,” Hejazy said.
“When you look at the courtyards, and the mashrabiyas, they provide privacy but they also provide a space that people can use to sit in. The narrow pavements create shade and air movement. A lot of people don’t notice that the new modern buildings do not create the same feeling.” But Al-Sabban feels that while local design knowledge is valuable, Saudi Arabia is changing. The days when the architecture in Riyadh, Jeddah and the east is drastically different is likely over. “We were established in Jeddah but we are doing projects in Damman, in Riyadh, in Sudan and in Dubai, so we’re taking that style and applying it to our designs,” he said. In the end, Al-Sabban added, it is the person who is paying the bills that is the boss. “If a client wants a modern design we do a modern design, if he wants something that reflects the region, then we do something that reflects the region,” he said.
ZFP’s plans for a mosque at the new King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah (LEFT) and SUDATEL Offi ce Building in Sudan (CENTRE) and Islamic Center Mosque, Australia (RIGHT).
www.constructionweekonline.com | 07.10 | MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT
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KSA SPECIAL | JEDDAH
Jeddah’s architecture has always reflected the city’s cultural diversity, but much of its historic heart is sadly being left to rot eddah’s old town is a far cry from the modern malls and air-conditioned offices of the city suburbs. The old souks and neighbourhoods that have for so long attracted pilgrims from across the Arab world now suffer from alarming neglect, rubble lines the streets and the traditional buildings – bar a few token restorations – are partly collapsed into the surrounding streets and roads. But despite the squalor, the Hejazi architectural traditions that have thrived in the city can still be seen on the dilapidated buildings. In some cases vast wooden mashrabiya cover entire façades, and shuttered window boxes, known as roshan, provide cooling and privacy for inhabitants in the summer. The narrow and winding streetscape, which is interspersed with communal, tree-shaded courtyards, is noticeably cooler than the main roads a few metres away. The breeze races down the narrow lanes, taking the edge of the oppressive humidity of the Red Sea coast. The architectural differences between Jeddah and the northern cities of Saudi Arabia date back centuries. The word Hejaz means ‘barrier’ in Arabic, and represents
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MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
the fact that the cities of Jeddah, Mecca and Medina are cut off from the rest of the Arabian peninsula by mountains. In terms of construction, Jeddah used coral to build its fi rst houses instead of mud, while in design terms Hejazi architecture is a true melting pot. The influx of pilgrims over the centuries has led to hints of Syrian, Iraqi and Egyptian design on Jeddah’s narrow lanes. It is unfortunate that so much of what makes Jeddah unique has been ignored in the old town, and even in the government-approved ‘tourist area’ the buildings are in a state of disrepair. That the wooden window boxes and screens have lasted as long as they have is testament to the craftsmanship with which they were fi rst built, but unfortunately nobody in Jeddah seems to have shown the same dedication to restoring these historic buildings. We can only hope that the Jeddah Development and Urban Regeneration Company (JDURC) plans for the city’s unplanned settlements will provoke a similar regeneration of the old town, but few here hold out much hope. The sheer amount of work, and lack of profit, that would be involved in reversing the tide of neglect is likely to be great even for wealthy Saudi Arabia.
JEDDAH | KSA SPECIAL
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44/51 CASE STUDIES
52/53 THE WORK
54/55 CULTURE
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RUWAIS CITY | CASE STUDY
RUWAIS CITY Architect: RNL Client: Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council Location: Abu Dhabi CASE STUDY
THE PROJECT This massive master plan project has been drawn up by design firm RNL for Abu Dhabi’s Urban Planning Council. The 27km 2 development will be a brand new city for Al Gharbia, including a harbour and marina, as well as housing, schools, retail and recreation facilities capable of supporting a growing population. Ruwais will also continue to be a support centre for the tourist islands of Delma and Sir Bani Yas, as well as a national hub for the energy industry. The development is in line with the Al Gharbia 2030 plan, which seeks to increase the population by creating a new industrial hub in the Western Region. The Urban Planning Council (UPC) will invite developers and designers to submit proposals for each of the individual plots at the end of the summer. 44
MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
CASE STUDY | RUWAIS CITY
THE SITE Al Gharbia is already home to some 16,000 workers and their families employed at the nearby ADNOC oil company headquarters, but the Ruwais City site is currently an empty tract of desert some 240km west of Abu Dhabi. Situated on the sea front, RNL hopes that the city will become a regional hub, expanding alongside the region’s main industry, energy.
27KM2 TOTAL SIZE OF RUWAIS CITY DEVELOPMENT
THE CONCEPT Ruwais City will include a town centre, a waterfront district and hill top neighborhoods, catering to a varied range of inhabitants, from large families to single professionals. The plan will offer a range of residential options, with a spread of price points that will attract a diverse population. The centre of the city and the waterfront is designed to be pedestrian friendly, in line with the Abu Dhabi and Al Gharbia 2030 plans, while transport links to residential areas are paramount. The waterfront will include a marina and ferry facilities to the Delma and Sir Bani Yas. A minimum 100 metre-wide coastal preservation buffer will be established along the gulf foreshore, providing a recreation amenity and protecting the fragile coastal eco-system.
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RUWAIS CITY | CASE STUDY
2 MILLION ESTIMATED INCREASE IN ABU DHABI’S POPULATION BY 2030
THE DETAILS Patrick McKelvey, senior principal at RNL, explained that Ruwais City fit in well with the Al Gharbia 2030 plan. “There is a lot going on out there,” he said. “It has become a focal point for planned expansion, and this is one of the first steps of the 2030 plan, to put together these frameworks.”
The plan incorporates passive sustainability strategies based on local wind and solar conditions. Streets and open spaces have been aligned and sized to channel breezes, improving air quality, thermal comfort and minimising heat build-up within the city. They also will flush the city with cooler air at night for energy savings and improved thermal comfort through the earlier portion of the day. The RNL-designed Ruwais Masterplan limits the use of water, a defining characteristic of sustainable communities in Al Gharbia.
The Ruwais development will be a pedestrian oriented multi-modal community, with transit, pedestrian and bicycle access integrated into the circulation plan. A clear
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hierarchy of streets and access alternatives will form the framework of the Masterplan. Walk-ability is key, particularly in the town centre and waterfront areas.
MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
The marina, or waterfront district, will include tourist- based leisure facilities, recreation and medium-to-high density residential housing as well as retail.
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NOBU DOHA | CASE STUDY
NOBU DOHA Client: Nobu Designer: Rockwell Group Location: Qatar CASE STUDY
THE PROJECT
GROUND FLOOR
Created by New York design firm Rockwell Group, the Nobu Doha is a brand new 26,000ft 2 restaurant planned for the waterfront of the Qatari capital. The freestanding, three-storey building includes private and public dining for over 100 guests as well as a bar and rooftop terrace capable of holding a further 125 people. The restaurant, due for completion in late 2011, will be the second Nobu in the Middle East, after the Japanese chef opened an outlet in Dubai.
THE SITE The restaurant will anchor the northern end of Doha’s grand Corniche and will be set on a peninsula on Doha bay that forms part of the Four Seasons Hotel. TOTAL CAPACITY, Overlooking Doha’s INCLUDING A ROOFTOP harbour, the rooftop TERRACE CAPABLE terrace provides excelOF HOLDING 125 PEOPLE lent views of downtown Doha and the Corniche.
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MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
CASE STUDY | NOBU DOHA
ROOFTOP TERRACE
THE CONCEPT Shawn Sullivan, principal designer on the project, said that the design for the Nobu Doha was intrinsically linked to the sea, and the role that it plays in Qatari life. “The façade resembles a coiled shell, with elliptical ribbons of
river stone that, when lit at night, create a magnificent waterside façade,” he said. Sullivan added that the perimeter of the building will be surrounded by a reflecting pool that accentuates the building’s close relationship with water.
The interior of the building has been a major focus for the designers. It draws its inspiration from the sea, using shells as cladding in the main dining room while the curved walls of the private dining room will feature 2 hand-painted murals of koi fish and natural TOTAL FLOORSPACE abstractions by OF NOBU DOHA Japanese artist Hideki Kimura.
26,000 FEET
From a distance, Sullivan explained, the restaurant appears to be floating, an effect achieved by cladding the ground floor in glass. “As people approach and see the building from a distance, it will appear to float above the glass entry lobby and pools surrounding it,” he said. “It is a complex structural system, which goes along with all the co-ordination issues involved in creating a building surrounded by the sea on all sides.”
www.constructionweekonline.com | 07.10 | MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT
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JENAN CITY | CASE STUDY
JENAN CITY Client: Jenan Real Estate Architect: NORR Consultants Location: Saudi Arabia CASE STUDY
THE PROJECT Jenan City is a 44,655m 2 mixeduse development in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, which will include offices, apartments, a mall and a hotel. Spread across two adjacent sites, Jenan City will provide upwards of 100 luxury apartments, a 250-room hotel and a mall on the fi rst plot and a medium density residential development on the second, providing homes for Saudi Arabian families. It has been designed by NORR consultants, and it is one of two major projects the fi rm is currently working on in Saudi Arabia.
THE SITE The 340,000m 2 site is split into two plots on the main thoroughfare in Al Khobar. The commercial component of the project – including the mall and hotel – fronts onto King Saud Road, while the residential section, targeting Saudi nationals, is to the east of the site. By splitting the development 50/50 across the two plots, the architects have created a shared open space running east to west through the centre of the site.
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MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
CASE STUDY | JENAN CITY
THE CONCEPT The buildings have been conceived as abstract sculptural masses, and the exterior expression of these forms is a play between solid and transparent materials. NORR’s concept combines horizontally massed low-rise buildings punctuated by seven towers, varying in height from 12 to 37 floors as they move from east to west across the site. The office and hotel towers anchor the master plan and are designed to prominently identify Jenan City as a landmark for Al Khobar and the larger region.
THE DETAILS The designers had to balance local cultural needs for privacy with the constraints of a high-density development. They focused on providing both shared areas between the buildings as well as private roof terraces. Yahya Jan, design director at NORR, explained that external areas had to be usable, and simply providing balconies 2 would not suffice. “We TOTAL have proposed soluDEVELOPMENT tions that celebrate SITE both indoor and outdoor spaces,” he said.
340,000 METRES
VELOCITY CONTOUR PLOT AT GROUND LEVEL
The designers sought to take into account Al Khobar’s hot and dry climate from a very early stage. To reduce the impact of solar gain to the interiors the buildings are rectangular in plan, and oriented to reduce the extent of their east and west facades. “We have worked closely with our environmental consultant to study the impact of the environment, including land and sea breezes,” Jan said. The massing of the project, with the highest buildings in the west and building heights progressively decreasing to the east, is intended to help make the most of the cool east winds.
www.constructionweekonline.com | 07.10 | MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT
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PROJECT UPDATE | THE WORK
THE WORK PROJECT UPDATE
TILAL LIWA DESERT HOTEL Client: Roya Architect: DSA Architects International Location: Madinat Zayed, Empty Quarter
150 TREES WERE PLANTED TO OFFSET THE CARBON USED TRANSPORTING MATERIALS TO SUDAN
SALAM CENTRE Client: Emergency Ong Onlus Designer: Tamassociati Location: Sudan
DJAMAA EL DJAZAIR Client: Government of Algeria Designer: Jurgen Engel Architekten Location: Algeria
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This project in the UAE’s Empty Quarter resembles a traditional desert fort, and is situated some two hours from Abu Dhabi. The 40,500m 2 hotel includes 120 guest rooms, a restaurant and a health club set around traditional courtyards. DSA Architects incorporated a number of traditional elements into the design, including thick walls and small windows enabling the building to keep cool in the summer months.
Italian architecture fi rm Tamassociati used discarded cargo containers to build staff accommodation in Sudan. The fi rm had used the containers to transport materials to the African nation, and chose to reuse them rather than shipping them back. The buildins house 60 staff, set around a leafy courtyard in which the designers planted 100 trees to offset the carbon they used shipping materials to Sudan.
Due to become the third biggest mosque in the world, the Djamaa El Djazair in Algiers has been designed in a joint effort by Jurgen Engel Architekten, Drees & Sommer and engineering consultancy Krebs und Kiefer. The project will include a prayer hall holding 35,000 worshippers, as well as the tallest minaret in the world, due to stand at 264 metres. The mosque will take more than four years to complete.
Client: British Foreign Office Architect: John Mc Aslan + Partners Location: Algeria
COPENHAGEN GRAND MOSQUE Client: Bach Gruppen A/S Architect: BIGBjarke Ingels Group Location: Denmark
ABU DHABI INVESTMENT COUNCIL HQ Client: Abu Dhabi Investment Council Architect: Aedas Architects Location: Abu Dhabi
RUKN AL AQEEQ Architect: Maan Alsalloum, Cowi Location: Saudi Arabia
THE WORK | PROJECT UPDATE
BRITISH EMBASSY ALGIERS
This project in the Algerian capital saw a thoroughly modern embassy building incorporated into the site of a colonial residence. The British Foreign Office had strict requirements relating to cost, use and security, all of which had to be balanced against design considerations by John Mc Aslan + Partners. The eco-friendly building also had to fit into a tight 1,800m 2 footprint, without obscuring views across the Bay of Algiers.
Denmark’s fi rst purpose-built mosque is being built in cooperation with the Muslim Council of Denmark, an umbrella organization representing 13 different Muslim organizations. The mosque is part of a 124,000m 2 religious complex that will include a CAPACITY OF THE prayer hall, shops, conferGRAND MOSQUE’S ence facilities, an auditorium PRAYER HALL and an Islamic library. Work on the project is ongoing.
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Touted as the new gateway to Abu Dhabi, the ADIC headquarters will provide 350,000ft2 of office space, as well as retail and food outlets for an estimated 2,000 workers. Designed by Aedas Architects’ London office, the two 25-storey towers utilize a number of high-tech green initiatives, including a mashrabiya screen which shifts in order to protect against direct sunlight. The towers will be completed in 2011.
The Rukn Al Aqeeq is a mixed-use development incorporating a 21 storey hotel and 12-storey office tower, linked by a single storey of retail space. The entire building will be clad in stainless steel mesh and is designed to be elliptical, with the hotel and office towers joining together at the fourth floor with an open-air garden area in the centre. The steel mesh is designed to help the building obtain a LEED ranking.
www.constructionweekonline.com | 07.10 | MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT
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CULTURE | LIKE WANT NEED
LIKE WANT NEED
BATHROOM
TOP BIMATERICO TechLab Italia TechLab Italia has mixed stainless steel and DuPont Corian to create the innovative Top Bimaterico. The collection of kitchen surfaces combines the tactility, beauty and mouldability of DuPont Corian with the practicality and high temperature resistance of stainless steel. Large sheets of
stainless steel are set flush into slabs of DuPont Corian, using an exclusive flush-mounting system that gives the surface exceptional stability and solidity, and is easy to install. The collection of kitchen surfaces combines the tactility, beauty and mouldability of DuPont Corian with the practicality.
CULTURE
BOOKS
BUILDING ARABIA White Star Publishing Building Arabia is an examination of contemporary architecture in the Arabian Peninsula, looking at how architects deal with designing buildings for the region’s inhospitable climate. Many of the designs in the book feature technologically advanced systems that embrace the inuence
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MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
of the local, traditional culture along with centuries-old solutions for sustainable climate control. The book has been written by Oscar Eugenio Bellini, architect and researcher, and Laura Daglio, architect and professor of architectural technology, both of the Politecnico of Milan.
LIKE WANT NEED | CULTURE
GADGETS
LASER GUIDED SCISSORS Thinkgeek.com Let’s face it, we all hoped that by 2010 everyone could have their own lasers for doing all sorts of things, cutting through steel, heating food (a la Robocop) or waging war against each other, but alas we don’t. What we do have, thanks to the boffins at Thinkgeek.com, is laser guided scissors, which while
not as impressive as the ones in 1990s sci fi movies, could prove pretty useful for accurate project preparation, allowing you to see exactly where you are cutting in paper, fabric and even hair.
ART
VIVID, VIBRANT AND IRANIAN Total Arts This dazzling display of contemporary Iranian art is on display in Dubai this month. It includes work by emerging artists such as Mansour Rafie, Mohsen Jamalinik and Shahpour Pouyan, who tackle traditional Islamic culture and society in their thoroughly modern work. The work of all three artists is up for sale at the exhibition, which is being held at the Total Arts Studio on Sheikh Zayed Road until 31 August.
www.constructionweekonline.com | 07.10 | MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT
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LAST WORD | JAN KLERKS
STANDING TALL THE LAST WORD In the spirit of our cover story on tall buildings this month, Middle East Architect caught up with Jan Klerks, editor of the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) journal.
The best thing about my job is getting paid to be busy with tall buildings in a Chicago office. That is mighty fun. I think the great thing about the CTBUH is that it brings together many professions, such as architects, engineers, contractors and urban planners on a global level, so we always have a very mixed crowd. I hope that there will be a shift away from the all enclosed boxes
and that buildings will have a far more permeable appearance, such as double facades, balconies, sky courts and sky bridges. Tall is not only about being iconic, it also should be about creating
pleasant densities. I live in a tall building that doesn’t have a sustainable certification, but it allows me to get around without a car, enjoy the shared amenities and have a $35 per month utility bill. The most serious contender to the Burj Khalifa at the moment is the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which is said to be 1,001 metres tall. Some people don’t understand how spires are included in our rankings, so here it is: If a spire is strictly architectural, it is
included in the height but if it is functional, such as antennas and flag poles, it is not. Tall buildings, and especially supertall buildings, are not
really an urban necessity, they are more of a statement. Being part of a tall and iconic project is always a very intense
but also rewarding process. To me the Empire State Building is still the most quintessential skyscraper in the world. There is nothing I would change about the CTBUH,
although I think our office should have been up a tall building.
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MIDDLE EAST ARCHITECT | 07.10 | www.constructionweekonline.com
DCX2176-1_DCCS_BA_K20_5771_v2a.indd 1
5/19/10 1:22:13 PM
DCX2176-1_DCCS_BA _K20_5771_v2a.indd Saved: 5/18/10 CLIENT Dow Corning
KEYLINE
Prepared by: Sarah Elwyn BLEED 215mm x 285mm
CREATIVE DIR Matt Finizio
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