The Big Project

MAY 2012

PLUS onsite with Unipods Dubai Green building codes

Commentary from: Garrison report, Hill International, Dorma, Autodesk ARCHITECTURE n ENGINEERING n CONSTRUCTION n FM n POWER n PMV

Future Cities

The story behind the century’s fastest growing trend and the future of the Middle East’s cities

MAY 2012

Contents

25

REGULARS

30

Editor’s letter 6 News bulletin 9 Career ladder 28 Evershed’s newest recruit, Tim Armsby, in profile

Cover: Future Cities 34

34

AIA, American University of Sharjah and heads from Abu Dhabi UPC, Dubai Municipality and Fujairah Municipality talk about future cities and urban planning

Supplier news 52 Tenders 61 Diary 65 Your shout 66

FEATURES 16 News analysis Dubai Municipality on the latest phase of its green building codes

25 Ted Garrison More advice from US-based author and construction economics expert, Ted Garrison

30 Site visit: Unipods How do you install 24 bathrooms a day on site? Behind the scenes with unipods at Damman University

44 Road to Doha Sustainable transport infrastructure from Carboun’s commentators

55 Supplier profile: Harsco How the company achieved its green saudization status

55

www.thebigprojectme.com | 3

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EDITOR’S COMMENT

Publisher Dominic De Sousa Chief operations officer Nadeem Hood Associate publisher Liam Williams liam@cpidubai.com TEL: +971 (0)4 440 9158 GSM: +971 (0)55 310 9256

“City pulse”

U

tter the words ‘urban design’ and ‘Dubai’, and it’s highly likely most people around you will have something to say.

Yet, what many don’t know is that urbanisation is the fastest growing trend of the century; its demands and effects shape how every city is built and its built area has an impact on almost everything we do within in.

Last year it was reported that China is to merge nine existing cities to form a 42million people mega city – the world’s largest – connected by a network of 150, as yet unfinished, mega infrastructure projects.

Even the cities of the Middle East have turned many a head over the last decade, with one travel site naming Dubai in its top five “weirdest cities in the world”, a ranking earned from the very things that make it famous: ski slopes, malls and reclamation projects.

Then last month, a colleague sent me a news report claiming Formula One technology is to be used in a project called PlanIT Valley in Northern Portugal. The city, to be built from scratch, will be fitted with 100 million sensors, monitoring the pulse of the city – and its residents – in order to improve urban planning.

The city is due for completion in 2015 and will have 150,000 residents according to the report.

How a city is planned is often taken for granted, but with so many new

Editorial director Melanie Mingas melanie@cpidubai.com TEL: +971 (0)4 440 9117 GSM: +971 (0)56 758 7834 Reporters Anoop Menon anoop@cpi-industry.com Praseeda Nair Praseeda@cpidubai.com

cities under construction in the region at this moment in time – and advancing technology and scientific know how – the topic of how best to design, plan, link and green these cities is more topical than ever before.

So this month, The Big Project took a look at the biggest project of them all and invited representatives from the American Institute of Architects, the Emirate’s municipalities and academics, to talk about the issues we face and the future and identities of our cities.

You can read the discussion from page 36 onwards and videos will be posted on www.thebigprojectme.com over the coming weeks.

Also in this issue, we hear from commentators in IT, real estate, construction, sustainable infrastructure and power, and bring you news from the start of Project Qatar.

As exhibition season winds down for the summer, next month The Big Project will bring you coverage of the recent Intermat Paris, where we spoke with Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, organisers and exhibitors at the exhibition, ahead of the second Intermat Abu Dhabi in October.

We’ll also bring you a roundup of Infrastructure Arabia; a week-long conference series held alongside CityScape Abu Dhabi last month.

Until then,

Melanie Mingas Editorial director

Business development manager Junaid Rafique junaid@cpidubai.com TEL: +971 (0)4 440 9150 GSM: +971 (0)50 104 7864 Business development manager Rhiannon Downie rhiannon@cpidubai.com TEL: +971 (0)4 440 9152 GSM: +971 (0)50 554 0116 Marketing Manager Carole McCarthy carolem@cpidubai.com TEL: +971 (0)4 440 9157 GSM: +971 (0)55 978 8605 Team Administrator Leila El Madalla leila@cpidubai.com GSM: +971 (0)50 912 7459 Designer/Photographer Marlou Delaben Photographer Cris Mejorada Webmasters Troy Maagma Jerus King Bation Erik Briones Joel Azcuna Printed by Printwell Printing Press LLC Published by

Head Office PO Box 13700 Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 (0)4 440 9100 Fax: +971 (0)4 447 2409 Web: www.thebigprojectme.com © Copyright 2012 CPI. All rights reserved.

While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

6 | www.thebigprojectme.com

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Capacity and expansion plans announced by Rajhi Steel Production to meet KSA export targets within months, followed by supply to Qatar

E

ng Faisal bin Edan from Saudi Arabia’s Rajhi Steel has spoken about the company’s plan to increase production and begin supplying Qatar’s booming construction and infrastructure industries within months.

Ahead of a production increase of 1 million tonnes “by the start of June”, Eng Faisal told The Big Project that production will exceed the Saudia Arabian government’s production targets by 2013, allowing the company to export products other than the commercial steel it currently does, when full plant capacity is reached.

“We are hoping 2013 will be a chance for us to start exporting. We have not been able to export rebar until now because domestic demand is much higher than domestic supply “Over the next month we will increase production by 1 million tonnes and we also have a 3.5 million tonne boost this year, so full capability of the plant will be reached in 2013,” he added.

When asked how Gulf manufacturers will be able to stay ahead of demand over the coming years, he said: “There are other companies increasing supply and what is happening now is a lot of contracts have already been made

with the Royal Family and Shiekh of Qatar and that will increase demand rapidly.

“In the GCC steel industry you can count the best manufacturers on one hand and we are one of them,” he added.

In 2008 Qatar was named one of the top four steel producers in the Middle East, and the mega infrastructure projects of Vision 2030, in addition to World Cup projects, continue to fuel demand.

Locally produced rebar prices in the Saudi Arabian market today remain at US$770 per tonne, compared to $685-690 from Qatar Steel and $660-690 in Turkey.

Commenting on the Qatari market during

Project Qatar, Eng Faisal commented: “It has become attractive for everybody and that is why we are here. We have a relatively small market share here at the moment, but that will expand. If we are looking to future markets Qatar will be a good market, even if there are domestic supplies.”

Eng Faisal ranks Qatar’s steel market third in the region behind Saudi Arabia and UAE. “Since they announced 2022, a lot of changes and projects have started to happen. It has become attractive for everybody and that is why we are here. We have a relatively small market share here at the moment, but that will expand,” he added.

Multibillion contract “nears” for Arabtec consortium Reuters reports $3bn contract is for Abu Dhabi airport UAE contractor Arabtec, Turkish airport giant TAV and Greek firm Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) are close to securing a US$3 billion contract for the Abu Dhabi Midfield Terminal complex, “industry sources” have told international news agency Reuters.

The various sources are quoted as saying the group “had gotten positive signals but no official information had been sent”, and also that: “They have the lowest bid ... it’s likely they will win it”.

MTC is described as the “centrepiece of ADAC’s multibillion dollar investment programme” by its owners. Piling works for the terminal building began in February 2009 and ADAC announced the release of the MTC tender in January 2011. Three other consortia bid on the project.

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NEWS | REGIONAL NEWS

NEWS BULLETIN

NEWS | REGIONAL NEWS

140 million allocated to hospitality projects in KSA by Al Khozama Management Company

Welcome to the Jungle International pavilions at Project Qatar highlight influx of overseas trade

W

hile the first year following Qatar’s World Cup announcement may have been slow to provide opportunity, the tide has officially changed according to international ambassadors and exhibitors at Project Qatar 2012.

France has established a Doha base for its UBI France trade commission body and Malaysia has declared intentions to follow suit with a regional trade centre in the Gulf state.

Malaysian companies have secured 26 projects in Qatar to date, worth a total value of US$2.5billion, according to local reports.

Visiting the official opening of Project Qatar on Monday April 30, French Ambassador JeanChristophe Peaucelle, said: “They have a political vision, they know what they want to do with their country in the next 20 years and this vision is very methodical and organised. I think that for business this is a great country with great opportunity.”

French oil giant Total has been present in the country since the beginning of its oil and gas industry, and in 2011 French exports to Qatar reached €800m, up 8% on 2010 levels.

Trade commissioner and director for UBI France, which opened its second Gulf base in Q3 2011, Francois Sporrer, said international expan-

sion from any country takes time and “patience” “Qatar has succeeded in its communication strategy; in France everybody knows about Qatar, in business or on the street. “[The challenges are that] maybe companies are attracted too quickly and this is a very competitive market. You have to be tough, have the right strategy, keep visiting, invite potential partners to France. Many people think that they can just come to Project Qatar and do business instantly and they are very disappointed at the end of the show,” Sporrer added.

“We have to explain that we are in a region that, like any other, takes time. You have to be serious, patient and committed. Some small companies want the business quickly and sometimes don’t have the means to be patient and re-visit,” Sporrer concluded.

This year marks the 9th and largest edition of Project Qatar; other countries represented in the foreign pavilions included UAE, Germany, Iran and Belgium.

Combinations of international standards “challenging” in Qatar Knowledge transfer confusion in regulatory focus from European to US One the one hand it’s a healthy sign of a developing market, but on the other the development of Qatar’s materials market is leading to confusion over regulatory and quality standards.

Speaking to The Big Project during Project Qatar, Mapei business development director, Laith Haboubi, said demonstrating the value of regulations and standards Mapei has achieved internationally remains a challenge in Qatar’s materials market.

“That has been one of the challenges in Qatar. We are trying to emphasis more on the international standards which we also comply with,” he explained. “European standards are good and recognised but we do find a lot of the

10 | www.thebigprojectme.com

work here is US-standard driven, which has given us challenges to a different extent.

Obviously we are very large in the American market, but I think the initial surprise for us here is how US-centric the established specs are here.

“We are slowly breaking those barriers, by bridging the European and American standards,” he added.

Mapei’s sales for Q1 this year have already matched the whole in 2011 and Haboubi added he can see “parallels” between the Qatari market today and Emirati market of last decade, adding: “There are a lot of contractors and engineers who moved from the Emirates to Qatar and brought a lot of

experience with them, so the same mistakes that were made in the Emirates will not be made here and for us, that’s what we call a developing market.”

Mapei’s aim during Project Qatar is to continue to strengthen its market presence, seeking to capitalise on an estimated US$22.149 billion worth of projects, expected to be awarded across the country in 2012.

Value of GCC Projects to be awarded by 2016

Source: Arabian World Construction Summit.

US$169 million contract for Habtoor Leighton Group JV ACS Group partnership to work on “mine-related infrastructure”

A

joint venture between ACS Group (Dragados Gulf Construction Company / Intecsa Industrial) and Dubai’s Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG) has been awarded a contract worth US$169 million for “the construction of mine-related infrastructure” for the Ma’aden Alcoa Aluminium joint venture’s bauxite mine.

The project is located approximately 200 km north east of the city of Burayda, at Al Ba’itha, in a desert landscape in central Saudi Arabia.

Minerals from the mine will be transported on the North-South Railway, connecting the

mine to the aluminium smelter Ma’aden is constructing at Ras Al Khair.

“This is another very important step for us, as it reinforces our presence in the region’s largest construction market,” HLG’s CEO and managing director, Laurie Voyer, said.

“Our strategy involves building successful relationships with regional partners to successfully deliver challenging and unique projects,” he continued, further commenting that experience in Australia and Asia gave HLG leverage.

“This project allows us an opportunity to synergize our delivery skills with those of our

partners in what has previously been a niche market,” Laurie added.

HLG’s share of the contract is worth $85 million and it is the second project in Saudi Arabia this year for the company.

This new project follows the announcement on 20 April that HLG had secured in joint venture a $765 million contract for the design and construction of a new aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facility at Jeddah Airport in Saudi Arabia.

HLG’s share of that project reportedly stands at $153 million.

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NEWS | REGIONAL NEWS

7500

new homes for Emirati families across all three regions of Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Gharbia showcased at CityScape last month

NEWS | REGIONAL NEWS CityScape Abu Dhabi opened on April 23 alongside Middle East Real Estate Summit, Infrastructure Arabia and World eco-Construct. While visitor and exhibitor number were noticeably down on previous years, new projects were showcased by Meeras, Bloom Properties and Aldar. The CityScape Awards were also held during the exhibition at the Yas Viceroy Hotel, on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island. Winning projects included: Sheikh Khalifa Medical Centre, Madinat City and World Trade Centre Abu Dhabi.

3 - 8% declining economic growth rates witnessed in UAE, KSA and Bahrain by A.T. Kearney

10% cash dividend announce d at Emaar Properties AGM

12 | www.thebigprojectme.com

DSWP to construct “one of the longest” gravity driven wastewater tunnels Subcontract for AED470m secured in Abu Dhabi Drake & Scull Water and Power L.L.C (DSWP) has announced a newly secured contract worth AED470million for the design review, procurement and construction of MEP and instrumentation works for the strategic tunnel enhancement programme (STEP) pumping station in Abu Dhabi.

“Sustainability and environmentally sound engineering practices are crucial and pivotal elements to the successful completion of the project. Our expertise in environmental engineering and our partnership with Odebrecht will allow us to put in place

eco-friendly engineering models and structures to protect the environment and contribute to the development of a sustainable infrastructure system in the Emirate,” commented DSWP managing director Tawfiq Abu Soud.

Developed by Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company (ADSSC), STEP will be one of the longest gravity-driven wastewater tunnels in the world designed to reduce the pressure on the current Emirate Sewerage system and to expand its future capacity, say DSWP.

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NEWS | ONLINE REGIONAL NEWS NEWS

Best of ONLINE

Harsco Baroom praised for 40% Saudization Samref Refinery comments on ‘green status’ achievement Harsco Baroom Ltd has received positive feedback in response to its “efforts in Saudization”, from Engineer Suleiman Al Barqan, chairman and chief executive of Samref Refinery (Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Ltd).

The current rate of Saudization stands at 40% across the company; a large proportion of which is young nationals in operations and business development. A scaffolding academy was also recently launched at Yanbu.

Harsco Baroom, which accounced its achievement of ‘green status’ under Saudi Arabia’s Nitaqat programme to encourage and support locals into the private sector.

“We thank the management of Samref Refinery for this honour which crowns the efforts exerted by Harsco Baroom in attracting and recruiting Saudi technicians and gave them opportunity to join

technical jobs in various petroleum and chemical industries in the Kingdom,” commented Vince Porter, country manager of Harsco Baroom.

As one of Saudi Arabia’s primary formwork suppliers, the global Harsco Infrastructure business was created when a number of regional specialists were joined together by Harsco in 2010. These included SGB in the UK, Europe and the Middle East;, Hünnebeck in Europe; Patent Construction Systems in North America; and ESCO in Latin America.

The company is part of the Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) generating revenues in excess of $3bn.

Turn to page 59 for an in depth analysis of Harsco Baroom’s nationalisation programme

Construction begins on Perkins Eastman designed Lekhwiya Stadium Al Khayyat Contracting & Trading EST and the Private Engineering Office of the Emir named project partners Construction has begun on the 19,529 sq metre Lekhwiya Sports Complex — a mixed-use sports venue in Qatar, designed by international architecture firm, Perkins Eastman.

Working with project partners Al Khayyat Contracting & Trading EST and the Private Engineering Office of the Emir, the design was completed in collaboration with ECG, Pieper Sports Facility Consulting, and Site Concepts International.

The stadium will be used as the homeground for Qatar’s premier

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football team, Lekhwiya Club, and will also be used a training site and homebase for teams participating in the 2022 World Cup. The complex is described by Perkins Eastman as an “identifiable icon for the home club”.

A description from the firm, continues: “The complex was designed to meet the business and operational goals of a worldclass sports and entertainment complex and contributes to the architectural vitality of Qatar’s largest city and its growing reputation as the region’s sports capital.”

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For more information please visit www.dysonairblade.com/middleeast 1. Source: T. Montalbo, J. Gregory, R. Kirchain. Life Cycle Assessment of Hand Drying Systems. A Dyson commissioned study, 2011.

NEWS ANALYSIS | GREEN DUBAI

Dubai Municipality releases second phases of Emirate’s green building regulations After more than three years in development, and the start of a collaborative trial period for Dubai Municipality’s green building regulations, the municipality explains the newly launched practice guide; its principles, aims and objectives for the future of the Emriate

D

ubai has moved obvious steps towards the goals of sustainable development in order to achieve a safe, clean, and sustainable environment Represented in many of the initiatives and projects aimed at preserving the environment and optimum utilization of natural resources and create a successful green economy which strengthens Dubai’s position globally. Detecting the best international practices and standards is the best way to achieve this Goal. And this edition of (practice guide) is a step towards sustainable development.

Last year you may have noticed the municipality’s efforts to take serious steps towards our sustainable strategy. The Dubai Municipality vision ensures that sustainable development is a means by which to achieve a double objective;

16 | www.thebigprojectme.com

balancing between economic growth and environmental protection.

In this field, Dubai has been a leader through projects and strategic plans, despite the limited natural resources and hard climate. The implementing of Green Building Regulations and the application of them on all new buildings in the emirate of Dubai comes from the Dubai Strategic Plan. That’s why we have adopted the Green Building Specifications and consider them one of the most important legislations, in order to protect the environment and natural resources, while preserving public health and the quality of life of the population without prejudice to the destiny of future generations.

Dubai has sought for the construction of a modern city; outstanding, international and

free of contaminants. A city, which offers comfort of living. It has become imperative to continue and maintain what has been built with high quality and commitment to our duty towards the international community, through an active role in global efforts to reduce the risk of climate change, global warming and the effects of greenhouse gases.

The Practice Guide

The new Practice Guide has been created as a result of the continuous efforts between Dubai Municipality and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) through the committee of green building.

The Work in this project began with the establishment of strategic goals and future

NEWS ANALYSIS | GREEN DUBAI

“That’s why we have adopted the Green Building Specifications and consider them one of the most important legislations, in order to protect the environment and natural resources, while preserving public health and the quality of life of the population without prejudice to the destiny of future generations” operational plans for the Green Buildings in Dubai project. This was followed by the determining goals for the project, through study of a number of similar international practices with participation from stakeholders in the construction field.

The assessment of the regulations was a must and the evaluation criteria is such as to address environmental impact, cost of construction, readiness of the market and ease of application.

All this resulted in the issuance of Green Building Regulations & Specifications in 2010, which was divided into five basic chapters.

The first chapter is focusing on the environmental design of the building during the design stage; the second chapter is related to the building vitality and people health inside the building; the remaining three chapters focus on the efficiency of using energy, water, materials, and implementing waste management procedures.

Action

The measures outlined in the Practice Guide will be mandatory from 2014 for public and

optional for private buildings, according to our current legislation and implementation timelines. Dubai Municipality has already issued circular no. 185 to all consultants and contractors in Dubai about applying these regulations on all buildings. The circular refers to the mandatory application of the regulations for all new governmental projects and optionally for other private buildings.

Also Dubai Municipality has made ​​significant strides towards the implementation of Solar Energy applications in many of their work and projects in order to achieve a percentage of savings in electricity consumption up to 1 MW Finally, in the latest circular no. 185 dated in March 2012, DM has assigned an email for the Green Building Project to communicate with the society and all stakeholders. This comes from their belief about the importance of people participating & sharing experience with all companies in the construction field towards the achievement of sustainable development.

All explanatory literature on Dubai Municipality’s Green Building Regulations is available from the municipality offices in Deira, Dubai, or can be downloaded from: tinyurl.com/bwagkdx

Chapters in Dubai’s environmental regulations:

Ecology and planning: Landscaping Pollution Microclimate and indoor comfort Responsible construction Environmental impact assessment Building vitality: Ventilation and air quality Thermal comfort Acoustic comfort Hazardous materials Daylight and visual comfort Water quality Resource effectiveness: Energy building fabric Building systems Commissioning and management Onsite systems: generation and renewables Resource effectiveness : Water conservation and efficiency Commissioning and management Onsite systems: recovery and treatment Resource effectiveness: materials and waste and materials and resources Waste management

www.thebigprojectme.com | 17

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COMMENT | APINA

Peak load plan Peter van der Ham of APINA makes a case for implementing Turbine Inlet Air Cooling (TIAC) with Thermal Energy Storage (TES) to deal with power demand spikes in the summer

A

few months ago, a website on power generation in the GCC carried the following poll: As temperatures cool, how can we best plan for next summer’s peak load?

• More rental power generation.

• Speeding up development of new power plants.

• Better public awareness of rationalising power usage.

• More efficient appliances.

While options c & d focus on the root cause of the summer peak load, options a & b highlight the typical measures resorted to cope with the summer peak load. But the poll, in my opinion, missed out an important measure to meet the summer peak power demand, namely, the implementation of Turbine Inlet Air Cooling (TIAC) systems, and in particular, the implementation of TIAC with Thermal Energy Storage (TES).

As TIAC has been covered extensively in the recent past, I will assume that the benefits of cooling the inlet air in combustion turbines are known to most readers. With combustion turbines, the climate determines the power output to a great extent. The main objective of TIAC is to recover the lost turbine output at high ambient (summer) temperatures and increase operating efficiency (lower the heat

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rate).A direct side benefit of TIAC implementation is the reduction of NOx and CO2 emissions. Moreover, a TIAC system costs only a fraction of the option of adding additional gas turbines or setting up new power plants and can be realised much faster (in most cases in only half of the time). Therefore, the implementation of TIAC systems should be seriously considered for summer peak load planning.

In general, TIAC technology is discussed in terms of evaporative and chiller-based systems.

The key disadvantages for evaporative TIAC systems are limitations of wet-bulb temperature and high operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. This article will focus on chillerbased TIAC systems in combination with TES.

Peak profile

In the Gulf region, the demand for power peaks during the hottest hours of the day.

Unfortunately, the output of combustion turbines during these hours are lower due to a high inlet air temperature, which creates a gap in power demand and supply during certain hours of the day in summer. Cooling of the inlet air to the combustion turbine during these hours can restore its power output to the nominal rated output. To deal with the common peak load profile, APINA has developed TESTIAC technology, which combines TIAC and TES

systems. A key benefit is that the TIAC system does not have to be sized for the maximum instant cooling requirement during the peak hours; rather, the sizing can be reduced by adding a TES system which will be charged with cooling energy outside peak hours and discharged during the peak hours to cool the inlet air. Operating the refrigeration plant outside peak hours will augment the power of the combustion turbines to the maximum as the parasitic power consumption of the TESTIAC system is deferred to off peak hours. Further, this parasitic power consumption will be minimised as the heat can be rejected to the ambient during the cooler part of the day. TES systems can be based on ice storage systems or stratified water storage with the latter regarded as the most cost effective solution for the Gulf region.

TESTIAC can be implemented in existing power plants, but will be most feasible in new power plants where cost savings can be realised at the planning stage through optimised layout and integration into the power plant design.

Not just another cooling system

Interestingly, suppliers of ordinary cooling systems are also trying to enter the market for these specialised applications. The moot question is whether they understand the different

COMMENT | APINA APINA was contacted by a client who had a chiller-based TIAC system but the parasitic power consumption was much higher than expected during off-design conditions which affected the payback. Unfortunately, at such a stage, it would be difficult and costly to improve the performance of the TIAC system.

The expertise of TIAC solution providers with a proven track record of successfully operating TIAC systems, like APINA, would guarantee the best performance and thus, the best return on investment. To date, our TESTIAC systems are cooling the inlet air of over 65 combustion turbines in the Gulf region.

Humid versus dry

applications and possess the required expertise.

Moreover, a supplier, in my opinion, should be able to guarantee the performance at fixed reference site conditions (RSC) and also to time varying climatic conditions on yearly basis (offdesign performance), which is a the key factor when it comes to the payback period of the investment. Value engineering will optimise the off-design performance of the TIAC or TESTIAC system and the capability of the system to adapt to these time varying climatic conditions continuously. The system should be able to operate at variable temperatures so as to guarantee an inlet air temperature at lowest parasitic power consumption and thus, provide maximum power augmentation.

Designing the most appropriate TESTIAC system for each situation requires painstaking evaluation of the specific conditions.

Parameters which have to be studied include for example the duration of the peak demand, combustion turbine curves, residual thermal energy availability, historical climatic conditions on hourly basis. Design choices of the TIAC or TESTIAC system should be made in early design stage with support of a qualified TIAC solution provider. The design of the coils section to be installed into the turbine filter

“Designing the most appropriate TESTIAC system for each situation requires painstaking evaluation of the specific conditions� house is an important factor of total TESTIAC design. The scope of supply should be part of the TESTIAC solution provider.

Further expertise is required for total review of impact of TIAC implementation on the total combustion turbine system including generator, transformer and other auxiliaries.

Poor design can not only damage the turbine but will not achieve the expected performance, mainly during off-design conditions. Recently,

Implementing TESTIAC systems in a humid climate for power plants located near the coastline pose an extra challenge due to the corrosive atmosphere which impacts materials and the completely different approach to the design of the coil section in the turbine filter house due to condensation on the surface of the cooling coils. Although the risk of water droplets carryover into the gas turbine bell mouth is very high with evaporative TIAC systems compared to chiller-based systems, there is still the risk of condensate droplets carry-over from the cooling coil surface during operation in humid climatic conditions. Therefore, the design quality of the coil section with a correct face area and effective droplet catchers is crucial. Further, the condensate drainage design from the coil section needs special attention to manage the considerable condensate flow. Obviously humid ambient conditions increase the cost of the TESTIAC system compared to locations with a hot and dry climate like Riyadh. However, implementation of TESTIAC systems in power plants located near the coast line is still feasible.

An advantage is using seawater as the cooling source for the heat rejection of the TESTIAC plant. Seawater cooling would also make absorption chillers a feasible design choice if residual thermal energy is available.

To conclude, a TESTIAC system for power augmentation is a very feasible solution to the summer peak load problem provided that it is correctly designed and implemented as a total engineered solution by a specialised solution provider with proven track record.

(The author is Regional Commercial Manager at APINA Middle East. He may be contacted at p.ham@apina.com)

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Managing consultant of Hill International’s claims group, Nicola Caley, asks: Why does an extension of time not automatically entitle a contractor to prolongation costs?

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contractor often believes that an extension of time also entitles him to damages or compensation for being kept on site longer than agreed. However it has been held in the UK courts that the sole purpose of an extension of time is to relieve the contractor of the obligation to pay liquidated damages for the whole or part of the overrun period.

To establish an entitlement to prolongation costs, a contractor must demonstrate that a delay to completion of the contract has occurred and the cause of the delay is an action or inaction of the employer which amounts either to a breach of contract or is an event for which the contract specifically provides an entitlement to extra payment for the contractor.

If the contract specifically provides for the contractor to recover his costs in the event of certain specified events and the event that has caused delay is one of those specified then he can recover under the contractual mechanism.

If the contract does not specifically provide for the contractor to recover his costs or it does but the event that has occurred is not one of those

“There is a lack of any uniformly accepted view among practitioners regarding concurrent delay and how it should be treated, both for extensions of time and prolongation costs”

specified in the contract then the contractor’s remedy will lie in a claim for breach of contract.

A claim for breach of contract will require proof of causation i.e. that the action or inaction of the employer actually caused the loss.

The UK cases quoted are persuasive only rather than binding but there is nothing in the UAE Civil Code or Sharia law which would preclude the payment of damages if set out in the contract , as long as they were reflective of the actual loss rather than punitive or compensation for a future possible gain.

It should be borne in mind that if the amount was not representative of actual loss it is open to the courts to amend the figure up or down so that the damages reflect the actual loss incurred.

It is suggested that if the contract is silent on the question of recovery of costs arising from delay then the Sharia principles of fairness and equity may lead a court to consider that a party should be liable for the consequences arising from their default, i.e. the costs incurred as a consequence of the action of the employer.

But what about the situation where there is more than one cause of delay at any one time?

Unhelpfully, there is a lack of any uniformly accepted view among practitioners regarding concurrent delay and how it should be treated, both for extensions of time and prolongation costs.

One point worthy of comment however is the position taken under the SCL Protocol. With regard to extensions of time, the Protocol states that provided one of the causes of delay in any given concurrency situation affords grounds for extension of time under the contract, the contractor should be given a time extension notwithstanding any contemporaneous default on his part. Interestingly, in the context of prolongation costs the Protocol states that recovery of prolongation costs in the situation where there is both employer and contractor delay will be only

for the costs arising solely from the employer delay and will depend on the contractor being able to separate the costs of the employer delay event from those of the contractor delay event.

Thus it is arguable that the Protocol sets the threshold for recovery of prolongation costs at a higher level than that required for an extension of time as, in practical terms, it is suggested that there would be significant difficulties in separating out losses arising from ‘contractor’ and ‘employer’ delays.

The potential to recover costs for non-critical delay also exists. However delay costs arising from non-critical elements of work, which do not lead to delays to completion of the works overall, would normally be regarded as loss of productivity or disruption costs. The same principles for recovery of the costs would apply except it would not be possible to recover any contribution to overhead or overall project costs, only costs specific to the element in delay.

It has been mooted by the SCL that contracts should contain a provision setting out an agreed amount per day that can be applied to each day of prolongation. In other words the reverse of the Employer’s liquidated damages provision.

Anything which may reduce the likelihood of dispute must be worthy of consideration.

In summary the reason an extension of time does not automatically entitle a contractor to prolongation costs is that entitlement to recovery of costs associated with delay does not flow from the same contractual entitlement as time.

Cost recovery will depend on there being either a specific contractual provision allowing recovery of prolongation costs or the contractor being able to prove that the delay was a breach of the contract by the employer and that the breach actually caused the costs claimed.

Clearly in this instance, to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, time is not the same as money.

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COMMENT | Hill International

The time cost continuum

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COMMENT | TED GARRISON

Finding answers in IPD Author, industry expert and construction business visonary, Ted Garrison, explores the benefits of integrated project delivery

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here are many problems facing the construction industry. Is integrated project delivery (IPD) the answer? Well, it depends on whom you ask.

Most of those against IPD, I’m afraid, don’t understand what it is all about. The American Institute of Architects says, “IPD leverages early contributions of knowledge and expertise through the utilization of new technology, allowing all team members to better realize their highest potentials while expanding the value they provide throughout the project life cycle.” In essence, IPD makes the design and construction process more efficient by leveraging the design and construction team’s

“The construction industry will not experience significant growth unless the overall GDP goes over 3 percent for a sustainable period”

expertise to minimise waste in the system. In contrast, the typical construction project keeps the various disciplines in silos that prevent effective communication and coordination of the supply chain partners. Numerous studies from around the world have determined that this condition has been the primary reason the construction industry hasn’t improved its productivity in more than 50 years.

This inability to improve productivity has had a huge impact on the industry. Of course, there are those who disagree by pointing to the record volume of construction during the middle of the past decade. They argue that the recession has caused the construction industry’s problems and when the economy recovers, everything will be all right. Unfortunately that likely won’t be the case unless fundamental changes are made to the construction process.

The idea that the industry will recover without significant change ignores the factors that led to current problems. In the middle of the boom, construction costs rose to unsustainable levels, yet because of readily available funding and the economic euphoria, this critical fact was usually ignored. The housing market collapsed because

the cost of housing became unaffordable.

Families that could afford the median-priced house dropped to a record low of only 40 percent. The housing industry had been riding a bubble, and when it popped, it affected the entire economy.

The construction industry will not experience significant growth unless the overall GDP goes over 3 percent for a sustainable period, and that’s not likely to occur unless the housing industry recovers. The problem is the housing industry can’t build affordable housing using past practices. The inefficiencies within the housing industry are estimated at more than 30 percent, and some argue it’s much higher. The only solution is a collaborative effort that uses best-value and lean-construction practices. In other words, the housing industry needs to adapt an IPD approach in lieu of its past command and control approach. Only through collaboration with all the stakeholders can waste and costs be significantly reduced.

The weak housing industry is negatively affecting the overall economy, which has a negative impact on nonresidential construction.

However, the industry needs to recognize that it

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COMMENT | TED GARRISON

“The industry needs to recognise that it had fundamental flaws before the economic collapsed. In 2005 the construction industry had an ROI of 9.7 percent compared to average of 16.9 percent for all U.S. industries”

had fundamental flaws before the economy collapsed. In 2005 the construction industry had an ROI of 9.7 percent compared to average of 16.9 percent for all U.S. industries. In 2005 40 percent of contractors didn’t make a profit, and for decades construction has experienced one of the worst turnover rates. During the boom, despite relatively high wages, the industry had trouble attracting enough qualified workers and managers, which Peter Drucker said is the first sign of an industry in trouble.

Despite the low profit margins for contractors, clients still complained about high costs, cost overruns, schedule delays and poor quality.

These problems increased project costs and often resulted in litigation. A new approach is needed because you can’t fix a problem the same way you created it.

Why IPD?

IPD is about increasing productivity, efficiency and performance.

This requires leadership, but not the oldschool leadership that focuses on control, direction or influence. Instead, the leadership required by IPD is the ability to perceive the situation then allocate the resources in the most effective manner. This is the only way to increase productivity, efficiency and performance on a sustainable basis.

The IPD approach brings together the necessary experts at the beginning of the project.

When this occurs, less information is required, fewer decisions are necessary and minimal control is required to create a highly efficient project. This may seem counterintuitive at first, but it works because the expert knows what to do.

Instead of creating detailed plans and specifications, the client needs to identify the desired

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ABOVE: Ted Garrison.

outcomes or criteria and their priorities. When the Department of Energy built the National Renewable Energy Laboratory at Golden, Colorado, it established 27 criteria. There were no plans or specifications other than the criteria. In essence, they let the experts do their jobs.

The result was a building that was in the 25th percentile in cost and still achieved the goal of being the most energy efficient building in North America.

The problem with most projects is the constant turf war. It becomes a battle of control over who will make the necessary decisions.

However, when experts are used, they don’t need to make decisions because they know what to do. Since the expert knows what to do, less information needs to be exchanged. Further, experts know what they don’t know and seek out other experts to solve those problems.

The best way to minimize risk is to assign the task to the person best qualified to minimize that risk; that person is the expert. I’ve asked architects how often they prepare drawings no one needs. They laugh and respond more and more all the time. This is a result of a control environment that doesn’t work. If they don’t tell a bidder something, it exposes the client to a claim. The problem is this approach is inefficient and eliminates accountability from the contractor. However, when someone knows what they are doing, they don’t need someone to tell them how to do their job. This makes experts more efficient.

On the IPD project, the design-contractor team is responsible and accountable for the

outcome. Since they are accountable for the results, they will not take on projects where they can’t perform. When there is an issue, the team will listen to the team’s expert on that issue because it’s in their best interest to do so.

On any project, IPD or other delivery method, the first requirement is to define the project in terms of outcomes. On the IPD project, the design-construction team then defines the scope—in essence, what they have included and what they have excluded. Once the team has stated they included something, it becomes their responsibility and they are 100 percent accountable for its performance, budget and schedule. There is no basis for a change order because they have guaranteed they can deliver what they promised.

In reality, the client has greater control of the project’s outcome by not exerting control over the process. The client defines what it wants, and before it commits to anything, the designconstruction team explains what it will deliver in terms of time, cost and performance. In this situation, the client’s risk is limited to the items it does control, such as its definition, resulting in very minimal risk.

Of course, there have been IPD project disasters, but that is usually the result of clients hiring teams that aren’t familiar with the role of the IPD project team. This problem can be eliminated by selecting the right IPD team, but that’s a discussion for another day.

Ted Garrison is the author of Construction 3.0 Strategies and hosts a radio show via www.

NCS30.com. He can be contacted via: Ted@ TedGarrison.com

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CAREER LADDER | Tim Armsby

The unlikely lawyer Tim Armsby didn’t always aspire to be a lawyer, but after a posting in the Middle East he spent a decade working on every social infrastructure PPP in Egypt. He tells Melanie Mingas about his new role with the newly merged Eversheds

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im Armsby’s legal career in the Middle East began when his final seat as a trainee took him to Muscat for six month, during which he worked on the establishment of the Salalah Port Freezone, Barka and Al Kamil power plants and Oman LNG. Commenting the experience “completely transformed” his view of law, Armsby adds: “It was completely different to the type of work I had been doing in the UK and also I think it was at that point I fell in love with the Middle East.”

Having originally studied chemistry, Armsby says he was “persuaded” to take a law conversion course and began training with a UK-based firm, prior to his time in Muscat.

The next step saw him qualifying and joining another London-based office, but working on Middle East projects, including an Egypt to Jordan gas line, that brought about his first stint in Egypt and eventually led to him staying seven years in the country.

Primarily on the gas line project, he advised the Jordanian government on its arrangements with the Egyptian government and promoted benefits to the private sector for building the necessary infrastructure for Jordan’s power needs.

“During that time I ended up working on some really interesting projects, inside Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East,” Armsby says adding that he “loved Egypt” but found the market “niche” from a work perspective.

In search of a new challenge, Armsby was approached by Eversheds shortly before the Arab Spring shook Egypt; a combination of the timing and the firm’s recent merge with Arab law consortium KSLG met that challenge.

“For me it represented a good opportunity to build up, almost from scratch, the leveraging of the Eversheds firm as a whole, which in Europe and Asia is pretty impressive,” he explains.

“The benefit of me being in Egypt is that it has certainly broadened my experience, because I went to Egypt with an energy focus – including oil, gas and power – and during my time there I was fortunate to work on the first hospital project and two wastewater treatment plants, and I also worked on a schools project,” he continues.

Over his decade of experience in the region,

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Armsby has advised on complex transactions across the MENA region, including every social infrastructure PPP project launched in Egypt to date.

Seven years in Egypt

After Armsby’s time on the Egypt to Jordan gas pipeline, which included his first six month stint based in Egypt during the build up to commercial close of the project, he relocated to the country on a two year contract... and ended up staying seven.

During this time he worked on Egypt’s most complex PPP to date; a pilot healthcare project for two hospitals for Alexandria University.

Armsby describes it as “one of the most challenging deals” he has ever worked on.

“For your typical energy project or power plant, the developer has complete control of the site and really the only point in time when there is an interaction between the state and private sector is at the point of delivery,” he explains.

“When you take that to a hospital, they’re coming in, they’re financing, building and maintaining the hospital, and up until that point it is very similar to their typical obligation for a power project. But the big difference is the state will actually occupy and use that building,” he continues, commenting on the interface between services, which can range from catering, cleaning and portering to even medical service provisions.

“A hospital immediately sounds less exciting than an LNG plant or a gas pipeline, but contractually it’s more complicated, particularly when you look at the risk and the interface,” he adds. “Tailoring that to the specifics in Egypt was a real challenge, because it’s not a case of

ABOVE: Tim Armsby.

taking a standard set of UK hospital PFI documents and changing the governing law to Egypt. It’s really transforming that documentation, to make it a little simpler to manage from a state perspective,” he says.

In a way, Armsby says it’s this experience that makes his current role easier, with the major challenge now being how to explain the value of PPP models to a usually affluent state.

“If a government wants to take the PPP route, they must have the ability to bring the best experience on board, and have the best rather than the cheapest they can find, having run a tender.

“I would say Egypt has been successful and in a way they did it right in that they spent a lot of time trying to build experience within government – admittedly just within the ministry of finance at the moment – to be able to run these projects,” he says.

Financing the public sector

From the outside looking in, ongoing political and social turbulence since the Arab Spring last year could mar the attraction of the region as an investors’ paradise but according to Armsby that is far from the case, with strong appetite witnessed in the private sector, delayed only by ongoing liquidity restrictions in the banking sector.

“The banks are being conservative and are only really lending to projects where there is a real commitment from the state to do it. They tend to be more simple projects, certainly the vast majority are energy related and it tends to be ones where there is a strong, if not state owned, sponsor involved in the package as well,” he observes.

“It’s not a case of taking a standard set of UK hospital PFI documents and changing the governing law to Egypt. It’s really transforming that documentation, to make it a little simpler to manage from a state perspective”

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CAREER LADDER | Tim Armsby

“The private sector has a lot of appetite, but financing projects outside the energy sector is a challenge at the moment.”

One country bucking the trend is Kuwait. Following successful power projects, the establishment of legislation and an entire government depart dedicated to the PPP cause, Kuwait is now successfully appointing consultants and enjoying “a lot of flexibility” in the execution of its projects.

“You have to give them credit; they have chosen PPP and are throwing everything in the basket. What they want to try and do is give the ability for the local population to benefit from these projects and of course build up the stock market which has faced its own challenges over the years,” Armsby comments, saying the approach is right but the market can still be challenging.

“They have done a lot of things right, even if a lot of the projects they have lined up do strike me as a little but out there.

For example they have plans for a PPP zoo,” he adds.

Region-wide

Like the adoption and development of PPP across the MENA region, its potential to push ahead projects in the near term also varies, with the common denominator being its involvement and handling of the Arab Spring.

“In terms of the Arab Spring I would say UAE has strong benefits form that because it has remained stable and I think it now has an opportunity to push ahead of some other gulf states,” Armsby predicts, naming Bahrain as exemplar of a country with a good reputation of both finance and private capital. Despite this, it has still struggled to close non-power

projects. Testament to his observation, Armsby compares the Muharraq Waste Water Treatment Plant, which closed during the unrest, with housing projects that are “still struggling”.

“That’s quite an interest comparison.

Wastewater doesn’t generate income but it’s a simple project as in the private sector has control over the asset closed,” he says.

“Saudi Arabia has had a little political unrest, but the end result is there is a huge amount of social infrastructure now in the pipeline and there are more infrastructure projects going on now had there not been an Arab Spring.

“I think some other jurisdictions are a bit more challenging.”

Service base

As a firm with a growing international footprint, and strengthened operations following a merger with the KSLG consortium, Evershed’s focus is now firmly on the mega power and water projects of MEA, with a new deal recently signed with Qatar’s Kahramaa and an eye on the new waste water treatment plant in Egypt; Kuwait’s waste to energy PPP; and petrochemicals projects in Saudi Arabia.

“For one reason or another I have ended up spending ten years living and working in the Middle East. When it came to moving I wanted to remain in the Middle East and not go back to the UK. “Really, I see my future here and one of the reasons for choosing Abu Dhabi as a base was because we very much see that as a base for servicing the region as a whole and I can’t see that changing in the near future. I really see my long term here working with the firm generally to build up a projects team on the ground.

Project Abu Rawash Wastewater Treatment Plant Client Egyptian Ministry of Finance in conjunction with KPMG and CH2M Hill Responsibility Design, financing, construction and operation In context one of the largest facilities in the world and the first PPP in Egypt to include a brownfield element. Initial capex is in the region of $700 million Project New domestic wastewater treatment plant with a planned capacity of 150,000m³/ day Client Egyptian Ministry of Finance in conjunction with Ernst & Young and CH2M Hill Responsibility Design, construction, finance and operation In context The first project in this sector to be launched under Egypt’s new PPP law.

Project A pilot health sector PPP project for Egypt: two hospitals for Alexandria University Client Ministry of Finance in conjunction with the International Finance Corporation and Mott MacDonald In context Technically the most complex PPP project to be launched in Egypt to date Project Barwa business parks master plan Client Foster + Partners Responsibility Advisor for the iconic tower

and two office buildings in New Cairo.

Client Zaha Hadid Responsibility Advisor on Hadid’s three Egyptian projects, including Stone Towers and Expo City Project New Cairo wastewater PPP Responsibility Advisor to potential investor for construction and operation In context The first project to close under the Government’s new PPP programme.

Project Grand Museum of Egypt Client Heneghan Peng Architects, UNESCO and Egyptian Ministry of Culture Responsibility Advised in relation to the schematic design contract, internal design contract and preparation of tender documents and construction documentation for phases I to III of the Grand Egyptian Museum.

In context Estimated capital cost of US$ 550 million Project 300 schools Client Saudi Binladin Group Responsibility Advised on construction, maintenance and operation of the PPP schools In context First PPP to be launched in Egypt and is part of a stated government aim to increase private investment

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ON SITE | the galleries

Room with a twist The Big Project hears from Unipods and Azmeel Construction, working together on a student housing project in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, with a difference

“Pods were large and very heavy, which made it the installation a challenging process in terms of manoeuvre”

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O

n site, there are few things more important than time and efficiency. Project manager for Azmeel Contracting and Construction Corporation, Tarek Emarah, explains the solution provided by Unipods for its Dammam University Project When tasked with building accommodation for thousands of students at Dammam University, Saudi Arabia, Azmeel Contracting and Construction Corporation employed an innovative solution to hit their project

deadline. Instead of hiring an army of workers to install 300 bathrooms, the company hired Unipods to provide pre-designed and fitted bathrooms, in their own ‘pods’ ready to place in the each room.

The pods are designed and built prior to onsite installation, when they are lifted into the rooms by crane and connected to utility supplies.

On the Dammam University project, pods were being installed at a rate of 24 per day; a total of 276 in phase one and a further 270 in

phase two. Overall completion was brought forward by “a couple of months”.

“We were very satisfied with the service of Unipods and we are now under process of awarding Unipods the second phase,” comments Azmeel Contracting project manager, Tarek Emarah.

“Unipods and Azmeel contracting share a philosophy of innovation and excellence that brought us both to the forefront of our industries,” Emarah continues.

Fit out may have been fast, but it wasn’t without its challenges; each pod weights 7 tonnes and is 3.2metres in height.

“Pods were large and very heavy, which made it the installation a challenging process in terms of manoeuvre, but Unipods was able to load the pods into a platform then manoeuvre them throughout the building for up to 100 meter distant,” Emarah adds.Unipods As a part of Saudi Arabia’s Al Rahji Holding, the university isn’t Unipod’s only project in the Kingdom, with Princess Noura University, Jizan Housings and ARAC hotels all using the fit out method to complete projects.

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ON SITE | the galleries

“Unipods and Azmeel contracting share a philosophy of innovation and excellence that brought us both to the forefront of our industries”

ON SITE | The galleries

projects for clients such as Samsung, Hyundai SASREF, BECHTEL, FLOUR, JESCO, Saudi Telecom, SCECO and Danieli & C. Italy.

“In addition to these, our sincere endeavors have led us to execute various projects for the 17 SABIC aliates, inside and outside their plants. is in turn, led to the major Housing projects for SABIC, projects for Saudi Electrical Company and Saudi Telecom Company as well,” explains Emarah Projects by the company include mega housing complexes, commercial, retail, industrial – including chemical – and public sector civil infrastructure projects.

“This overall experience has given AZMEEL the confidence to compete with the European companies and gain the trust of His Majesty, the King of Bahrain. As a result, the company bagged the project for constructing the Royal Palace. In all our execution of construction and contracting sites, AZMEEL has earned the trust and confidence thereby eventually creating precedence in the construction industry,” Emarah concludes.

Technical Specs

276 bathroom pods manufactured, delivered and installed for student accommodation at Dammam University The company works to an eight-step process, which goes from design concept to installation and the product catalogue features bathroom pods, Uniboards and Unikitchens.

“Pod construction runs in parallel with onsite construction and ensures that delivery is both quick and timely. This results in significant time savings and can shorten on site construction time by as much as two to three months, giving a quicker ROI for the investors and end users,” explains company president Philippe Akl , adding the method is also cost effective as it reduces insurance premium due to enhanced health and safety on site. Unipods

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also manufactures kitchen units.

Pods are manufactured in a factory-controlled environment ro preserve quality, and each is fully tested according to industry standards. The pods are then installed by Unipods before the facade of the building is completed.

Currently, Unipods can manufacture 10,000 bathrooms per year in its factory. Spreading the word Azmeel Constracting enjoys an equally strong backing as part of the Azmeel Group.

The company is a contractor for SABIC & the Royal Commission and has also executed

7 tonnes weight of each pod 3.2 metre height of each pod 24 pods/ day installed, shortening completion by “a few months” 10,000 bathroom pods per year is Unipod’s current capacity

INTRODUCING

the BGreen online Directory This month, the BGreen Website is getting a major overhaul

BGreen Magazine’s comprehensive online directory, serves as a one-stop resource featuring corporations who offer sustainable solutions and services in the MENA region and beyond. The directory also lists government bodies, media sources, NGOs and Charities that embody the green values that drive our magazine.

To ensure your company stands out within our directory of thousands, please contact a member of the BGreen Sales team, rhiannon@cpidubai or liam@cpidubai.com, who will assist you with costing and duration for a featured listing.

Visit www.buildgreen.ae and click on BGreen Online Directory

COVER STORY | URBAN PLANNING

future Cities: Overcoming the challenges of the 21st Century

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COVER STORY | URBAN PLANNING

In October 2011 the world’s population reached 7 billion and over half these people live in urban areas. The Middle East is no stranger to building entire cities from scratch, and with urbanisation one of the world’s fastest growing trends, The Big Project gathered UAE municipalities, academics and urban planners at the American University of Sharjah to discuss how urban trends will shape the future Middle East

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COVER STORY | URBAN PLANNING

"If the government doesn’t intervene the private sector will just continue to do its own thing"

What’s the ideal way to design a city?

Hussein Cholkamy: One thing we ask is how does professional practice in the UAE have to change to accommodate local culture? I don’t think we have the answer yet, but we are working our way through it. Clearly the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC) is showing direction but there is a long way to go in establishing professional practice that is relevant to this region.

I think it’s going to take practitioners and academics coming together like this to establish what makes it different and how that changes the game.

From an academic and professional perspective, how have urban planning principles been adopted in the UAE?

Sherif Anis: Really the main trend we are seeing is there are more people moving back to the cities and that’s the most sustainable move we can see going on. I think we are looking at making the cities more dense and that allows us to solve problems such as transport, and makes the city work on another level; so it's liveable and walkable and brings the people back in, unlike the trend of the last 60 years where they move to suburbs.

One of the interesting things is that when you bring western urban planning ideals here and sustainability is social and economic and cultural, that changes by city and by region and really those things come into play more than anything when you are looking at the characteristics that make a city’s planning realistic and sustainable.

Tim Brouw: Much of this is knowing what the cities want. Many of the cities in this region have their 2030 and 2020 vision, so you have to understand what is trying to be achieved from a greater vision perspective.

We saw, especially through the boom times, a frenetic pace of development that wasn’t really following any rules on urban design guidelines or strategies, thus Dubai has recently implemented the new 2020 strategy plan. Fortunately, Abu

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Dhabi doesn’t suffer from such bad planning, but the structural plan for Dubai was established to pick up all the pieces that were so fragmented and actually glue it back together to create a sustainable city. That’s the starting point.

Until you understand where you want to be in 20 or 30 years, having a sustainable city doesn’t really matter with all the other pieces if it’s so fragmented. It has one clear vision and one clear direction to achieve that and then it begins to be implemented through policies and procedures lead by government. If the government doesn’t intervene the private sector will just continue to do its own thing.

Talal Al Ansari: That was one strategy UPC had, to communicate with the private sector and residents, through public outreach events that sought their opinions. When you listen to stakeholders you understand their needs, then you communicate with the private stakeholders. We, as a government entity, look at what’s right and what’s needed.

We will even have a charrette with experts from all stakeholders over maybe a week and when it comes to processing the decisions, we have a workable model.

How is technology aiding urban planning?

Caroline Tasse: Firstly, it’s about communication; it is very important to involve the citizen.

Next, it’s about sustainability and using what we had in the past to take that towards a bright future. Thirdly, it’s about people; the people give a place its own identity and technology today is very advanced and it helps the territory decision makers to promote that territory to other city makers.

They need to understand how the future projects impact the existing. We are talking about change management and how to adapt to the tomorrow. As we all agree, nobody is

against the future, but we need to be able to communicate on what that future is.

Firstly, our software has been used by UPC for a couple of years. We are showing the masterplan with Vectuel Environment and that’s a great point for citizens to come and give their opinion and understand what is being done.

For them it’s the best way to approach the technical information.

Secondly, for Fujairah we built the first 3D map of a Middle East city and that was to see how the future development would integrate with the masterplan.

Going back to sustainability, it is social and economical; it’s a vision. So how this masterplan is integrated into the territory allows the citizen to really understand that a project isn’t just a housing plan. Yes there will be houses, but there will be jobs, leisure facilities, a new life around the houses that makes the people feel they want to live there.

Technology enables the decision makers coming from different backgrounds and places to see and communicate. In the UAE they have their own culture and way of designing. Plans are showcased abroad so entities can communicate on how they are overcoming their respective challenges. It helps to visualise the project and together they can exchange and plan the future territories.

TA: The first thing that comes to my mind in

element that technology doesn’t capture. The culture, for example cannot be captured through software.

Giuseppe Colosimo: You have to first of all understand what is required, within the culture and then, by using certain parametric tools, it gives you something very good. You can then manipulate these parameters to understand what the space needs to be and what the constraints are. technology, is that today’s urban planners use GIS to map an area. One successful example of this is that within the UPC and through GIS, we are able to reflect our new guidelines and regulations. If you open the GIS plan for any city it will tell you the maximum height of a commercial building in that area; you can map out open spaces and public realms; you can see the connectivity between different areas.

Adel Mokhtar: I believe that regardless of all the things architects have learned about design planning and urban planning, we will face a new future. For example, even in movies you can see the shape the people expect cities to take in the future is different from now; they see the future as being different. The world is facing a crisis and the world doesn’t wake up until there is a crisis.

Resources, sustainability, how to get the benefit of what you have without affecting the future, isn’t pushed strongly enough, and soon all the theories of planning will have to change.

Mohamed Al Afkham: In Fujairah, I decided to do the 3D modelling now because it’s easier than doing it in the future. And also, in realising how things will look in the future we can make changes on the software instead of in real life.

TA: As an urban planner, technology is good but I still need to go to the site and experience the place first hand. There is always that other

There is much focus on preserving Emirati culture and incorporating old architectural and city styles in new designs. But in terms of identity, what makes a place ‘Emirati’?

TA: It’s hard to define what the Emirati style of planning is. We as Emiratis are an evolving culture and UPC’s job is to meet the needs of both our parent’s generation and our own. For example my parents wouldn’t want to live in a town house, but I may.

GC: We are in such an interesting area here with so many different houses and we tend to talk a lot about what an architectural space should be, but it’s very challenging to define.

First of all, Emiratis are such a small percentage of the overall population. Then you look within that percentage and see what a large proportion of those people are of the younger generation, with a totally different way of thinking.

They key is deciding how to retain the culture of that small percentage of people and build on the past.

At the same time, how do we establish what the UAE is? The worse thing that we want to do is to design just for Emiratis or just for expats.

HC: As designers we can’t just focus on specific countries or cultures. There is such thing as Middle East design. In Saudi and the UAE,

The panel:

from left to right above Thierry Paret, AIA president Sheriff Anis, AIA vice president Giuseppe Colosimo, AIA member and Design Director / Lead Designer at HKR Architects Hussein Cholkamy, AIA member, Perkins and Will regional director MENA, LEED AP. Tim Brouw, AIA, senior partner, MPG Global Varrki G. Pallathucheril, Ph.D. Professor of Urban Planning, American University of Sharjah (Specialisation in Planning Information Systems and Spatial Planning/Analysis) Amer Moustafa, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Architecture, American University of Sharjah, (Specializations are Urban Design and Sustainable Urbanism) Abdulla Ahmed, Planning Manager, Development Review, UPC Talal Al Ansari, Planner, Urban Design, UPC Adel Mokhtar senior architect and green building committee member, Dubai Municipality Mohamed Al Afkham, Municipality of Fujairah , director Caroline Tasse, Vectuel (urban planning software)

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COVER STORY | URBAN PLANNING

"Rome wasn’t built in a day, you must extract the soul of the place and build that, and ask ‘what’s the function and the purpose of the place?'"

COVER STORY | URBAN PLANNING

"They need to understand how the future projects impact the existing. As we all agree, nobody is against the future, but we need to be able to communicate on what that future is." there is one thing we have to watch: shading and courtyard designs are overlooked by designers who move into the region.

It’s not about how the Emiratis live, it’s about how the desert lives and it’s about how you integrate the desert, the sun, and make it a better place for the people to live. The success is measured over time, what’s really important is to establish the DNA of the city so that at each phase of development you re-inject the DNA of what makes it successful.

Thierry Paret: One point I will bring up is that it’s not about importing architecture from abroad. The UPC has created a framework that’s allowing diversity in design, obviously there should be a certain respect of regional vernacular, but really, having a framework in place allows a certain amount of freedom.

Also, I think that now the economy has slowed it’s going to allow the city to grow organically. After the frenzy that happened a few years back I think that will help.

In Abu Dhabi recent growth has been slow for this very reason and, as a result some of the challenges Dubai has had to deal with have not transpired in that respect.

But a slow down isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

It will allow everybody to evaluate and look at how the city grows, how to mend some of the fractured elements and create cities that are more liveable, have green spaces, walkable cities. But again I think it was a pace that had a great impact on everything and this is the chance to step back and get it right.

AM: What happened in Dubai, we all know the planning wasn’t perfect, although it was a miracle to see the construction evolve in that way.

Now there is a worldwide crisis and as we rethink Dubai, it will be in a way that integrates between the needs of humans in a multinational city.

We need to talk about sustainable urban planning, the same concepts of saving energy,

"What happened in Dubai, we all know the planning wasn’t perfect, although it was a miracle to see the construction evolve in that way.

It’s not about how the Emiratis live, it’s about how the desert lives and it’s about how you integrate the desert, the sun, and make it a better place for the people to live. The success is measured over time, what’s really important is to establish the DNA of the city so that at each phase of development you re-inject the DNA of what makes it successful."

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water, waste transportation – all this we can define as infrastructure.

MA: In Fujairah, our constraint is the amount of land we can build on. Around 80% of the Emriate is steep mountains and even if we can build there it is difficult to get the utilities there.

I was recently in Hong Kong and they have the same problems, so are moving people from houses to apartments. The people respond by saying they have been living in houses all their lives and don’t want to live in apartments and change their lifestyle. So the government tried to incentivise the scheme by giving a free furnished apartment for a year and this will also be in the achievement of sustainability targets.

In Fujairah we have signed the masterplan for the whole Emirate with Ramboll and we would like to do the masterplan for the whole Emirate, keeping in mind the green buildings but also creating a new culture that convinces people to live in apartments rather than houses.

Now, it is the engineers and architects who we want to come with the new ideas to make these tall buildings attractive and sustainable.

the needs of people in a neighbourhood. For example, the UAE wouldn’t survive if it went back and no longer had malls.

MA: We have to create designs that are closer to the spirit of the place.

Abdulla Ahmed: This is one of our considerations. For example when you design neighbourhoods, you don’t just replicate that American way of building neighbourhoods, you have to understand for example the needs of Estidama, and build a network of shaded spaces connecting to open public spaces and then you have the mosque and community facilities. You stay away from innovation of the architecture, it’s about the lifestyle. When I open my door and talk with my neighbours, I still feel I am Emirati.

This is about creating an Arab city, not Emirati or Islamic, but Arab.

GC : Rome wasn’t built in a day, you must extract the soul of the place and build that and ask ‘what’s the function and the purpose of the place?’

TP: It’s not necessarily the architecture, or technology, and you don’t want to prescribe an architectural style to anybody. There are certain rules that need to be followed – shading, fenestration – but I don’t think anybody wants cookie cutter streets. It’s about variety when a place develops over a few hundred years – which they don’t have the benefit of here – I think it’s just about having a framework and then allowing creativity to develop inside that frame work. You have to have a guiding principle.

TB: Part of the challenge, is that while there

How does the retention of a place’s identity work in reality?

GC: In Italy where I’m from, people live with their parents until they marry and that’s the same here. So within neighbourhoods here you may have 15 families but there can be around 10 people in each villa. Then that brings the problem of how to deal with all the vehicles. That’s the important thing and that’s why I applaud what Dubai did; public transportation is a huge success and now Abu Dhabi is following.

MA: But does Dubai look Emirati to you? We are very proud of Dubai but it looks like an international city. It is just the adaptation between who lives here and who governs. In Dubai you have some nice villas and other nice buildings and the tallest building in the world.

You cannot have every city looking like Dubai.

You can go to Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah and they are very different and now we are building Fujairah to be the oil and gas hub.

GC: But when planning that city we would ask you what you need and you would be surprised by the answers we hear. There is a similarity in

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COVER STORY | URBAN PLANNING

"The structural plan for Dubai was established to pick up all the pieces that were so fragmented and actually glue it back together to create a sustainable city. That’s the starting point"

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have been some important points made at a smaller level, it’s about an evolving culture, it’s the actual significant aspects of culture and design and all things relating back to the commercial sensibility of who is going to look after and pay for these things.

For example, who is going to pay for the sustainability and upkeep of public areas. Once upon a time it was part of your own back yard, now it’s the governments taking over this maintenance at their costs and there’s a commercial sensibility that needs to be recognised.

From the academic and professional perspectives, how would you advise the Emirates to continue their development, in terms of economic prosperity and the happiness of their residents?

Amer Moustafa: I want to mention something very important; I think all the Emirates need to collaborate with each other and this is extremely important. When you collaborate, and you do it right, everybody wins.

We see examples of big investment such as Dubai Metro, but this are executed with little attention, consultation and consideration with the wider metropolitan areas such as Ajman, Sharjah, and thenDubai. There is no thought that one day this system could be sooner or later connected to other places. Please everybody, talk to each other.

SA: The first thing in the human mind is flexibility the overarching principles are

complicated and the key is really being able to come up with principles that are flexible and grow over time; going back to this concept of addressing the culture.

TP: It’s pretty much what Abu Dhabi and Dubai are working on and that’s creating a frame work for development and not being prescriptive in terms of architecture.

I have been working here for a few years and unfortunately a lot of places have a planner who is just looking at the vernacular of the design and that’s the wrong way of keeping a culture.

At the end of the day it’s really about creating the actual framework.

HC: I’m a little in disagreement, because this is a Middle Eastern country, this is the desert, it’s a very hot climate, it’s a climate where you can’t just design glass boxes, so I would disagree to say that we need somebody in the urban planning councils who can push for that and remind people that it is supposed to be a sustainable city, we don’t care to look like New York or Sydney.

TP: We’re talking about having a framework that allows creativity but respects the natural environment.

MA: I think each of the Emirates has its own unique touch and in this matter we are not trying to compete with, but complete each other. We are working together on the Union Rail network that will connect all the Emirates, so we have to bring all the GIS experts, all the maps, consider which mountains we have to cut and the desert.

“What is important at this stage is to remember we are dealing with people’s values; aspirations and habits that change over time.

“What remains is something that is so intrinsic about this place and this is the thing that we will have to ‘infuse’, with human interaction.

How we achieve that becomes a process and that is where planning can be very effective.

“What process do we have in place to ensure we are always meeting the end goals of improving quality of life, physical spaces, making people happy? That’s the bottom line. What I would like to suggest is along the lines of what Abu Dhabi has done.

“Maybe we all need to pay more attention to research and development in working more on understanding the nature of this place; what is possible and what is not. Investment of this nature is far more efficient in the long term.

“That is where education becomes important.

We have a country that is growing so fast, it has doubled its population in less than three years. Are we doing enough to provide professionals here with a sense of belonging?

They are permanent visitors, if that’s not an oxymoron, and you need to interest people to have a sense of place and ownership. That comes from them feeling their opinions matter.

“You need a public discourse about the city. You need to have the opportunity for everybody, including children and the elderly, to give feedback from their experiences. I don’t think there is a magic formula, but so long as there is a public discourse and an element of flexibility, we can achieve an improvement,” Amer Moustafa, Ph.D., associate professor of architecture, American University of Sharjah.

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COVER STORY | URBAN PLANNING

"Rome wasn’t built in a day, you must extract the soul of the place and build that, and ask ‘what’s the function and the purpose of the place?’ "

COVER STORY | URBAN PLANNING Thoughts from the audience We have talked about Emirati communities, culture and building materials, so we are looking more at the qualities of the old urban communities, rather than objects of culture. So there are qualities in those communities. In trying to look at what those qualities are we need to revive right now the citizen participation when it was more powerful. Today as planners we have to use technology to make citizen participation more powerful.

But my concern is more about equality and diversity. Local communities used to live with the rich next to the poor, but today we are dealing with a different type of diversity and we are beyond economic diversity. Now we are talking about local and expatriate and this is a challenge for all of us. We are living in communities where we are discriminating between workers, expats and high-end professionals, so we have a stronger socio-economic discrimination in our communities and that creates a challenge. So now we have stopped talking about a local housing community. We are living in a very diverse community and we have to incorporate local indent by being realistic. We are not 100% Emirati cities any more; we have to face this and we have to plan for this.

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COVER STORY | URBAN PLANNING

Questions from the audience

I have seen two sides of the planning, which is the practical and academic side. Most of you concentrate on the tools and thinking on how the city should be, and we have all mentioned the shell, but nobody has mentioned the core.

What about the people who will live in these spaces?

AA: The first thing we do when we launch a new programme is to have a public outreach. We will pitch a tent and invite all the people to come and see and give feedback on the ideas. We have kids literally standing there saying ‘I want a park and a pool and a school’. At the end it’s meant to be for the people, so let’s say in three to five years we will re-meet to see their needs. Another important aspect is learning from any mistakes. You plan that design for them; the population is crucial and that’s why we will have the Charrets.

MA: In Fujairah it’s a little bit different. Everybody just comes to my office! Also, the leader of Fujairah has and open door and anybody can go there. So by listening to people you know what they want. We are very close to our people, but sometimes you cannot give them what they want.

For example, everybody wants to live next to their family, but that isn’t possible.

AM: With this, the problem isn’t the people, it is the planning. If we understand that people have over generations lived in clusters, why in the world do we strive to import suburbia?

Because of this policy, people cannot walk to the Mosque in Al Ain and it’s not a community centre. We have to think radically if we really want to

implement things that improve the quality of life for people. I say, let‘s try and see what we can do when you cannot extend your house.

Talking to each other is very significant, you may come up with an idea that nobody had thought of before. You have to go out and see if there is something to learn from each other’s experience.

HC: One topic we haven’t touched on is that of transportation. As cities grow and they become more populated people have more cars and the streets become more congested. Abu Dhabi just announced the tram lines and metro and they have a great public transportation network. That’s a big thing and congestion continues to be a problem in these cities, so maybe the questions is how to deal with this.

Nobody is talking about limits to growth. Everybody is talking about managing growth and looking ahead, but water is a big determinant in this region and how is water affecting your planning? Are we just going to grow beyond the water we have got?

AA: At UPC we have a growth boundary and we always have that point we do not want the population to exceed. But water preservation is also about public behaviour and Estidama educates people about how to use less water and it’s a problem that we are dealing with but it takes time. People are used to a certain lifestyle – they have five cars outside being washed with a hose and you tell them they can wash with a bucket,

they try it and they break that habit. That’s an important thing to understand – change is difficult.

I live in Abu Dhabi and have noticed that practitioners see the Estidama approach as something of a burden; something that adds to cost and workload. So is there a strategy to make it more than a code?

TA: We conduct studies to show the savings to be made when adhering to Estidama. Secondly, at UPC we invite all the stakeholders and government departments to attend educational sessions on what Estidama is its aims. This change is hard for them but we don’t make it hard or complicated.

GC: I think it’s a misconception that sustainable is more expensive. Basic things like orientation, ventilation and simple good practice can make something more sustainable by building within the environment and constraints.

SA: Around a decade ago in Boston MA they changed the energy code and its was a dramatic change. They had the same kinds of workshops and invited the architects, builders and owners so I think all the stakeholders have to learn what this is. It is a learning process and once you understand and know what it means to build sustainably, it is no longer an issue. It really does just take time.

In Boston now nobody remembers what it was like before the energy code change, but nobody would ever go back.

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COMMENT | ROAD TO DOHA

Road to Doha:

Dubai was the first city in the region to introduce toll gate systems on some of its major roads.

Towards Sustainable Transportation in the Middle East and North Africa Infrastructure may be the buzzword of the decade, but is it compatible with the sustainable vision government’s and organizations have for the future of the region? Karim Elgendy and Wissam Yassine examine the success of public transport use in Dubai, ahead of their visit to the COP18 climate talks in Doha this year

D

eveloping transportation networks and facilitating access and mobility are major constituents of the economic development of any country or region. Yet transportation also poses great economic and environmental challenges as a major energy consumer and a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions.

In the Middle East, the transportation sector is challenged on both fronts. On one hand, its underdeveloped and inefficient networks continue to hinder economic development. In addition, the transportation sector represents a major consumer of energy in the region and a primary contributor to carbon emissions. In 2008, the transportation sector was estimated to be responsible for 31% of the region’s total energy use - a relatively high

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proportion compared to the global average of 27% - while the road sub-sector alone was responsible for 18% of energy use - compared to 14% globally.

Drivers and trends of transportation in the Middle East.

Over the last few decades, the Middle East and North Africa region witnessed rapid population growth, with its population swelling from 97 million in 1960 to 351 million in 2009. The region also witnessed a process of rapid urbanization during the same period. While only 30% of the region’s population lived in cities and towns in 1960 -compared to 32% globally- the urban proportion of the Middle East has almost doubled to 57% and exceeded the world average which currently stands at 50%.

These trends have exerted great pressures on the transportation networks of the region’s cities and town, resulting in high traffic volumes and congestion. Policy responses to these pressures have typically been directed towards upgrading and expanding road networks, which encouraged further urbanization and personal vehicle use, that in turn led to additional traffic volumes and congestion. In effect, road upgrading policies have helped compound the challenges it sought to resolve, creating a negative and costly feedback loop .

Public spending into road networks has also come at the expense of public transportation networks, which remained underfunded, inefficient, and unreliable. This, together with the region-wide policy of subsidizing car fuels

Dubai Metro. Source: Dubai Road and Transportation Authority (RTA

- which is effectively a subsidy on private vehicle ownership - have further entrenched the dominance of private vehicle transportation over public transportation.

These developments also had energy and environmental costs. In the nine years between 1999 and 2008, total energy use in transportation almost doubled , while the share of transportation in Middle East’s energy use grew from 23% to 31%.

The region’s high proportion of energy use in transportation can be partly attributed to the lack of fuel efficiency standards and regulations, and the existence of an aging vehicle fleet in most of region (except for GCC countries) which, according to the Arab Environment Green Economy report, have an average age of 15 years. Yet this very fact has also contributed to the region having the highest transport sector greenhouse gas emissions per unit of GDP of any other region in the world, standing at 150 tons of CO2e per million dollar of GDP according to World Bank estimates.

Towards Sustainable Transportation for the region

Sustainable transport is best defined as a system that allows the basic access and development needs to be met safely, promises equity for successive generations, operates fairly and efficiently, offers choice of transport mode, limits emissions and waste, and is affordable Thus for a region such as the Middle East to achieve a true sustainable development, its first step should be to break out of the current roaddominated transportation system, and to adopt a multi-modal, efficient, and reliable public transportation network.

Judging by the number of public transportation projects that are currently in the works across the GCC countries, one can confidently

suggest that this change in vision seems to be taking place in one sub-region at least. From GCC-wide projects such as the GCC railway (in planning) through national projects such as Etihad Rail in the UAE (Phase 1 under construction), to local projects such as Haramain Rail and Mecca Holy Sites Metro in Saudi Arabia (both under construction), the GCC appears to be in the beginnings of a major change to its transportation system.

But plans for public transportation networks are not limited to the GCC. Across the Middle East and North Africa there are currently 28,200 kilometers of proposed and planned rail projects - almost doubling the existing network size- and approximately 2,000 kilometers of proposed and planned Metro, light rail, and monorail projects -a tenfold increase over the existing size.

And while these projects vary in their degree of development and the likelihood of being implemented, the rising regional need by a population expected to to grow to 700 million by 2050, and by urbanization levels expected to reach 67% by 2030, places an added sense of urgency to the need to implement these projects at local, national, and regional levels.

Dubai as a Case Study

At the local level, Dubai is arguably home to the most advanced public transportation system in the region, and is home to the world’s longest fully automated metro system. Since its operation in 2009 the metro has been a success, carrying 250,000 people daily within two years of operation. The Dubai Metro has also become a node for an integrated multi-modal system, with a network of feeder buses serving local areas around the main metro stations, and bicycle parking spaces currently being fitted into the metro stations to encourage cycling to and from the stations.

In addition, Dubai has developed an extensive network of bus routes covering even the most remote areas of the city; 1500 buses operate in Dubai at peak times, running on 79 different routes.

The development of public transportation systems was accompanied by measures such as road tolls, designed to increase the cost of personal vehicle use relative to public transport alternatives. In 2007, Dubai was the first city in the region to introduce toll gate systems on some of its major roads.

However, despite the initiatives, the RTA estimates that only 11% of Dubai residents used public transportation in 2010. A review of reasons behind such a low rate of utilization revealed that many city residents were reluctant to use public transportation as long as it is not considerably cheaper than personal transportation. With energy subsidies maintaining petrol (gasoline) and diesel in the UAE artificially cheap, this economic balance is unlikely to happen soon.

Personal transportation should therefore be discouraged by removing subsidies on fuel prices and introducing intelligent toll zones, if Dubai’s state-of-the-art infrastructure is to be fully utilized. Other opportunities for improving road transportation also exist through community planning and controlling traffic demand at the community level. Making sure that needed goods and services are catered for locally can go a long way in significantly reducing traffic demand.

In dealing with many of the region’s common transportation challenges, the Dubai experience has a lot to teach other cities of the region. A future of sustainable transport in the region can be created by investing in a modern public transport systems and by carefully enacting the right policies to ensure a smooth transition away from private transportation.

Karim Elgendy is a senior architect and sustainability consultant based in London. he is also the Founder and Coordinator of the Carboun Initiative.

Wissam Yassine is a Senior Sustainability Engineer and a Masters in Sustainability candidate at Harvard University Extension School.

Wissam is also the UAE national coordinator for the Carboun initiative.

www.thebigprojectme.com | 45

COMMENT | ROAD TO DOHA

“Personal transportation should therefore be discouraged by removing subsidies on fuel prices and introducing intelligent toll zones, if Dubai’s state-ofthe-art infrastructure is to be fully utilized”

COMMENT | Construction IT

Road to efficiency W Geoff Zeiss Ph.D, director of utility industry programme for Autodesk, explains the benefits of geospacial technology in infrastructure projects and the challenges of tapping a locally trained technical workforce

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orldwide, it is anticipated that there will be a massive spend on infrastructure, on the order of $24 trillion over the next two decades. In many countries there is a shortage of infrastructure funding from governments, which sets the stage for greater private investment. But there are significant impediments that may prevent private capital from playing a greater role in funding infrastructure. A recent study from McKinsey & Company singled out poor construction productivity as one of the most important factors in both eroding returns on infrastructure and making infrastructure less attractive for private investment.

The changing workforce represents a real issue that transportation agencies and companies must address—at the same time that they must address the increasing demands resulting from rapid

infrastructure expansion and renewal of existing infrastructure.. The need to do more with a younger and less experienced workforce, together with increased private sector participation, has made it an urgent matter to improve the productivity of transportation engineers, designers, and skilled crafts employees. Transportation engineering companies are discovering the benefits of the convergence of model–based design, 3D visualization, and integrated geospatial information and technology in order to increase productivity and capture the knowledge of experienced employees. In addition, they can not only help attract and retain younger generations of employees, but also enable new employees to become productive more quickly.

When large industries face a serious business challenge such as low or declining margins, they invest in technology to help them dramatically

scanning is used to create 3D models of existing urban environments such as tunnels and is even being used as the first step in creating 3D models to be used for prefabrication. Highresolution oblique imagery not only can provide ortho-photography with resolution down to 4 inches (10 cm), but enables quantitative measurement vertically as well as horizontally.

Permitting is an important application area for oblique imagery. Identifying, validating, and preparing preliminary designs are all areas where the imagery can help. Also, oblique imagery provides greater coverage of right-ofways than traditional ortho-photography.

Using the imagery, it is even possible to measure tree heights and offsets and to identify parcel owners and access points, all in the office.

ABOVE: Geoff Zeiss.

increase productivity. We have seen examples of this in many sectors, including banking, the airline industry, and retail. A similar transformation is occurring in the transportation sector throughout the plan, design, build, operate, and maintain lifecycle. This transformation as essential if infrastructure owners are to attract the private investment they so urgently require.

One of the most important transformations impacting the entire architecture, engineering, and construction sector is model-based design, an intelligent model–based process that utilizes the familiar drawing tools of CAD and adds advanced 3D modeling, visualization, and collaboration tools. An integrated design process based on a 3D digital model can both improve the quality of designs and help increase the productivity of the design teams. Another

important trend in technology are new techniques for acquiring geospatial data. In the last couple of decades, we have seen the deployment of laser scanning (terrestrial, mobile, and LiDar), satellite photography and radar, highresolution aerial photogrammetry and radar, oblique photogrammetry, and street-level photography, to name a few of the new geospatial data acquisition types. These can are being used by transportation companies to be more efficient. High-resolution oblique imagery is helping experienced technical staff to be more productive by assisting in making the planning proves more efficient by reducing the number of truck rolls and the time required for unavoidable visits to the field. LiDAR is used to scan rights of way and for monitoring construction and identifying divergences from design. Some fo the benefits of laser scanning for transportation construction projects include 2% to 5% of total project cost savings with better capture of existing-conditions, 5% to 7% reduced total installed cost for brownfield projects, reduced contingencies for rework to less than 2% and often 1%, and schedule compression of as much as 10% using laser scanning compared to traditional surveying approaches. Terrestrial laser

Technologically thinking

In my experience in the Middle East there is a greater willingness than some other parts of the world to invest in new technological approaches to building and infrastructure development. I think you can see evidence of that in the new buildings and infrastructure that have been built all across the region and which I have seen first-hand in Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. I think the challenge in Middle East is developing a local trained technical workforce including engineers, designers and skilled labour that are conversant with the latest design, engineering and construction technology. An integrated design process based on a 3D model-based design can both improve the quality of designs, increase the productivity of the design teams, and enable knowledge transfer from experienced engineers and designers to the younger, less experienced workers.

Transportation companies and agencies are finding that in developing and maintaining a digital model of a structure, highway or rail line, information is captured from experienced workers and embodied in a form that conveys more information to the less experienced designer than was possible with a paper-based process.

www.thebigprojectme.com | 47

COMMENT | Construction IT

“When large industries face a serious business challenge such as low or declining margins, they invest in technology to help them dramatically increase productivity. This transformation as essential if infrastructure owners are to attract the private investment they so urgently require�

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COMMENT | ALDES

Centralised vacuum cleaning systems: An introduction Audrey Leblé from HVAC supplier Aldes Euroregister, explains the CVC system and who it should be designed for What is a Centralised Vacuum Cleaning system?

Residential and commercial premises have to be regularly cleaned and cleared from the dust that accumulates day after day.

A CVC system definitely brings several benefits for people: it guarantees healthy indoor air quality, noiseless cleaning process and less fatigue due to the use of friendly accessories for different types of floorings.

The CVC system from Aldes is:

- One central unit installed in the utility room or garage.

- One hose that has to be connected to an inlet - A ductwork connecting each inlet to the central unit

Why use a Centralised Vacuum Cleaning system?

In comparison with a portable vacuum cleaner, a CVC system has a lot of advantages:

Health & Hygiene with good indoor air quality

CVC system undeniably contributes on a daily basis in the impeccable healthy indoor air quality of any interior. As a matter of fact, when a classical vacuum cleaner ejects dusts, germs and acarids within the cleaned room, centralised vacuum cleaner vacuums 100% of the impurities and extracts them outside of the space being cleaned. The discharged particles have no chance of being recirculated into cleaned room, contrary to a cylinder vacuum cleaner.

“With different levels of power, the cleaner can adapt itself to any cleaning situation, from the simple refreshment to more complex operations such as vehicles cleaning” Particles are filtered and trapped into a bag (could be up to 30 litres), using the latest technology.

Located inside the tank of the central unit, this bag allows an excellent air filtration quality and definitely protects the motor of the central unit.

With different levels of power, the cleaner can adapt itself to any cleaning situation, from the simple refreshment to more complex operations such as vehicles cleaning.

Acoustic comfort

Different types of brush are available to clean in any situation (carpets, car seats, delicate floors, skirting boards, corners...). So all interiors can be easily cleaned.

For an easier vacuum cleaning, Aldes advises to install a dust pan along with the CVC system. This is the most convenient accessory for a kitchen or a bathroom: it easily removes all the dust, crumbs and hair by sweeping towards the dust pan (but not the water). This vacuum inlet starts up by an electrical contact by pressing the start button using the foot (no hose connection required).

Very silent, the central unit can be fixed in the garage or a utility room, meaning no motor dull sound disturbance in the living rooms. Hence people can clean the room without disturbing others (e.g. baby sleeping in the same room).

Plug & play + handiness

No need to handle the vacuum cleaner anymore – only the flexible and the handle.

The light hose with 7.5 meter length (Ø34 mm diameter) allows to vacuum in all corners of the house without effort.

Power & Efficiency

CVC systems can be two to four times more powerful and efficient than a cylinder vacuum cleaner.

For example, Aldes solutions can extract 420m3/h airflow when the best cylinder vacuum cleaner only reaches 125m3/h. Motors of centralised vacuum cleaner are also very powerful, as they can reach a 2800W power of extraction.

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Fitting any cleaning situation

Robustness, durability & sustainability:

Manufactured with high qualities materials, the central unit, ductwork, handle and accessories from Aldes are sturdy and will definitely last long, despite time and intensive use.

Centralised vacuum cleaning is thus a durable system, fully integrated into villas or buildings.

YOUR ONE-STOP GUIDE TO CONSTRUCTION DEVELOPMENTS IN THE REGION...

The Big Project is the Middle East’s leading monthly B2B magazine for the construction industry.

40,880 readers per month Average projected readership

CONTACT DETAILS Associate publisher Liam Williams liam@cpidubai.com TEL: +971 (0)4 440 9158

Editorial director Melanie Mingas melanie@cpidubai.com TEL: +971 (0)4 440 9117 GSM: +971 (0)56 758 7834

Marketing manager Carole McCarthy carolem@cpidubai.com TEL: +971 (0)4 440 9157

SUPPLIER | NEWS

Supplier news A round-up of the latest news and announcements from industry suppliers in the Middle East

Victaulic

Axis

Genesis Manazil

Mechanical pipe joining systems producer Victaulic has announced a wider diameter measurement on the FireLock EZ Style 009H Rigid Coupling.

The additional 168,3mm (6”) added to the product is for fire protection piping systems.

The coupling is approved by LPCB, FM and VdS and listed by cULus for fire protection services up to 2517kPa/365psi (depending upon size). The Style 009H Rigid Coupling is part of the installation-ready range by Victaulic, which does not require disassembly prior to installation and has no loose parts.

Designed to allow for faster and more consistent installations – with or without power tools – as a result, Style 009H enables a 45% reduction in onsite man hours and a reduced chance of re-work.

“We are pleased to announce the expansion of the Victaulic 009H installation-ready product line with the introduction of this new coupling,” says James Keown, Victaulic Fire Protection market manager for the UAE. “Victaulic listened to contractors looking for a fast, simple solution and now offers a wider range,” Keown added. With this latest addition, the Style 009H is now available from 42,4 -168,3 mm (11/4 - 6”). It is part of a complete range of Victaulic fire protection products, which include couplings, fittings, devices and sprinklers, enabling installers and specifiers to source all their needs from a single, quality-assured supplier.

Network video surveillance supplier Axis, last month welcomed global CEO and president Ray Mauritsson on his first visit to Dubai for four years.

Noting the retail, transportation and oil and gas sectors as experiencing the most rapid growth for Axis in the region, Mauritsson said the regional security sector is also seeing increased demand, in line with global trends.

Axis was the first company to introduce network video in 1996; superior images which feed back to a cable free network, rather than a central recording device, such as digital video recorders (DVR), or even computers.

A new solution presented by Axis allows small business owners to use HDTV network cameras to help them add value to their business as well as identify intruders, shoplifters and other securityrelated incidents. Video can be viewed live and recordings played back from anywhere – on-site or remotely over the Internet – and can even be powered by the communications network.

“The Middle East has become one of the fastest growing markets for Axis, with network video surveillance solutions seeing increasingly largescale deployments,” commented global president and CEO Ray Mauritsson.

“The lower total cost of ownership, integration benefits and enhanced HDTV capabilities are clear advantages that network video has when compared to analogue solutions,” he added.

The largest projects completed to date in terms of the number of cameras on site is for “a US-based retailer” with 100,000 cameras on site.

The new ECOMAG Panel has been introduced to the UAE by Manazil Steel Framing to replace the need for cement boards on walls.

Manazil say it will provide a “greener” sheathing solution for the local market.

The product can be directly nailed or screwed on wooden or steel frames, and can also be directly painted or laminated.

It is impact and fungal rated; non toxic; asbestos free; recyclable and non-combustible.

It has a compressive strength of 3000PSI. ECOPANEL’s green credentials are based on its magnesium oxide composition – which is naturally occurring and 100% recyclable.

Walls constructed from the panels can achieve up to a 30% reduction on construction costs and 60% time saving. The manufacturer also claims the energy bills can be reduced by 35% due to thermal insulation properties.

Genesis is a provider of green light steel building technology and solutions targeted at the global commercial, residential and institutional building sectors. Genesis delivers customized turnkey structural solutions, and provides software packages, industrial equipment, training programs, professional services and support (“Genesis Solution”) to its customers and partners globally. Headquartered in the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada, Genesis has established a network of partners with engineering, manufacturing and distribution operations in Canada, the United States, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Russia and South East Asia.

Extra diameter on FireLock EZ Style 009H Rigid Coupling

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Regional visit on back of market growth

Sustainable alternative to cement board

45% Reduction in onsite man hours with employment of Style009H

Algeko

Mapei

Planters

Algeco, supplier of modular space and secure storage rental and sales solutions, has begun supporting the Saudi Arabian from its UAE fleet.

Supplying the popular 4000KD and Batex Series, which has already seen considerable success in the UAE, Europe and other global markets, the service expansion is ahead of schedule and due to “unforeseen demand for [the] product”, says the company.

The product is current distributed across the UAE via Byrne Rental.

“We are delighted to be launching in Saudi Arabia – it is a key market for us as a business given high demand and continued growth,” Commented Jim Muldoon, GCC general manager of Algeco.

“We are pleased to be making moves ahead of schedule and look forward to what to continued success across the region,” Muldoon added.

Manufactured in Europe, the 4000KD Batex Series offers storage warehouse as strong as traditional buildings, both anti-seismic and anti-intrusion.

Frames and roofs are made of galvanized steel, requiring no maintenance and resistant to extreme weather conditions.

The flat packs comprise of 5 cells on a flatbed, with a cell length of 2.635m and exterior height of 4.82m and roof width 9.48m. Unlike other products on the market, the Batex Series provides a quick fix solution (either permanent or for emergencies) and last-minute storage requirements. Batex can give our clients 125m2 warehouse capacity in 24 hours.

Adhesive, sealant and chemical manufacturer Mapei has conducted themed monthly training sessions for construction developers and practitioners at its new fully-equipped training facility within its Dubai Investments Park premises.

The theme for the March workshop was ‘A Specification-led Approach to Concrete Repair’, covering topics such as understanding the causes of concrete deterioration and concrete repair options.

Other sessions held in previous months have covered subjects such as understanding the causes of problems associated with ceramic tiles and stone installation; and selecting the right materials and application methods by understanding new standards.

“Our training sessions reflect our commitment to going a step further and reaching out to our customers,” commented IBS Mapei managing director, Stefano Iannacone.

“Instead of just simply selling our products, we want to help users capitalize on the properties and benefits of our offerings by teaching them proper installation and product care, in addition to giving them a better understanding about various aspects of our building line.

We invite our partners, clients, and construction practitioners to avail of our specialised sessions,” Iannacone added.

Founded in Milan in 1937, MAPEI is today the world leader in the production of adhesives and complementary products for the installation of all types of floor and wall coverings.

The company is also specialised in other chemical products for building.

Planters LLC has created a desert theme within the five start treatment and spa facilities at Abu Dhabi’s Hyatt Capital Gate Hotel, sculpting artificial sand dunes around the periphery of each room.

The unique interior design was molded by Planters’ “expert artisans” in collaboration with Nick Stoupas of the UK-based RPW Design, into solid dunes that hold their shape and requires no maintenance, therefore creating long lasting features within the spas.

Project management was provided by ADNEC’s Huda Al Mughrabi and Planters LLC was tasked with installing three artificial Ficus trees to the Conference Centre.

The trees, measuring 5.5 meters in height, bring “an element of nature into what is otherwise a formal business location” say the company, as well as creating “a focal point within the large open area of the centre”.

The Hyatt Capital Gate project has been a great success for Planters and has given us the opportunity to collaborate with top designers, to create interior landscapes within the hotel that offer the ‘wow’ factor to its guests,” Jonathan Pardoe, managing partner, Planters.

“The Hyatt Capital Gate is one of the top venues in Abu Dhabi and we’re delighted to have been part of the team.

“At Planters we pride ourselves on delivering creative concepts combined with industry knowledge, and with this project we have received many positive complements on the quality and finish of both spaces within the hotel,” Pardoe added.

Firm marks KSA arrival

Training sessions held in Dubai

Hyatt Capital Gate contract

www.thebigprojectme.com | 53

CAREER LADDER SUPPLIER | NEWS | Coryn Hellewell

“Instead of just simply selling our products, we want to help users capitalize on the properties and benefits of our offerings by teaching them proper installation and product care”

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News

SUPPLIER PROFILE | Harsco Baroom

On target The construction, power and petrochemicals industries are Saudi Arabia’s largest employers, yet many vacancies are filled by overseas workers. With the introduction of more stringent nationalisation targets, Harsco Baroom’s Vince Porter explains how the company is maximising local talent and the benefits it is bringing

I

n March 2012, Harsco Baroom was awarded green status for its 40% company-wide Saudization achievements and praise followed from Engineer Suleiman Al Barqan, chairman and chief executive of Samref Refinery (Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Ltd).

The company has recruited into operations and business, has a newly launched scaffolding academy in Yanbu and is also actively recruiting from Saudi Arabi’s female talent pool, of which 78% are graduates.

A statement from the company read: “These are real roles that are sustainable in the long term and truly add value to our business.”

The scaffolding academy in Yanbu is attended by Saudi males aged 16-35; several of whom have been unemployed long term.

The students are not only trained in installation, but health a safety practices, and “personal

“Having a large number of excellent local trainees will give us a competitive advantage in terms of the motivation of our staff” qualities” that will allow them to progress to supervisory positions, described by the company as: “uncompromising integrity, a thirst for continuous improvement and understanding of the need for value creation”.

“There is a conspicuous ‘skills gap’ in the KSA workforce of suitably qualified scaffold supervisors and contract managers,” comments country manager Vince Porter. “These roles are filled by expatriate workers and this will continue to be the case until the Harsco Baroom scaffold trainees are sufficiently experienced. Having a

large number of excellent local trainees will give us a competitive advantage in terms of the motivation of our staff,” Porter adds.

Making the grade

“Harsco Baroom has always been keen to reduce the number of expatriate workers in the company by recruiting Saudi nationals whenever possible. Prior to the Scaffold School being launched this had typically been through filling administration roles,” continues Porter.

“Our vision is to ensure young Saudis are

www.thebigprojectme.com | 55

SUPPLIER PROFILE | Harsco Baroom

22%

2.5 million

of construction companies active in KSA are foreign

currently employed in KSA construction industry

$322.9

billion

value of active KSA projects

The issue is highly debated among expatriate workers Gulf-wide, with many claiming the knowledge does not yet exist locally to meet the needs of the private sector as it completes projects worth $322.9 billion in the construction industry alone.

The current planned projects make the Kingdom the largest construction and infrastructure market in the MENA region, and 2.5 million workers are currently employed in it.

Despite the low number of national workers in this workforce, a recent report by Merrill Lynch, finds that only 22% of construction companies currently active in the Kingdom are foreign.

Nitaqat tiers Green – compliant companies Yellow – those who need to improve the level of saudization in the company Red – failure to meet targets and risk of

recruited into ‘real roles’ which truly contribute to the business model and our core purpose is to build teams that win with integrity anywhere in the world,” Porter continues, adding: “When we go beyond green status we will doubtless spend more time promoting it to staff. Presently we communicate this though an internal newsletter, SMS broadcast to staff mobile phones and via notice boards.”

According to the company, Harsco Baroom’s approach to nationalisation, particularly Nitaqat, streamlines the HR process, assists with succession planning and removes the need to introduce workers – and their families – to new countries, along with the associated accommodation fees.

“The immediate benefit has been that we need less employment visas. The historical lack of availability of batches of employment visas for foreign labour has impacted on our ability to grow the business as rapidly as we would have liked,” states Porter, adding the focus now can be on managing the development of key staff to undertake succession planning as per the long term business strategy.

“Also, there is no need to be concerned with ‘culture shock’ of expatriate workers or their families becoming acclimatised to KSA. Neither do we need to provide all the

56 | www.thebigprojectme.com

expected accoutrements of their lifestyle such as accommodation and air fares to country of origin,” Porter adds.

expansions being declined, amongst other

The Nitaqat system, introduced in 2011, has three tiers of Saudization, labelling companies red, yellow, or green, for their efforts to integrate an enormous youth population into the work force and secure a sustainable and stable future economic structure.

The current crisis is confirmed by the latest government figures, which reveal that, currently, of 1.2 million jobs added by the private sector from 2004-2009 only 280,000, went to Saudi nationals. It is widely recognised that 80% of private sector jobs are held by non-Saudi workers.

Those companies with high rates of Saudization will be incentivised, according to the Kingdom’s Labour Ministry. While, private companies in the “Red” have been warned they will face difficulties renewing work permits and residential permits for their foreign workers.

In an interview conducted in March this year, Mahdi Al-Nahari, chairman of the Foreign Investment Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, reported that foreign investment in the Kingdom currently comes from 40 countries and 7,500 foreign investment licenses were been issued in various regions of the Kingdom until 2009.

Companies with 9 or fewer employees are said to

Nitaqat

measures

be immune from the programme

Harsco Baroom’s benefits of recruiting locally •

Fewer employment visas required

•

Time to focus on the development of key staff

•

Greater opportunity for succession planning

•

No ‘culture shock’ experienced by workers

•

Lifestyle accoutrements not required by national workers

Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Mohsin Khater, Contracts Manager Arabian Construction Company (ACC): “The PERI formwork system contributed greatly to the success of Etihad Towers.

Not only did it provide an excellent structural solution for the complex project, but also provided an economical way for saving manpower.

I would highly recommend PERI in the future projects.“

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AE PERI 12.100

German Formwork and Engineering Technology for Every Concrete Project PERI Egypt

Cairo

Phone: +20 2.24 04 85 24 / 26

peri@peri.com.eg

PERI Jordan

Amman

Phone: +962 6.5 51 67 31

jordan@peri.de

PERI KSA

Jeddah

Phone: +966 (0)2.6 12 83 00

PERI Kuwait

Kuwait

Phone: +965 22.32 29 21

info @ peri.com.sa kuwait @peri.de

PERI Lebanon Beirut

Phone: +961 (0)1.24 33 65

lebanon@peri.de

PERI Oman

Phone: +968 (0)2.4 57 10 90

perimct @perime.com

Muscat

PERI Qatar

Doha

Phone: +974 44 11.48 16 / 17

PERI UAE

Dubai

Phone: +971 (0)4.3 26 29 92

info @ periqatar.com perillc @perime.com

PERI UAE

Abu Dhabi

Phone: +971 (0)2.6 79 88 04

periauh@perime.com

Formwork Scaffolding Engineering www.perime.com

Supplier comment | DORMA

Regional real estate and market impact Mohammed Nawarah, country manager for DORMA KSA gives a run-down of the top GCC markets and the impact of their varying real estate investment plans

500,000 residential villas announced for construction in Saudi Arabia in 2011

58 | www.thebigprojectme.com

T

he real estate industry in the GCC and in particular UAE has seen some turbulent times in the recent past. 2012 has been marked as a tough year throughout the world for all the industries, and property sector is no exception. Some of the GCC states are facing an oversupply, while some are seeing Arab Spring and others political tension.

Growth in the real estate sector across the GCC is currently most evident in Saudi Arabia, due to government investment in the sector. The UAE at the moment is seeing some difficulty in the

property market as the rentals have come down by 9% in 2011 and from 2008 until now, the rent has come down by about 50% overall.

In 2011, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has announced 500,000 residential villas, the National Guard has 17,000 villas and the Royal Commission has announced another 9000 residential villas to be constructed in the next three years. These projects in Saudi Arabia throw a positive light for the industry.

Qatar with the 2022 World Cup, has been witnessing significant investment in real estate,

50% overall reduction in rentals in the UAE

17% of Saudi Arabia’s 2012 budget will be spent on real estate

9000 residential villas to be constructed in the next three years by Saudi Arabia’s Royal Commission

“Growth in the real estate sector across the GCC is currently most evident in Saudi Arabia, due to government investment in the sector” but as of now, the government has only announced some infrastructure projects.

But it’s just the start of 2012 and we have seen some projects being announced in Qatar and we do expect there will be more launches during the course of the year.

As Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain currently undergoing unrest, the real estate sector is going through rough patches due to lack of investor confidence. While UAE is struggling with demand issues and there are a lot of unfinished projects which will take approximately two to three years to complete.

This year, Q1 did not see a great performance

from the industry due to lack of investment.

But, the performance will be good as far as KSA is concerned, as the annual budget set is around SAR690 billion, of which 17% is to be invested in real estate.

There is a huge potential in the residential segment as not all the citizens of GCC states have their own house. The mindset of people in the GCC region has always been towards property, being a safer investment option vis-à-vis equities.

The regulations play a big role in the property segment and depending on their attractiveness, the investor has the confidence in putting

his/her money. The UAE and in particular Dubai has good regulations for the investor but the other GCC states need to improve.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait have to make their property regulations more attractive for the real estate sector to grow. Currently in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, expats can buy property for end use only, they are not allowed to sell it and this is a deterrent for investors.

To give a boost to the real estate industry in the GCC, an open and therefore attractive market for investors can be achieved through regulation and focus on mid-segment residential units, rather than luxury units.

DORMA, a world leader of door technology systems and allied products has been involved with the region’s leading innovative projects such as the Burj Khalifa, The Dubai Mall, Burj Al Arab, Qatar National Convention Center, Mall of Arabia and Dubai Metro to name a few. DORMA has a 25 percent market share in the GCC.

www.thebigprojectme.com | 59

Supplier comment | DORMA

“There is a huge potential in the residential segment as not all the citizens of GCC states have their own house”

For all the current tenders in Qatar turn to our special issue supplement The Big Project Guide to Qatar

Saudi Arabia Project name MixedUse Development Project - Obhur District

Project number MPP2633-SA Client Rayadah Investment Company (Saudi Arabia) Territory Saudi Arabia City Riyadh 11564 Postal/ ZIP 56850 Phone (+966-1) 205 9911 Fax (+966-1) 205 9922 Email info@raid.com.sa Web http://www.raid.com.sa Description Design and construction of a 2.4 million square metre mixed-use development in Obhur, which includes (240 Nos.) residential towers, (1,200 Nos.) villas, a five-star hotel, hospital, clinics, mosques, commercial district, schools and municipal buildings.

Status New Tender Remarks This project is at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Client has received prequalification entries for an infrastructure package on the residential scheme and is planning to issue tender documents for the contract by July 2012. Local office of KEO International Consultants has been appointed as the Project manager on this development Project manager KEO International Consultants (Saudi Arabia) Tender categories Hotels, Construction & Contracting, Medical & Healthcare

Project name King Khalid International Airport Expansion Project

Project number MPP2296-SA Client General Authority of Civil Aviation GACA (Saudi Arabia) Territory Saudi Arabia Address Bin Malek Street, Old Airport Area City Jeddah 21421 Postal/ ZIP 887 Phone (+966-2) 640 5000 Fax (+966-2) 640 1477 Email gaca-info@gaca.gov.sa Web http://www.gaca.gov.sa Description Carrying out expansion of King Khalid International Airport.

Status New Tender

Remarks This airport is located about 35 kilometres North of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

Expansion will increase the airport’s annual capaCity to about 24 million passengers from the current 14 million. It will also involve renovating the existing Terminal 3 and Terminal 4, as well as adding (4) new concourses – A, B, C and D. Client has invited companies to submit bids for the project management consultancy (PMC) contract on this scheme. Firms have until June 16, 2012 to submit bids.

Tender categories Airport, Construction & Contracting

Project name Assila Towers Project

Project number NPR002-SA Client AMIAS Real Estate Company Ltd. (Saudi Arabia) Territory Saudi Arabia City Jeddah Description Construction of 60-storey Assila Towers comprising a five-star hotel with (242) rooms and (104) serviced apartments.

Budget Status Current Project Remarks This project is in Jeddah and will cover a built-up area of 46,949 square metres. The tower will consist of two basement levels below ground. It is understood that the hotel will be managed and operated by Rocco Forte Hotels.

Local construction company Al Saad General Contracting has been awarded the main construction contract on this scheme. Dubai-based construction firm Drake & Scull International (DSI) has been awarded an estimated $37 million turnkey contract to carry out the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) works Main architect Mohammed Harasani Architects (Saudi Arabia) Design consultant Perkins & Will (USA) Main contractor Al Saad General Contracting (Saudi Arabia) MEP contractor Drake & Scull International (Saudi Arabia) Tender categories Hotels, Prestige Buildings

Project name Dammam Industrial City 3 Project

Project number WPR009-SA Client Saudi Industrial Property Authority (Modon) Territory Saudi Arabia Address Intersection of Al Takhasussi & Moussa Bin Nusseir Street City Riyadh 11671 Postal/ ZIP 84214 Phone (+966-1) 874 9000 / 874 9191

Fax (+966-1) 477 5235 Email info@modon.gov.sa Web http://www.modon.gov.sa Description Construction of Dammam Industrial City 3, which will cover an area of 480 hectares.

Budget US$160,000,000 Status New Tender Remarks This project will be located on the GCC Road (Majlis Taawun) and about 45 kilometres from Dammam's King Abdul Aziz Port in Saudi Arabia. The third industrial City is expected to attract 2,000 industries with a combined capital investment of $8 billion. The cornerstone has recently been laid by government officials.

Tender categories Industrial & Special Projects, Construction & Contracting

Oman Project name MixedUse Development Project - Bausher

Project number MPP2630-O Client Yahya Group Holding LLC (Oman) Territory Oman Address PC 100 City Muscat Postal/ ZIP 286 Phone (+968) 2411 5656 Fax (+968) 2411 5677 Email inquiries@yahyagroupholding.com Description Construction of a mixed-use development in Bausher including 600 apartments and townhouses, along with two luxury hotels, a mall and a museum with a library designed to showcase Omani art.

Status New Tender Remarks This project is in Oman. Client plans to build a community for up to 1,500 residents on 130,000 square metres of land next to its Dolphin Complex. It will be developed in three phases, the first of which is designed to coincide with the completion and opening of the revamped Muscat International Airport.

Tender categories Construction & Contracting, Hotels. Leisure & Entertainment

Project name Bank Sohar Headquarters Project

Project number ZPR679-O Client Bank Sohar S.A.O.G (Oman) Territory Oman City Sohar PC 311

Postal/ ZIP 386 Phone (+968) 2684 2709 / 2684 6957 Fax (+968) 2684 3952 Web http://www.banksohar.net Description Construction of new headquarters for Bank Sohar Status New Tender Remarks This project will be located at Airport Heights in Seeb. The new building will enable the bank to provide exemplary services to the Omani society and also to the public and private sectors. In addition, it is expected to create and provide an ideal working environment to its employees.

The project will feature the latest advanced technology, in accordance with the international standards that will work on creating an appropriate environment.

Client is keen to apply the criteria that will make this building environmentally friendly with appropriate specifications, in order to achieve efficiency and conservation in energy and also embed recycling process to be eco-friendly. Spanish architectural firm Lamela has been appointed to design this project. The design will be a combination of modernity, globalism and the Omani architecture, which is very much inherent in its embodiment of the Sultanate's long history and its modern renaissance. The architected concept has been inspired from Sohar City, a developing commercial City with a history of trade and for its strategic location within the sultanate.

Design consultant Lamela Architect (Spain) Tender categories Construction & Contracting

Project name Salalah IWPP 2

Project number ZPR694-O Client Oman Power & Water Procurement Company S.A.O.C Territory Oman Address Muscat International Centre, 2nd Floor, Suite 504 City Ruwi PC 112 Postal/ ZIP 1388 Phone(+968) 2482 3028 / 2482 3000 Email ahmed.busaidi@omanpwp.com Web http://www.omanpwp.co.om Description Construction of an independent water and power project (IWPP) with capacity of 250MW gas-fired power plant and 10 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD) of desalination plant in Salalah Period 2016 Status New Tender Remarks This project is in Oman. Purpose of the project is to meet increasing demand for power and potable water in the region. The project is currently under planning stage. Request for proposals (RFP) for the technical consultancy services is expected to be issued in May 2012. Project completion is expected in 2016.

Tender categories Power Plants &

ESTIMATING AND PROJECT CONTROL www.thebigprojectme.com | 61

MENA PROJECTS | TenderS

TenderS

Tenders provided by

MENA PROJECTS | TenderS

Alternative Energy, Water Works

Project name Sohar Aluminium Rolling Mill Project

Project number ZPR502-O Client Takamul Investment Company (Oman) Territory Oman City Muscat 130 Postal/ ZIP 1951 Phone (+968) 2452 9000 Fax (+968) 2449 4986 Email info@takamul.com Web http://www.takamul.com Description Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract to build an aluminium rolling mill in Sohar with initial production capaCity of 140,000 tonnes per annum.

Budget US$400,000,000 Period 2014 Status Current Project Remarks This project is in Oman. The scheme is being implemented by Client's subsidiary Oman Aluminium Rolling Company. Production capaCity is expected to be increased to 160,000 tonnes per annum after twelve months of completion, in 2014. Italy's Fata Engineering & Construction has been appointed as the EPC contractor. Local Teejan Construction is acting as Fata's local partner for the civil work contract on this scheme. Continuous casting, which is the latest technology in aluminium rolling, will enable the project to use molten aluminium supplied by the Client for manufacturing rolled coils.

This will enable the Client to produce

aluminium sheets of very thin gauges and high surface quality with shorter product delivery time and lower energy cost. Civil and building works are currently underway.

The equipment has been purchased.

Shipments with equipment will be received in May 2012. Partial hand over of the project is scheduled for August 2013.

Main contractor Fata Group (Italy) Civil engineering contractor Teejan Trading & Contracting Company L.L.C (Oman) Tender categories Industrial & Special Projects

Kuwait Project name Terminal 2 Project - Kuwait International Airport

Project number MPP2386-K Client Ministry of Public Works (Kuwait) Territory Kuwait City Safat 13001 Postal/ ZIP 8 Phone (+965) 2538 5520 / 2538 5530 Fax (+965) 2538 5219 / 2538 5234 Email hmansour@mpa.gov.kw

Description Design and construction of new Teminal 2 at Kuwait International Airport with capaCity of 25 million passengers a year.

Budget US$3,000,000,000 Period 2016 Status New Tender Remarks Updated On : March 27, 2012: This project is in Kuwait. The new terminal will be located south of the existing terminal between the two existing runways. The terminal is designed to set a new environmental benchmark for airport buildings and is inspired by local forms and materials. The new building will consist of three symmetrical wings of departure gates, each spanning 1.2 kilometres. The project is targeting LEED Gold standard and aims to be the first passenger terminal in the world to achieve this. The terminal's ultimate capaCity will be 50 million passengers a year. It is understood that the Client will launch a tender in the

coming weeks for construction of this terminal. (16) international companies have expressed interest in the tender.

Design consultant Foster & Partners (UK) Project manager Ineco (Spain) Tender categories Airport, Construction & Contracting

Project name Hawalli Special Needs School Construction Project

Project number ZPR689-K Client Ministry of Public Works (Kuwait) Territory Kuwait City Safat 13001 Postal/ ZIP 8 Phone (+965) 2538 5520 / 2538 5530 Fax (+965) 2538 5219 / 2538 5234 Email hmansour@mpa.gov.kw Description Construction of special needs school to accommodate (3,000 Nos.) students in Hawalli.

Budget US$503,000,000 Status New Tender Remarks This project is in Kuwait and will cover the total land area of 400,000 square metres. Local Gulf Consult and US’ Langdon Wilson International are acting as the planning and Design consultants on this scheme.

Period 2017 Design consultant Gulf Consult (Kuwait) Design consultant 1 Langdon Wilson International (Kuwait) Tender categories Construction & Contracting

Egypt Project name Nile Ritz Carlton Hotel Refurbishment Project

Project number MPP2571-E Client Misr Hotels Company (Egypt) Territory Egypt Address 28 Hussein Wassef St., Dokki City Giza Phone (+20-3) 761 0586 / 761 0587 Fax (+20-3) 761 0246 Web http://www.misrhotels.com.eg Description Carrying out refurbishment/ modernising of the existing 13-storey Nile Ritz Carlton Hotel.

Budget Status Current Project Remarks This project is in Cairo. The hotel covers a total area of 64,000 square metres. A joint venture of local Orascom Construction Industries and local Arab Contractors has been awarded the main contract to carry out structure rehabilitation works. Lebanon's Arabian Construction Company (ACC) has been awarded a contract to carry out the interior finishing as well as the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) package on this development. The $90 million contract will involve work on interior cladding and finishing for all rooms, outlets, public places and the casino. The contract is scheduled to be completed in (18) months.

Project manager Hill International Ltd. (Egypt) Main contractor Orascom Construction Industries (Egypt) MEP contractor Arabian Construction Company - ACC (Egypt) Main contractor 1 Arab Contractors (Osman Ahmed Osman & Company) – Egypt Tender categories Construction & Contracting, Hotels

Iran Project name Gorgan - Gonbad Railway Line Construction Project

Project number MPP2632-IR Client Ministry of Roads & Transportation (Iran) Territory Iran Address 49,Taleghani Avenue, Dadman Building, Argantin Square, Africa Street City Tehran Phone (+98-21) 646 1034 Fax (+98-21) 800 8780 Description Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build a railway line from Gorgan to Gonbad.

Status New Tender Remarks This project is in Iran. It involves providing substructure, superstructure and rolling stock as well as communication and signalling works. Client in partnership

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with the Construction & Development of Transport Infrastructure Company (CDTIC) has invited companies to submit prequalification entries by May 01, 2012 for the EPC contract on this scheme.

Tender categories Industrial & Special Projects

UAE Project name RuwaisAl Ain-Habshan-Asab High Pressure Pipeline Construction Project

Project number ZPR698-U Client Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Limited (GASCO) Territory Abu Dhabi Address Tower H, Corniche, Near Al Ain Palace Hotel City Abu Dhabi Postal/ ZIP 665 Phone (+971-2) 603 0000 Fax (+971-2) 603 7414 Email info@gasco.ae Web http://www.gasco.ae Description Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build a high-pressure pipeline linking Ruwais - Al Ain - Habshan - Asab.

Period 2014 Status New Tender Remarks The project aims at connecting (4) new CNG filling stations in Abu Dhabi.

Invitation to Bid (ITB) for the EPC contract is expected to be issued soon, with the submission of bids by June 2012. EPC contract award is expected in the fourth quarter of 2012. Project is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2014. Some of the pre-qualifiers are: Athens-based Consolidated Construction Company; India’s Dodsal Engineering & Construction Private Ltd. and France's Technip.

Tender categories Gas Processing & Distribution

Project name Umm Lulu Offshore Field Development Project

Project number MPP1557-U Client Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA-OPCO) Territory Abu Dhabi Address Corniche Road City Abu Dhabi Postal/ ZIP 303 Phone (+9712) 606 0000 Fax (+9712) 626 6005 Web http://www.adnoc.com Description Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for development of the offshore Umm Lulu field to produce 100,000 barrels a day (b/d) of oil.

Period 2013 Status Current Project Remarks This project is in Abu Dhabi.

Upon completion, the field will produce 100,000 b/d of oil and connected to the existing production facilities at Umm Al Dalkh field. Scope of work includes: - Early production facilities (EPF) - Construction of wellheads, pipelines and platforms - Supply and installation of gas-oil separators, slug catchers, gathering network, and pumps.

India's Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has been awarded two EPC contracts totalling $450 million, covering early production facilities for the first phase of this scheme and Nasr offshore field. L&T will now build four wellhead towers and a manifold tower platform, connecting bridges and associated sub-sea pipelines. Client has extended the deadline to mid-May 2012 for the submission of technical bids on the first package of the development.

Specialist consultant Mott MacDonald Ltd. (Abu Dhabi) Project manager Shaw Stone & Webster (Abu Dhabi) FEED consultant Technip (Abu Dhabi) Project manager AMEC Oil & Gas (Abu Dhabi) FEED consultant 1 Tebodin Middle East Limited (Abu Dhabi) FEED consultant 2 Fluor Mideast Company Limited (Abu Dhabi) Main contractor Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (Abu Dhabi) Tender categories Gas Processing & Distribution, Oilfields & Refineries

Project name Dubai Modern Art Museum & Opera House District Project - Downtown Dubai

Project number MPP2624-U Client Emaar Properties PJSC (Dubai) Territory Dubai Address Emaar Business Park, Bldg. No. 3, Near Interchange No. 5, Shaikh Zayed Road City Dubai Postal/ ZIP 9440 Country United Arab Emirates Phone (+971-4) 367 3333 Fax(+971-4) 367 3000 Email enquiry@emaar.co.ae Web http://www.emaar.com Description Construction of Dubai Modern Art Museum and Opera House District comprising a modern art museum, an opera house, cultural facilities, including two hotels, studios and leisure facilities.

Status New Tender Remarks This project will be located next to Burj Khalifa development in Downtown Dubai area. The Cultural District is part of Dubai’s efforts to expand the cultural infrastructure.

Tender categories Hotels, Construction & Contracting, Leisure & Entertainment

Bahrain Project name Gas Compressor Station Project

Project number MPP2430-B Client Bahrain National Gas Company B.S.C. (BANAGAS) Territory Bahrain City Manama Postal/ ZIP 29099 Phone (+973) 1775 6222 Fax (+973) 1775 6991 Email bng@banagas.com.bh Web http://www.banagas.com.bh Description Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build a gas compressor station with capaCity of 65 million cubic feet a day.

Budget US$100,000,000 Period 2013 Status Current Project Remarks This gas compressor station will be located at the Sitra complex in Bahrain.

Scope of work includes the design of gas compressor with a gas turbine driver, a series of pipelines, associated gas gathering lines, power supply and all connected process equipment and utilities. Japan's JGC Corporation has been awarded the EPC contract, being the lowest bidder at about $50 million.

Specialist consultant Foster Wheeler International (Abu Dhabi) FEED consultant WorleyParsons (Bahrain) Main contractor JGC Corporation (Japan) Tender categories Gas Processing & Distribution

Jordan Project name King Hussein International Airport Expansion Project - Phase 1

Project number MPP2537-J Client Aqaba Development Corporation (Jordan) Territory Jordan Address 3rd Floor, Chamber of Commerce Bldg.

City Aqaba 77110 Postal/ ZIP 2680 Phone (+962-3) 201 9933 Fax(+962-3) 201 7735 Email info@adc.jo Web http://www.adc.jo

Description Carrying out expansion of King Hussein International Airport involving expansion of the arrivals terminal by 1,120 square metres.

Period 2013 Status Current Project Remarks This project is in Aqaba, located on the Red Sea coast in Jordan. It is the first phase and involves expansion and

rehabilitation of the existing passenger terminal at the airport. Work will also cover improvements of related infrastructure, such as roads and pavements, as well as adding water and electriCity infrastructure.

The expansion is expected to double capaCity to about two million passengers a year. The airport currently has an annual capaCity of one million passengers. Local Arab Business Corporation has been awarded the main construction contract.

Design consultant Associated Consulting Engineers (ACE) - Jordan Main contractor Arab Business Corporation (Jordan) Tender categories Airport, Construction & Contracting

Qatar Project name Premier Inn Hotel Project Education City

Project number MPP2614-Q Client Qatar Foundation Territory Qatar Address Qatar Foundation Bldg., Al Wajba Area City Doha Postal/ ZIP 5825 Phone (+974) 4454 0000 Fax (+974) 4480 6117 Email info@qf.org.qa Web http://www.qf.edu.qa Description Construction of three-star Premier Inn Hotel comprising four storeys, including (200) rooms.

Period 2013 Status New Tender Remarks This project will be located within the Education City development on the western edge of Doha in Qatar and cover a total area of 14 square kilometres.

UAE-based Dewan Architects & Engineers has been awarded a consultancy contract to design and supervise the construction on this scheme. The hotel is set to open in 2013.

Design consultant Dewan Architects & Engineers (Dubai) Tender categories Hotels, Construction & Contracting

Project name Smash Tennis Academy Construction Projec

Project number ZPR681-Q Client Qatar Olympic Committee Territory Qatar City Doha Postal/ ZIP 7494 Phone (+974) 4494 4444 Fax (+974) 4494 4788 Email qoc@olympic.qa Web http://www.qatarolympics.org Description Construction of Smash Tennis Academy.

Budget US$18,000,000

Remarks This project is in Qatar. Scope of work includes construction of (2 Nos.) indoor courts and (5 Nos.) open to sky courts. Local Hamad Bin Khalid Contracting Company has been awarded the main construction contract on this scheme.

Local Hamad Bin Khalid Engineering Services LLC is the MEP contractor. Local EHAF Consulting Engineers is the Main consultant and the local Qatar Engineering & Associates is acting as the Design consultant.

Main consultant EHAF Consulting Engineers (Qatar) Design consultant Qatar Engineering & Associates Main contractor Hamad Bin Khalid Contracting Company - HBK- (Qatar) MEP contractor Hamad Bin Khalid Engineering Services LLC - HBK- (Qatar) Tender categories Construction & Contracting, Leisure & Entertainment

Iraq Project name Baghdad Parliament Building Construction Project

Project number MPP2212-IQ Client Ministry of Construction & Housing (Iraq) Territory Iraq City Baghdad Postal/ ZIP Phone (+964-790) 177 5368 Email moch@mochiraq.com Web http://www.mochiraq.com Description Construction of Baghdad Parliament Building.

Budget US$1,000,000,000 Status New Tender Remarks This project is in Iraq. It includes construction of apartments, offices, a mosque and gardens. The new parliament building will be constructed in downtown Baghdad on the site where former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein had planned to build the largest mosque in the Middle East. Shortlisted companies interested in a contract to design the building were expected to present their designs in April 2012. Client is expected to invite companies behind the three top-ranked designs to bid for the design contract

by July 2012 with an award expected by the end of 2012. Some of the shortlisted companies include; France’s ADPI; UK’s Assemblage; London-based Zaha Hadid Architects; Local Al-Khan Engineering Consultancy with Canada’s Adamson; UK's Davis Langdon and UAE-based Dewan Architects & Engineers.

Tender categories Construction & Contracting

Period 15/09/2013 Status Current Project

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MENA PROJECTS | TenderS

Budget US$1,500,000,000

ADVERTORIAL | FORBO

SARLON TRAFIC The new collection - a feast for the eyes!

T

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David Jones +971 50 450 7948 Email: marketing.metag@forbo.com Website : www.forbo-flooring.com

News

MAY 2012

MENA INTERNATIONAL

Project Qatar

Doha Convention Centre, Qatar: April 30- May 3 This highly successful show is the 9th International Trade Construction, Building, Environmental Technology & Materials Exhibition. The event attracts key buyers and industry leaders looking for the most up-to-date technology and state-of-the art equipment available on the market.

YAPI - TURKEYBUILD Istanbul

GLOBAL TRENDS

2013 The year steel supply/ demand in Saudi Arabia is predicted to balance

11.7% increase in in civil

engineering activity in Finland from 2011

$350 million contract signed by Saipem for onshore engineering-andconstruction works in Saudi Arabia

$10 billion trade volume target

between Turkey and Brazil

5.8% increase in US

construction spending since February 2011balance

Tuyap Fair Convention & Congress Center: 02-MAY-12 to 06-MAY-12 TURKEYBUILD Istanbul benefits from the economic growth and the inflow of foreign capital and is regarded as a very promising market. YAPI - TURKEYBUILD Istanbul will be tapping those opportunities.

Buildexpo

Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), Nairobi: May 5-7 This event places special emphasis on attracting traders from neighbouring countries even though Kenya itself is one of the largest and most self sufficient markets in Africa.

WEPower

Dhahran International Exhibition Centre: May 13-15 Supported by the Ministry of Water and Electricity, National Water Company, SEC, SWCC and the Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority. 2012 will officially be opened by the Ministry of Water and Electricity and is in its eighth year.

Green Building Design & Interiors Arabia

Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center: May 13-16 Green Building Design and Interiors Arabia will provide a huge platform for coming in direct contact with the planners, specifiers and purchasers of building and interior products and services of Saudi Arabia. Through this event the building and interior designing market of Saudi Arabia will get a global exposure.

Office Furniture Exhibition

Dubai: May 15-17 Middle East International Office Interiors and Facilities Management Exhibition

Menasol,

Abu Dhabi: May 16-17 Now in its fourth year, Menasol provides the ultimate learning and industry networking experience for the MENA solar industry, year on year.

Smart City World MENA

Ritz Carlton, Dubai DIFC: June 4-6 In the face of accelerated urbanization, infrastructure bottlenecks and rising resource depletion, Middle East governments and real estate developers are turning to intelligence to optimize and innovate city assets and services.

Smart Cities World MENA 2012 addresses strategic and technology master planning for smart urban infrastructure.

DIARY | INDUSTRY EVENTS

DIARY

BuildingsNY Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York: May 2-3 The event will host many educational programs the latest products and services related to building sector and equipments used for construction and related industry Construtec

Feria de Madrid, Spain: May 8-11 The Construction sector in Spain is one of the most competitive and quickly developing branches; an attractive opportunity for exporters looking to increase their business.

International Construction Week

Feria de Madrid, Spain: May 8-11 Exhibitors will get to know well about the local market and even the foreign companies can utilize this mega platform to form trade partnerships with the domestic companies for reaching out to new market Build&Design Queensland Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre: May 9-11 Build And Design Queensland makes the visitors aware of the latest trends of this sector which would have otherwise been unknown to them.

China International Building Material Technology & Equipment Expo

Beijing China International Exhibition Center (CIEC): May 10-12 BMEXPO CHINA can be referred to as the best trade event in the field of innovations in wall material, building and energy saving. It showcases the new and upcoming products, technologies and equipments.

The event focuses on brand building and getting an international exposure for the exhibitors at this event. BMEXPO CHINA will have concurrent forums and conferences

www.thebigprojectme.com | 65

YOUR SHOUT | Where next?

Get involved: Visit: www.thebigprojectme.com Follow us on Twitter: METheBigProject Become a group member on LinkedIn Or become a fan on Facebook: Thebigproject ME

To give your shout on next month’s topic, follow The Big Project on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook

Your Shout This month, The Big Project asked exhibitors at the international pavilions at Project Qatar about their marketing strategy for breaking into the country’s lucrative projects market Baris Can Export area manager, SFC Kastamonu

Business in Qatar is interesting and we see a good future here. We manufacture metal ceilings and have already supplied two school projects for Ashghal. We are following this with other big projects and we are starting with trade partnerships, then we will begin manufacturing and will eventually move the whole factory here.

It is difficult to find a place for manufacturing but once we solve this problem we will move our operations, hopefully within a few months.

Sameh Shalaby CEO and civil engineer, Porviva Living Surfaces

We are new to Qatar and so we are still exploring the market, but it is looking very promising. Our Dubai office is just opening and we have already executed projects in Wild Wadi water park and the water purification plant for Dubai city.

In Qatar we are still exploring for projects.

We have a very unique product, we know what we are talking about, we have German quality and workmanship and this gives us a very comfortable starting point. We have already had discussions with potential partners.

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Kari Kytomaki Fritz Kohl Middle East

We have had a warehouse in Dubai for 10 years and handle projects for Qatar also. It seems that Qatar is getting bigger and the market here is more interesting. Out main company in Germany has helped us to move into the Middle East market and we will continue to operate from Dubai until there is enough interest in Doha to open a new base here.

Sina Sipahi Metapan

We are the biggest manufacturer of MDF, OSP and flooring in the world and have 29 factories in Iran; I cannot even count how much we produce in a year. This is our first time in Qatar, it’s nice and we have had some enquiries. We are

looking for distributors and agents to promote our products and to teach customers how to use our products. Our only competitors manufacture plywood, so that will give us an advantage.

Mehran Etemad President/CEO, Internationaal Waste Industries

We are based in Maryland, USA, and have been in business for 33 years. We have installed more than 700 systems worldwide and comply with US and EU standards.

We started in Qatar with a two-phase project at New Doha International Airport six years ago and have engineered, manufactured and commissioned other systems too. We have been in this region since 1983 and hope to win other contracts in Qatar on the back of NDIA.