1d0304f9-d642-475f-8aa3-a54f62af63cc

NEWS • ANALYSIS • INTELLIGENCE • PROJECTS • CONTRACTS • TENDERS JAN 15-21, 2011 • ISSUE 352

CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COMAN ITP BUSINESS PUBLICATION

NEWS • ANALYSIS • INTELLIGENCE • PROJECTS • CONTRACTS • TENDERS AUGUST 13-26, 2011 • ISSUE 381

Team gameSkilled squad to start buildp36

Public opinion on

the project news

p46

READER

REACTION

Tall orderStructure and design challengesp40

SPECIAL ISSUE

ANALYSIS HOW BIG A RISK IS KINGDOM TOWER?

People powerMinds behind

the vision p32

Project plansWhat’s in store

for Jeddah p30

KINGDOMTOWERBECKONSSaudi Binladin Group to construct $1.2 billion world record attempt

AUGUST 13-26, 2011 CONSTRUCTION WEEK 1

AUGUST 13-26, 2011 • ISSUE 381

INTELLIGENCEFINANCE

SNAPSHOTROUND-UPCOMMENT

GUEST COMMENTPROJECTS

APPOINTMENTS

Abu Dhabi’s Bab Al Qasr announces contract awardsArabtec profit down two thirdsGCC GDP continues to help fund infrastructure projectsThe wave-shaped Rocco Forte Hotel and its landmark ambitionsThe Kingdom beckonsHow long will the Kingdom tower take to build?CW provides a collection of its most recent site visitsShuffle, Top Three Jobs and Tips for Job Seekers

0408101218204854

PROJECTCITY OF THE HYPER TALLStuart Matthews details the scope, location and design of Jeddah’s Kingdom Tower.

ARCHITECTKING OF SKYSCRAPERSAdrian Smith and his desire to continue to top the world’s tallest tower projects.

TECHNOLOGYHIGHER AND FASTERStephen White on the technical hurdles contractors will have to overcome to build 1km-high.

30

34

VISIONTHE PASSION OF A PRINCEAnil Bhoyrul talks to Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal about his vision for the tower.

32

CONTENTS

44

CHALLENGESTALL ORDEROilver Ephgrave examines the structural challenges involved in designing a 1km-high tower.

40

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Tenders of note: Two contracts imminent on Bab Al Qasr twin-tower project in Abu Dhabi

Main contractor Nurol was awarded the main contract in September 2009, after NSCC had completed the enabling and piling work.

INTELLIGENCE

Two further contracts for work on the twin-tower Bab Al Qasr development in central Abu Dhabi are to be awarded

shortly, according to the design consultant on the development.

Jacobs International is overseeing the project management on the 168,000m2 area project, which will contain a hotel tower and serviced apartment tower, both 32 floors, atop a five-floor podium.

Nurol is the main contractor, having been awarded the building work in September 2009, after NSCC had completed the initial enabling and piling work.

Ashraf Owaida, project manager for the consultant, said the package for the lighting contract “is being compiled as we speak”, and should be awarded by around the end of August.

The second package comprises all ICT (information communication technology) works. “The key is to have a fully-integrated system, including firefighting and security systems,” said Owaida.

The structure will employ Moroccan-style stone cladding in the podium to partly reflect the origins of the client, Emirates-Morocco Trading & General Investment Company (Emroc), a real-estate company formed shortly before it launched the project in 2006. By September of that year, it had hired Surbana International Consultants to develop the design.

The glass in the towers will also have a bronze tint in order to make the structure stand out in the crowded Corniche area, which also includes Emirates Palace Hotel, Khalidiya Hotel and Etihad Towers.

INTELLIGENCE


The International Islamic Relief Organisation of Saudi Arabia (IIROSA) has signed a contract with a national construction company to build a residential hotel tower in the Ajyad area in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

Adnan Bin Khalil Basha, IIROSA Secretary General, said the 29-storey tower will have a total built-up area of 24,375m2, 518 rooms and a prayer area for 600 worshipers.

Last year IIROSA launched six new Waqf (endowment) projects in Makkah at a cost of about $133,000, which are expected to render annual returns of about $12m, which will be used to finance the organisation’s relief, humanitarian and development projects.

Contract signed for Makkah hotel

The planned causeway will link Kuwait City (pictured) with Subiya.

For up-to-the-minute tenders log on to constructionweekonline.com

TOP TENDERS

Construction of Elementary SchoolsCountry: Saudi ArabiaCloses: 13 AugustClient: RCJYCategory: Buildings

Construction of 11 / 132 / 400kV Sabah Al Ahmad SubstationCountry: KuwaitCloses: 14 AugustClient: Central Tenders CommitteeCategory: Buildings

Annual Maintenance of Power Plant EquipmentCountry: KuwaitCloses: 14 AugustClient: Central Tenders CommitteeCategory: Buildings

Maintenance of A/C in HQ of Ministry of Water & ElectricityCountry: KuwaitCloses: 14 AugustClient: Central Tenders CommitteeCategory: Buildings

Construction of Yanbu Power & Desal Plant, Phase 3Country: Saudi ArabiaCloses: 15 AugustClient: SWCCCategory: Power & Water

Construction of Asphalt Road to Wadi Al SahtanCountry: OmanCloses: 15 A ugustClient: Ministry of TransportCategory: Infrastructure

Construction of Sewerage Network SystemCountry: OmanCloses: 15 AugustClient: Ministry of Water ResourcesCategory: Infrastructure

Construction of Raysut Industrial Estate ExpansionCountry: OmanCloses: 15 AugustClient: PEIECategory: Buildings

Sewer & Treated Effluent PipelinesCountry: OmanCloses: 15 AugustClient: Haya WaterCategory: Infrastructure

Supply of General Maintenance EquipmentCountry: OmanCloses: 15 AugustClient: Oman Refinery Co.Category: Infrastructure

Saudi tender launch for Jeddah metroTenders are imminent for Saudi Arabia’s long-awaited, ambitious 108km-long Jeddah metro network project, according to the governor of the Makkah province.

Following the conclusion of a study related to transport infrastructure in the city of Jeddah, which included metro trains, buses and taxis, Prince Khalid Al Faisal announced that a process would be embarked upon to allow private companies to compete for the tender

Last year, the Kingdom unveiled plans for a metro system in Saudi Arabia’s second-largest city. The planned network will comprise three lines. That announcement came a year after the oil-rich state announced a $5.6bn investment programme for the city’s transport system.

The Ministry of Public Works in Kuwait is once again looking for a design-and-build contractor for the planned 36km-long causeway that will link Kuwait City with Subiyah on the northern side of Kuwait Bay. The project, which was first announced in 2001, has gone through

numerous delays and false starts since then.Kuwait’s Ministry of Public retendered packages in October 2009 after three years of inactivity. The tender process was thought to have been completed in February this year when the design-and-build contract was awarded to Hyundai Engineering &

Construction Company.However, this was later

declined on the grounds of the tender not being ‘compliant’, despite the $2.6bn bid being considerably lower than Hyundai's competitors, which included the likes of mega regional contractors such as the Saudi Binladin Group and the Al Habtoor Leighton Group. In the latest twist in the saga, the tender has once again been re-issued. Kuwait’s Ministry of Public Works ministry describes the mooted project as a “design-and-build contract for a 36km-long causeway, incorporating a bridge spanning 150m to 200m, connecting Shuwaikh Port/Ghazali expressway with Subiya New Town."

Kuwait-Subiyah causeway is back out to tender

INTELLIGENCE

Good Week/Bad Week

FluorWins utilities contract at Sadara

Emirates SteelSigns MoU with Etihad Rail

ABBWins Jubail substation contract

Skills' costsReport: skilled labour costs increase

Labour campFour die in Mussaffah warehouse blaze

Workers' clashFour dead, 16 hurt in China labour clash

For up-to-the-minute tenders log on to constructionweekonline.com

Broadway Malyan has delivered the concept masterplan for the ‘10x10’ project in Iraq, involving a 17km2 extension of Sadr City in Baghdad. The project has been named ‘10x10’ due to its $10bn value and ten-year delivery timeframe.

“The completion of the concept masterplan is a major milestone in the creation of a sustainable community, with a strong identity for over 500,000 inhabitants, and which will ease overcrowding in Sadr City,” said director John Turner. The practice’s team has worked closely with the client, the Mayoralty of Baghdad, to deliver a concept masterplan. It secured the appointment through an open competition which began in 2009 and, following the submission of a proposal in association with DATA Consultants, the practices were confirmed the preferred bidders in late 2009, with design work starting in April 2010.

Broadway Malyan plan Iraq project

XThe Doha Metro is kicking off with six urgent design-and-build packages.

Qatar invites bids for Doha Metro Qatar Railways Company (QRail) has invited bids from companies wanting to participate in the design and construction of the Doha Metro. The announcement follows various awareness events held in May and July that attracted more than 700 representatives from leading consultancy, advisory, construction and operations companies around the world.

Saad Ahmed Al Muhannadi, CEO, said: “This invitation is a major opportunity for local contracting companies to join in consortia with large international contractors to design and build six urgent construction packages that include 22km of underground tunnels as well as 15 underground stations in the first stage."

QRail was set up to co-ordinate the growth of Qatar’s rail industry. In June, the company said it would invite bids for early work on the railway and metro system by the end of August.


TOP TENDERS

Construction of Prefab Building at HCT, MuscatCountry: OmanCloses: 15 AugustClient:Ministry of ManpowerCategory: Buildings

Construction of Admin Building in HawalliCountry: KuwaitCloses: 16 AugustClient: Central Tenders CommitteeCategory: Buildings

Construction of infrastructure for Central PrisonCountry: KuwaitCloses: 16 AugustClient: Central Tenders CommitteeCategory: Infrastructure

Construction of Air Cooling for TuerbinesCountry: KuwaitCloses: 16 AugustClient: Central Tenders CommitteeCategory: Power & Water

Batinah Expressway Project - Package 2Country: OmanCloses: 22 AugustClient: RCJYCategory: Buildings

Construction of Office for DG Labour at Al-SeebCountry: OmanCloses: 22 AugustClient: Ministry of ManpowerCategory: Buildings

Site Preparation of Mardumah Project - Phase 1Country: Saudi ArabiaCloses: 23 AugustClient: RCJYCategory: Infrastructure

Expansion of Royal Commission Medical Centre in YanbuCountry: Saudi ArabiaCloses: 2 AugustClient: RCJYCategory: Buildings

Kuwait University - Package B5 & A5Country: KuwaitCloses: 6 SeptemberClient: Central Tenders CommitteeCategory: Infrastructure

Expansion & Refurbishment of Hospitals - Phase 3Country: KuwaitCloses: 6 SeptemberClient: Central Tenders CommitteeCategory: Buildings

Hyder is an award winning multi-national advisory and design consultancy that has been delivering worldwide rail commissions for over 30 years.

www.hyderconsulting.com

FINANCE


VERDICTBuy – No sells as yet from the banks

Expert Views

Ras Al Khaimah-based Gulf Cement Company currently defines the difficulties faced in the UAE building materials market, after posting net losses for the last six months. The company posted an after-tax loss of AED 4.8 million, which is in sharp contrast to the relatively impressive AED 37.5 million profit for the same period last year, following a 12% decline in top-line revenue. The key difference seems to be the increase in sales costs, despite the decline in revenue, with general expenses also increasing since last year. A steep drop in cement prices has

been cited by the company as the chief cause of the malaise, as the overall slump in the country’s construction reduces the cost of building. The company remains the largest cement producer in the UAE – including supply to the Burj Khalifa – and an efficient exporter, with an annual production capacity of 2.7 million tonnes of cement and 3.8 million tonnes of clinker. Analyst positions have become more cautious this year. Global Investment House recommended a ‘buy’ in January, though this has since been met with more bearish ‘neutral’ positions from TAIB Securities and at Nomura.

Gulf Cement CompanyCan the UAE’s biggest supplier convince the stock pickers?

Arabtec profit down two-thirdsArabtec Holding saw net profits for the second quarter and six-months both fall by two-thirds respectively, as the company struggles to generate income for projects away from Dubai.

The UAE’s biggest construction conglomerate by market value, which includes its main building arm Arabtec Construction among numer-ous other subsidiaries, said after tax gains stood at AED 44.5 million for the last three months, down 66.5% from last year. Revenue for the period was AED 1.2 billion from AED 1.28 billion last year, and income from other operating income fell by more than half to AED 7 million.

Net profit for the six months fell 67% from AED 301.79 million last year to AED 98.55 billion as revenue declined 13.2% to AED 2.45 billion over the period.

Build it, and they will tradeArabtec stock took a hit during the so-called Arab Spring, and has mirrored Dubai’s bourse.

Dubai Financial Market Index

1,400

1,500

1,600

1,700

Arabtec Holding (AED)

1.10

1.20

1.401,50

1.601.70

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug

1.00

Arabtec Holding has seen profits fall in the first half of 2011.

FINANCE


TOP 7 RISERS:National Cement Co.: +14.38%Fujairah Cement Co.: +5.82%Specialities Growth: +2.61%Mabanee Co.: +2.49%Nass Corporation: +1.28%RAK Ceramics: +1.14%Union Cement Co.: +0.91%

TOP 13 FALLERSAl Babtain Power: -15.27%Tabreed: -13.14%Mohammad Al Mojil: -12.47%Kuwait Co. for Portland: -12.43%Saudi Arabian Amiantit: -9.67%Zamil Industrial: -9.59%Sharjah Cement Co.: -9.02%Arabian Cement Co.: -8.92%Construction Materials: -8.33%National Ranges: -8.23%Umm Al Qaiwain Cement: -7.79%Al Jouf Cement Co.: -7.79%Kuwait Gypsum: -6.92%

SECTOR INDICES: Tadawul All Share: -562.96 -8.50%Banks& Finances: -2,264.29 -13.55% Petrochemicals: -330.48 -5.07% Cement: +570.64 +14.54% Energy&Utilities: -364.24 -7.26% Industrial Invest: +102.38 +2.02% Building&Constr: -447.88 -13.48% Real Estate: -355.65 -12.89%Transport: -809.60 -25.32%

Update

RAK Properties, Ras Al Khaimah’s biggest developer, saw net profits fall by 38% and 28% for the last three-month and six-month periods this year, respectively, compared to the same periods in 2010.

After tax, the company made AED 33.1 million in the last quarter, down from AED 53.6 million for the same period last year, though revenue increased 23.3% to AED 57.8 million. This included some handovers in June in the units of its 45-storey Julphar Tower in its home emirate, RAK Tower in Abu Dhabi, and residential units in Mina Al Arab.

The company made AED 66.86 million in six months, down 28.6% from the AED 96.24 million in 2011, though revenue increased from AED 46.9 million to AED 65.42 million.

Abu Dhabi’s Aldar Properties saw net profits for the second quarter and first six months rebounded into the black a year after posting heavy losses, as residential sales boosted the bottom line.

Net profits for the second quarter reached AED 127.3 million, strongly reversing the AED 475.3 million the previous year. In this time the company began its handover of the first phase of the Al Zeina residential development at Al Raha beach.

After-tax gains for the half-year totalled AED 316.4 million, against a loss of AED 475.3 million last year. Revenues from completed units in projects such as Al Gurm, Al Bandar and Al Raha Gardens reached AED 1.56 billion, more than ten times the AED 427 million in 2010.

RAK Properties net down despite sales

Aldar half-year net soars to AED 316m

Top ten Bahrain building projects

(Data correct: 8 August, 2011; Indices: Saudi, year-to-date)

Slowly developing:

fall in share price in 2011

total recurring revenue for six months (AED)

728.3

46.7%

Back in RAK:

rise in value of trading properties under development

16.2%

fall in share price this year

22.2%

PROJECT TITLE STATUS VALUE / VALUE RANGE (US$)

DURRAT AL BAHRAIN DEVELOPMENT Construction 6,000,000,000

DIYAR AL MUHARRAQ Design 3,200,000,000

MARSA AL SEEF DEVELOPMENT Construction 2,500,000,000

VILLAMAR TOWER Construction 650,000,000

KING HAMAD GENERAL HOSPITAL Construction 140,000,000

HEADQUARTERS OF AL BARAKA BANKING GROUP Construction 55,000,000

MAJAAL WAREHOUSE PROJECT AT THE BAHRAIN INVESTMENT WHARF Construction 45,000,000

217 HOUSING UNITS IN ZAYED CITY - PHASE 2 Construction 35,000,000

FUTURE BANK HEADQUARTERS IN SEEF Construction 16,000,000

FOUR SEASONS HOTEL IN MANAMAH Tender n/a

Source: Ventures Middle East

SNAPSHOT


SPOT POLLDoes Iraq have any right to demand Kuwait stops port construction?

22.9%Yes. The Boubyan Port

project restricts Iraq shipping

8.6%A compromise

should be found

5.7%The matter needs further

investigation

SPOT PRICESCopper and nickel slides; steel rises

STEEL SPOT PRICE

* Source: London Metal Exchange, price per ton

GDP inthe GCCWhile Saudi Arabia announced its largest ever budget earlier this year, the rest of the GCC continues to spend on infrastructure projects. Given the state of the world economy, particularly in the US where the government has been at pains to stretch its borrowing, public spending has been cut back. The GCC, however, has been able to continue its projects thanks in main to its oil and gas based economies, plus diversified interests in international business. Interestingly, Qatar’s gas-fuelled economy has helped it to generate $98bn in annual revenue, making it the GCC’s 4th highest earner.

GCC MARKETS

Abdullah Al Khodari & Sons, the Saudi contractor, said it has won a deal to build the second phase of Border Guard airport in Umm Almelh worth SAR120m ($32m). The listed civil engineering and construction company has extended its work on the project after working on the first phase, one of its current projects. The company is yet to announce the start date for the second phase. Based in Al-Khobar, the company competes for contracts across building, infrastructure and utilities projects in Saudi Arabia.

Al-Khodari signs $32m airport deal

$609 COPPER SPOT PRICE


$9038 ALUMINIUM SPOT PRICE


$2404 NICKEL


$22,295 62.9%No, Kuwait should be free to

act as it wants

UAE-based Belhasa Projects has been awarded a contract to build a water transmission network in the northern emirate of Umm Al Quwain. The contract, worth $60m, was awarded by the Federal Electricity and Water Authority (FEWA). The deal adds to the growing list of MEP contracts that Belhasa Projects has won since allocating a separate division for the service in 2008, including the upward-flowing waterfalls for the Address Hotel in Dubai, the water features at the Yas Hotel at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

Belhasa projects wins $60m contract

Saudi Arabia

UAE

Oman

Kuwait

Bahrain

Qatar

26,131,703

5,148,664

3,027,959

2,595,628

1,214,705

848,016

2,149,690km2

83,600km2

309,500km2

17,818km2

760km2

11,586km2

$375.766bn

$230.252bn

$46.114bn

$148.024bn

$20.595bn

$98.313bn

POPULATION1 LAND MASS1 GDP2

1: Source: CIA World Factbook 2: Source: World Bank, 2009 figures, except Kuwait (2008). All figures USD

TECHNOLOGY

Azbil Yamatake now brings into Middle East market its latest energy saving products and applications designed to reduce HVAC energy consumption. The products and methodolo-gies have been successfully used in Japan and is an an-swer to worldwide need of energy conservation.

The group is a leading manufacturer and supplier of Building Management System from Japan. With more than 100 years of expertise in BMS and ad-vance automation systems, spread across 20 countries in the world the company is able to offer one of the broadest ranges of controls products and solutions en-abling early return on in-vestment.

The Building Energy Management System pro-vides total HVAC energy management solution in a package which combines:

Yamatake BMS Savic-NetFx**,

EDS(Energy Data Server) Actival+(an energy sav-

ing flow control valve) A proven set of energy

saving applications which includes Chilled water VWV control, VAV control by way of flow totalisation,

SavicNet-Fx BMS integrates all the Building Equipment, provides optimized control and access to all perfor-mance and diagnostic data in smart and convenient way remotely from normal computers, smart phones etc without necessitating any special SW.

Yamatake answers global energy conservation needs Japanese company brings BEMS to reduce Building Energy usage in the Middle East

(Automation Zone Builder) represents our philosophy of realizing safety, comfort and fulfilment in people’s lives and contributing to global environmental preservation through human-centred automation

ADVERTORIAL

Azbil Yamatake Organized a Seminar on Building Energy Management on 22nd June 2011 at ADNEC Abu Dhabi.

Energy Data Server (EDS) is designed for build-ing energy management to be added on the savic-net FX Building Management System (BMS). EDS visual-izes your energy consump-tion in many ways and of-fers highly functional energy management. EDS thus will facilitate to understand and analyze energy consumption of your building or factory.

Without High perfor-mance control valves lower cost of air-condi-tioning is hard to achieve. ACTIVAL PLUS is a series of motorized two-way valves in combination with the functions of a control valve, ACITVAL PLUS measures and controls flow rate. ACTIVAL PLUS thus en-ables to control temperature for air conditioning by con-trolling chilled/hot water volume and to measure chilled/hot water flow rate. For such a high functional-ity, compact size and simple installation of ACTIVAL PLUS are incomparable.

azbil Yamatake Corporation, ME Branch, Dubai PO Box no. 66013, Ph: +971-4-2347741, E: [email protected]

“We are so well-established in Saudi Arabia for such a long time, we know the market really well.”

HANS WENKENBACH from El Seif Engineering Contracting on doing business in the Kingdom.

‘Wave-like’ building could be Abu Dhabi’s Burj Al Arab The wave-shaped Rocco Forte Hotel in Abu Dhabi posed enough of an engineering challenge to make this striking building a new urban landmark in the city, akin to the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, according to design consultant Atkins, which worked on both buildings.

“The Burj Al Arab was our first challenge here in the UAE,” says Iraklis Andreakis, project manager at Atkins. He says the Rocco Forte Hotel is a building “where there are no straight lines. That complicates everything, especially the MEP, as the ducting and services had to follow the geometry of the building.”

Due to the curvature, each post-tensioned concrete floor slab had to be poured in three phases.

“The curved / wavy superstructure, with no straight lines, gave all many sleepless nights,” says Andreakis.

Apart from the curved-glass façade, which also features mosaic-style coloured glass, the main feature of the building is an atrium at one end with a ‘sky bar’ on the sixth floor.

“This is suspended on a massive steel cantilever structure, providing the necessary structural and safety integrity,” says Andreakis.

The 46m-high atrium with free-standing clear glass provides unobstructed views for the guests, all supported only by a steel truss and six columns also designed in a fluid and organic manner, following through with the external geometry of the hotel.

The project is on track for an anticipated November opening. “We are at the final finishing stage, snagging the project,” says Nabil Abdel Samad, project manager at main contractor Al Husam General Contracting.

In Quotes

PROJECTS

ROUND UP

Atkins turned TDIC’s concept into an engineering design.


“The vision of constructing the tallest tower in the world in Jeddah belongs to HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal.”

TALAL AL MAIMAN, a board member of Kingdom Holding Company.

“I believe the UAE and the GCC FM industries offer

a great mix of cultures and diversities that want to share best practice.”

YOUSSEF ABILLAMA, MMG CEO and MEFMA board member.

“My time in the construction business in the Middle East has been interesting, pleasant and enriching in all facets.”

GEIR JENSEN on his retirement after 25 years in the formwork sector.

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Naseej, the Bahrain-based affordable hous-ing firm, has become the country’s first member of the US Green Build-ing Council (USGBC). In collaboration with the USGBC, Naseej plans to hold a customised training programme for its employees to help them achieve profes-sional LEED accredita-tion. Earlier this year, USGBC, in conjunction with ASHRAE and the IES, developed five new addenda for its green building standard.

The Raysut Industrial Estate in Salalah, Oman is to be expanded by 136ha, according to the Public Estate for Industrial Estates (PEIE), which administers the Sultanate’s growing network of industrial parks. This will effectively triple the park’s developed area from the present 63ha to a total of 209ha by around 2013. A number of construction firms are looking to tender for the contract. Al Hatmy Engineering is the design consultant.

Etihad Rail, the master developer of the UAE’s national rail project, has selected a US firm to build freight locomo-tives to be used on the network. Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), a unit of Caterpillar, will design and manufacture seven heavy-haul freight loco-motives for delivery to the UAE by 2012. A key milestone for the project, the contract award is timed to support Etihad Rail’s plan to have the first trains running in 2013.

A Qatar newspaper has reported that work has started on a $3.3bn project on the outskirts of Doha. Qatar Space City is being built in Al Khor, and will be implemented in several phases. It will be near Al Khor airstrip, of which 40,000m2 will be used for the project.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Housing has allocated more than 8,000ha of land for residential development projects throughout the Kingdom as part of the nation’s push to build 500,000 new homes in order to be able to accommodate its burgeoning population. The initiative will cost Saudi Arabia over $67bn in total, and is in addition to existing housing plans to add 1.65m homes over the next five years. The Ministry of Housing also signed a contract to implement the first phase of the projects in Riyadh, Kharj, Dammam, Ahsa, Qatif, Jeddah, Madinah, Tabuk, and Khamis Mushait.

Around the GCC

1. KSA

Housing land allocated by ministry

2. OMAN

Tender for industrial park

3. BAHRAIN

Naseej joins up with USGBC

5. UAE

Rail projects move closer

4. QATAR

$3.3bn Space City project starts

ROUND UP


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ROUND UP


COMPANY UPDATE

Handover of Falcon Towers, in Ajman, has commenced.

PROJECTS

Falcon Towers handed overSweet Homes Holdings (SHH) has announced the handover of the $138m Falcon Towers project in Ajman to the first batch of investors. The eight-tower project consists of seven residential towers and one office tower.

The residential towers include a ground floor, four floors for parking and 20 residential floors. Each of the residential floors has four three-bedroom units, two two-bedroom units and one-bedroom units. The office tower is a single-block tower consisting of a ground floor, four parking floors and 23 typical floors for commercial use. Falcon Towers is part of the Ajman Freehold Property portfolio, and is the fifth project to be completed in the emirate by the developer. The project is situated in the centre of Ajman’s new corporate district, and is in proximity to key establishments like banks, offices, malls and restaurants.

TILES & SANITARYWARE

RAK Ceramics still No. 1RAK Ceramics has announced it has once again been named as the world’s largest ceramic tile manufacturer by Ceramic World Review. RAK Ceramics retained its top ranking among the 25 biggest ceramic tile manufacturers of 2010 after further raising its production output to 117m square metres from 115m square metres in 2009.

RAK Ceramics currently operates below its maximum production capacity of 117m square metres, providing room to further expand its production output and address new market demands. The company likewise maintained its place among the top four tile manufacturers in terms of value, with a total turnover of $873m in 2010. In the listing of the world’s top bathware tile manufacturers, RAK Ceramics has placed 13th overall, with a total production output of 4.3m square metres in 2010.

Dr. Khater Massaad, CEO of RAK Ceramics, said: “We are pleased to have maintained our leadership among the world’s top ceramic tile manufacturers. This is certainly an important milestone that confirms the success of RAK Ceramics’ global growth strategy. More

importantly, we are proud to have further increased our total production output, which is a strong affirmation of the robust growth performance of the RAK Ceramics brand worldwide.”

BUSINESS

Qatar dealer launches first-ever equipment hotlineQatar Building Company (QBC) claims its Heavy Equipment Division Hyundai hotline is the first 24-hour aftersales service line in Qatar. Distressed contractors, project managers and operators can dial the number to speak to a service team of Hyundai-approved technicians and mechanics, 24/7 for advice on truck servicing, spare parts, and technical enquiries.

“We understand the seriousness of completing construction projects within

deadline,” said GM Issa Kopty. “QBC is confident that our aftersales service offers unrivalled maintenance and repair services in the area. Any maintenance or repair services will be carried out quickly and efficiently. This is yet another reason why contractors depend on us. We are here for them any time - even in the middle of their night shifts.”

CONTRACTS

Irish firm wins $8.2m ME oil and gas contractAdvanced Sensors from Carrickfergus in Ireland, which designs equipment for the oil and gas industry, has clinched an $8.2m contract in the Middle East for its oil-in-water analysers, announced Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster.

“This order represents one of the biggest sales of such analysers in the world, and will support the continued growth of the business in the global oil extraction and processing industry,” said Advanced Sensors chief executive Khalid Thabeth.

“Advanced Sensors is an established, export-focused company with a reputation for the successful development of highly-innovative products for global markets. This R&D project has strengthened the company’s product portfolio, with its new oil-in-water monitor offering considerable sales potential in competitive export markets,” said Thabeth. “We believe it to be the only zero-maintenance reliable oil-in-water analyser available in the world,” he said.

ROUND UPROUND UP


Leaders in Construction SummitDate: 28 September 2011Venue: Dubai, Armani HotelThe fifth Construction Week Conference hopes to repeat the success of last year’s event where 200 construction industry experts gathered to reflect on the past year and discuss the challenges and opportunities the sector will face over the next 12 months. In contrast to the uncertainty of 2009, the 2011 event will reflect the burgeoning optimism that can be felt in the market today.

Building Sustainability into the Middle EastDate: 1 November, 2011Venue: Abu Dhabi, Sheraton ResortThe fourth annual Building Sustainability into the Middle East Conference will focus on how contractors can adopt sustainable building practices aimed at reducing energy consumption throughout the lifecycle of a building.

Social Infrastructure KSA 2011Date: 14 November, 2011Venue: Radison Blu Hotel, RiyadhA focus on Saudi Arabia’s need to meet the escalating demand for housing, healthcare and education facilities in the kingdom. Book your slot now.

Architect AwardsDate: 14 September 2011Venue: DubaiThe fourth annual Middle East Architect Awards will recognise the best projects and individuals from throughout the GCC in 2011, ranging from the world’s tallest towers to one off villas, and veteran designers to those bright young architects just starting out in the region.

Construction Week Awards QatarDate: 26 September 2011Place: DohaThe Construction Week Awards Qatar, an event celebrating the achievements of the Qatar’s construction contractors, will be held for the first time in September 2011. The awards will recognise and reward individual excellence, corporate prowess and project success. The deadline for submissions is July 31.

Commercial Interior Design AwardsDate: 24 October 2011Place: DubaiThe evolution of the Middle East’s interior design industry continues unabated. Original and innovative interiors are becoming increasingly commonplace across the region, as a host of talented individuals continue

to push boundaries and challenge the status quo.

Construction Week AwardsDate: 31 October 2011Place: DubaiNow in its seventh year, the Construction Week Awards are the foremost event celebrating the achievements of the region’s construction contractors. The awards seek to recognise and reward individual excellence, corporate prowess and project success. The nominations deadline is 5 September.

Construction Week Saudi AwardsDate: 6 December 2011Place: RiyadhIn its second year, Construction Week Design & Build Awards: Saudi Arabia will recognise excellence in

Leaders in Construction Summit to be held at Armani Hotel on 28 SeptemberThe inaugural Leaders inConstruction Summit 2011,held under the auspices ofConstruction Week and ArabianBusiness on 28 September at the Armani Hotel in Dubai, will uncover how the captains of the constructionindustry are planning to tacklethe coming 12 months.

Determining the direction and focus of your business strategy is more vital than ever.

The long-term outlook for the construction industry is positive, with PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Global Construction 2020 report forecasting that the global construction industrywill grow by 67% from $7.2 trillion in 2011 to $12 trillion annually by 2020.

The MENA region is expected to outpace the global growth rate with a total of $4.3 trillion to be spent on construction over the next decade, representing growth of 80% to 2020.

The recent unrest in the region has tempered the high expectations many had for growth in emerging

markets such as Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. Add to this the delays in payments owed to contractors that have resulted in liquidity problems, the shortage of skilled labour and the rising cost of raw materials, there are many challenges to surmount in the coming year.

It is against this backdrop that the Leaders in Construction Summit 2011 brings together 150 executive level construction professionals at the Armani Hotel, Burj Khalifa to share strategies, insights and plan the year ahead.

Waleed Al Tamimi and Walid Alsmadi from the Adu Dhabi Ports Company at the 2010 Construction Week Awards.

The Armani Hotel is this year’s venue.

Conferences and Awards news

CONFERENCES

AWARDS

the construction and design industry. Nominations are open to contractors, developers, consultants, architects and specialists working in KSA.

MEP AwardsDate: 14 December 2011Place: DubaiThe MEP Awards 2011 is the premier platform for the mechanical, electrical and plumbing sector in the UAE to recognise its achievements, honour those individuals and companies who made these happen. The MEP Awards also mark the latest innovations and developments that have helped drive down costs in the industry, as well as contribute to the ongoing trend towards sustainability and ‘green’ building. This annual event acknowledges the critical role that the MEP sector plays in construction.

For up-to-the-minute conference and award information, log onto constructionweekonline.com

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COMMENT

When the news broke that the construction contract for the Kingdom Tower had been awarded to the Saudi Binladin

Group, there was an atmosphere of palpable excitement in the office, a sense of a historic moment. Therefore we were rather surprised when the first reader comments on the story were largely negative. Indeed, we were hard-pressed to find any positive reader reaction at all.

This set a general trend, and all the comments seemed to hone in on common issues: while readers generally acknowledged that this mammoth project would be a huge fillip for the construction industry and the economy in general, people seemed to be non-plussed at the socio-economic rationale behind the project.

There seems to be a general misunderstanding that Kingdom Tower is a standalone project, designed solely to be the tallest building in the world upon its completion (how long the construction process will take, and its timing in comparison to the World Cup in Qatar, which in itself will place considerable demands on the construction supply chain in the region, is also cause for much speculation.)

The initial press release issued by the Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) focused, of course, on the attention-grabbing fact that, a few years after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai was commissioned successfully, its claim to being the world’s tallest building was already being challenged. What has made the Burj Khalifa in Dubai such a tourist magnet is Downtown Dubai. This development was stopped in its tracks by the downturn, but Emaar is forging

ahead in the full knowledge that the more value it adds to this area in terms of infrastructure, the more successful the Burj Khalifa itself will be.

Similarly, Kingdom Tower is merely the first phase of a massive $20bn urban project known as Kingdom City. The project up property prices in Jeddah; inking the construction contract will no doubt lead to a further spike.

KHC states that Kingdom Tower will be both an “economic engine and a proud symbol of the Kingdom’s economic and cultural status in the world community.” The Saudi government has already committed considerable resources to a concerted infrastructure spending programme, especially in terms of social housing, roads, power and water. Citi Investment Research & Analysis reports that the Kingdom has a project pipeline valued at $220bn, accounting for 36% of the total construction spend in the MENA region. One only has to recount such recent mega projects as KAUST and Princess Noura University to comprehend the scale of this plan.

Clearly Kingdom City represents the next step. Some readers are concerned that Saudi is adopting what has been termed the ‘Dubai model’, in terms of building world-first landmarks and then hoping the tourists will flood in. Dubai has clearly shown that national identity, culture and religion can be balanced with a Western outlook. Saudi’s cautious approach to maintaining its own identity, and ensuring that the social compact with its people is strengthened by vigorous infrastructure spending and enlistment, bodes well for its future. It is going to be fascinating to watch this development unfold over the next few years.

The Kingdom beckonsPhase One of Kingdom City is the opening gambit in a long-term development

GERHARD HOPE

Kingdom Tower has raised a pointed debate about super-tall buildings.


Some readers are concerned that Saudi is adopting the ‘Dubai model’, in terms of building world-first landmarks and then hoping the tourists will flood in.

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COMMENT

Big projects need vision, strength and guts to do”. So said Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom

Holding Company, the day after signing a $1.2 billion deal with Saudi Binladin Group, to crack on with the construction of the long-proposed Kingdom Tower.

He’s right. While talk of the tower – to be located at the northern edges of Jeddah – has been around for a few years now, actually signing up a contractor to tackle something that’s never been done before, takes the project well beyond the world of concept design and rumour.

When the idea was first tabled, talk was of a ‘mile high’ tower. At 1609 metres that would be quite a feat, but the latest news is of a more restrained 1000 metre-plus effort.

The scale of the work involved will be significant. There are obvious comparisons to the challenges taken on by the team behind the Burj Khalifa and perhaps that project’s fabled tower crane operators will get a call up.

But while the project will eventually create the world’s tallest building, the Burj won’t lose its crown overnight. It will take time for the Kingdom Tower to reach its full height, but just how much?

Well, with some rough calculation, I figure about seven and a quarter years.

Now this is a guess, but it involved some arithmetic too.

Let’s start with what we know – or are guessing at. The companies behind the project are understandably coy about the final height the tower will achieve, but for the sake of argument, let’s say it makes it to 1001 metres.

Now the only thing we have to go on for building a tower even close to this size is the Burj Khalifa, which measures up at 828 metres. Officially construction of the Burj started in January of 2004 and, officially, finished with a grand opening ceremony in January 2010.

That’s six years, at 365 days a year – with a couple of extra days for leap years – we end up with 2192 days of official construction activity; or 2.64 days per metre of completed building.

If that’s how long it takes to complete a metre of super tall, it will take 2642 days, or 7.24 years for Kingdom Tower to reach 1001 metres and be completed – assuming the project manages the same pace as the Burj Khalifa.

If Saudi Binladin doesn’t stop building until it reaches the mile mark – 1609 metres – then it could take 4247 days, or 11.63 years.

Certainly engineering lessons learned on the Burj will contribute to the development of this scaled-up version in Jeddah. In principal the design is similar to other tall towers from the

same architect, but new techniques and technology will almost certainly speed progress. Budget estimates also indicate it may be cheaper too. While a 1000 metre tower has never been built before, the project team will have the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of giants.

According to a statement from Kingdom Holding, work is scheduled to start ‘imminently’, but regardless of the final height, it could well be years before the significant investment required starts to generate a return.

One of the main purposes of the project, according to Kingdom Holding, is to provide sustainable profits to the company's shareholders.

If the Burj Khalifa business model is to be used as an example for how this is likely to happen, the profits don’t necessarily come from the tower itself, but from the value its presence will create in the surrounding areas.

In Kingdom Tower’s case it is to be the centerpiece of Kingdom City, which will occupy 5.3 million m2 of land. Profits will come from the hotels, shopping malls, offices and high-density residential areas that will spring up around the tower. These profits, if they turn out to be real, will no doubt increase in value as the tower rises.

Stuart Matthews is senior group editor.

How long will Kingdom Tower take?The countdown is on for Kingdom Tower to turn a profit

STUART MATTHEWS


ONLINE

To submit a letter, write to [email protected] or by post: Construction Week, PO Box 500024, Dubai, UAE. Letters relate to stories posted on www.ConstructionWeekOnline.com, not just those in the print magazine. Please provide your full name and address. Letters may be edited for space and style. Submission constitutes permission to use. You can also log onto www.ConstructionWeekOnline.com to join the conversation.

Re: Chinese machinery sales up by 2,711% since 2002This amazing statistic is not surprising, and surely the Middle East has been the major contributing element. Despite the numerous projects, there is cutthroat competition. The trend lately has also been to focus on mega project-specific profitability. This means that capex for equipment is allocated to be recovered or written off against a given project. This equation could never be feasible unless you buy equipment at Chinese prices.AVINASH

There is ‘cutthroat’ competition in the heavy construction equipment sector.


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MOST POPULAR

LATEST FEATURES

Grand Mosque, France

IN PICTURES

Hundreds of muslims pray at the Grand Mosque in Strasbourg, Eastern France, on 1 August. The mosque, still under construction, will be inaugurated in November.

Campus cityThe Princess Noura University is a triumph of collaboration between hundreds of contractors and suppliers.

Catch the bigger fishBen Roberts talks to Hans Wenkenbach from El Seif Engineering Contracting about its growing portfolio.

Green QatarQatar is punting its QSAS rating system in its build-up to the 2022 World Cup to promote quality.

1 ‘Wavy’ building could be Abu Dhabi’s Burj Al Arab

2Pictures: The Vertical Strip concept hotel

3DSI Abu Dhabi wins $46.3m hospital MEP contract

4Taipei 101 becomes world’s tallest green building

5Kuwait Subiyah causeway is put back out to tender

FEEDBACK

Re: Oman claims almost 7000 workers absconded in 2011Why would any worker abandon his employer? It is simply because he was not treated properly, or he was not paid the salary that was promised to him. Such people should be treated with necessary sympathy and must be sent back to their coun-tries with dignity, not chased as though they are criminals.RAJU

Re: UAE says keen to bid for 2024 Olympic Games

This is called leadership! It is a perfect move to revive and strengthen the market. Let us wish that the UAE, the safest and most tolerant country in the region, wins the bid and makes the impossible possible. Good luck, UAE!ASIF KARUKAPPADATH

Re: Qatar opens its first eco-friendly mallWhat a fantastic idea, to feel good while you shop and energetic and relaxed when you leave. I agree: when do we move

to solar-powered chillers? This is a huge issue which appears not to be on anyone’s agenda in most tropical countries.DOROTY B. MEHTA

ANALYSIS

Crown of the Kingdom

ANALYSIS

BIG PLANSBoth the size of the tower

and the brand new ‘city’ district demonstrate high

ambition from Kingdom Holding and its chairman.

The giant financial outlay of the Kingdom Tower and its new city is perhaps the country’s most ambitious private development. By Ben Roberts


The announcement from Kingdom Holding of the next world’s highest tower came as a thunderbolt of business news

to a Gulf region about to enter the quieter summer period. As one of the few mega projects in Saudi Arabia not directed by the high-spending government, it could only have come from HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, chairman of the group and the Arab world’s most dynamic private investor. Money, indeed, never sleeps, and there is always a sense that the prince is only just beginning.

The surface financials say much about the scale of the project: SAR 4.6 billion to build the tower that will outreach Dubai’s Burj Khalifa by more than 200 metres, sitting within a new 530-hectare urban development to the north of Jeddah – Kingdom City – which will require a total of SAR 75 billion.

Funding Kingdom City is a new joint venture, Jeddah Economic Company, led by Kingdom Holding and Abrar International Holding Company, which will both hold a 33.35% stake, Saudi Binladen Group, which two weeks ago was awarded the main construction contract, will hold a 16.67% stake, as will Saudi businessman Abdulrahman Hassan Sharbatly. Samaual Bakhsh, director of the Traco group of companies in Egypt and a former director of Egyptian Gulf Bank, is also closely involved.

SAR 1.5 billion of equity capital from the partners will be invested, along with cash loans from banks, which will be repaid from the revenues that will be generated from the tower, according to Kingdom Holding. JEC’s capital also includes SAR 8.8 billion in land value and assets worth 7.3 billion.

The tower will contain a Four Seasons Hotel as well as serviced apartments from the hospitality chain, office space, ‘luxurious condominiums’ and what will be the world’s highest observatory deck. Perhaps the most surprising element to the tower and Kingdom City is its location, far north of the main city away from other hotels and offices. Essentially, Kingdom City will need to create an entire new centre of commerce to fill the tower and related buildings with residents.

The first two phases of construction are the building of the tower – over 50 hectares – and the construction of the infrastructure for the entire development. The third phase, according to Kingdom Holding, is yet to be finalised; one of many tantalising bits of mystery around the project.

The prince last week acknowledged that the project was a “big risk”, and the context of the commercial and hospitality sectors in the Jeddah region certainly supports this admittance. CB Richard Ellis, the property firm, wrote in a recent report that the city traditionally had a “sustainable” approach,

where office space mixed with retail outlets across the urban sprawl in the absence of a true commercial centre.

“The commercial sector is very practical and price-sensitive, often offices share buildings with shopping malls to be able to share certain facilities, such as car parks,” Mike Williams, senior director for Middle East research and consultancy at the firm, told CW last week. “It is split over about five areas as there is no centre for commerce in Jeddah.”

He explained that any new commercial development was largely moving north up to the Corniche and beyond the Creek and the Al Kira region. The planned space for the tower and Kingdom City is essentially a few steps ahead

ANALYSIS

For up-to-the-minute analysis log on to constructionweekonline.com

Founded: 1980Sector: Real estate, hospitality, bankingListing: Tadawul, Saudi ArabiaNet outstanding shares: SAR 3.706bnMarket cap.: SAR 31.5bn2010 net profit: SAR 605m2011 expected net profit: SAR 637m (TAIB Securities)Kingdom Holding will be counting on a continued influx of tourists into the Gulf region, particularly Saudi Arabia, given the dominance of hotels in its real estate portfolio. Half-year net profits rose by a fifth to SAR 254.1 million. This is a similar percentage rise as the first quarter 2011 against the same period last year, despite seeing a 45% fall in revenues from hotels and other operations in the first quarter. TAIB Securities estimates that the company’s operating profit for 2011 will be SAR 968 million, with the present value of its cash flows rising to SAR 351 million this year and SAR 587 million by the end of 2012.

Kingdom Holding: the profile


Kingdom Holding’s share price has been volatile this year.

Jan 2011

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11254.1 Kingdom Holding in net profit in H1 2011 (millions riyals)

50 Tower’s hectares of built-up area

8.8Billion riyals of JEC land value

Jul 2011Apr 2011

0

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ANALYSIS

of this progress. But the present remoteness of the site, and the difficulties witnessed in other regional city projects, leave a number of questions as to the project’s viability.

“I don’t know if there have been feasibility studies for the project, I would be interested to see what they are, as there are a number of city developments that have struggled to attract sufficient interest,” Williams added. “If you head further north of [what will be] Kingdom City there is King Abdullah Economic City, which has failed to generate a lot of demand.

“Also, the hotel sector in Jeddah is dominated by businessmen. The location of the tower wouldn’t suit this, as at the moment there is no business there; they would rather be in the city centre. The project requires the demand for commercial business that at the moment I don’t think is there.”

But he added that the success of the Kingdom Centre in Riyadh showed that the prince has faced this challenge before. In this instance, a ground-breaking tower project was launched in urban areas of the capital that were surrounded by few commercial developments; over the years it has been the presence of this iconic building that helped generate development around it, in the business district of Olaya.

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Other property commentators are more confident. John Harris, country head of Saudi Arabia at Jones Lang LaSalle, pointed out that the project is unique in the city as it will be one of the few spaces dedicated to commercial development.

“The location has its advantage as there are few big tracts of land being developed in Jeddah. Kingdom Tower and the City has gone considerably further north, and will be near the airport,” he said last week.

“The project might seem situated on the outside at the moment but Jeddah is growing up into that part of the world.”

“The hotel sector in Jeddah is dominated by businessmen. The location of the tower wouldn’t suit this” Mike Williams, CB Richard Ellis

June 2011$1 billion – Saudi Arabian Mining Company, also known as Ma’aden, and Alcoa landed a huge loan from the Public Investment Fund for the second phase of its aluminium plant project in Ras Al Zawr. The funds actually went to the joint ventures special vehicle for the project – Ma’aden Bauxite and Alumina Company – which will establish a bauxite mine and an alumina refinery.

March 2011$989.1m – Saudi Electricity Company, the state-backed power supplier, secured a big credit line from Japan’s Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Samitomo Mitsuo, and Deutsche Bank to purchase equipment and machinery for the expansion of a power station in the Jeddah region. SEC faces the huge task of supplying sufficient power to all parts of the Kingdom in the wake of growing demand from a swelling population.

September 2010$500m - Emaar Properties – Dubai’s biggest developer – was able to pay off loans that were soon to mature with a tranche of five-year convertible notes. The company listed the bonds on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange through a Cayman Islands-domiciled company called Pyrus Company. Investors quickly snapped up the issuance, and it was heavily oversubscribed.

March 2011$120m - Meydan Group, the Dubai developer behind the world’s biggest horse-racing complex, struck a deal for a syndicated loan from India’s IDBI bank for its Meydan Heights project. The state-controlled developer will use the capital to fund a 528-unit housing project for Emirates Airline staff, it said.

January 2011$70m – Drake & Scull International gained an injection from French bank BNP Paribas to finance the company’s recent acquisitions. The MEP firm made four major purchases, including a 65% stake in Drake & Scull International Saudi, another MEP contractor in Saudi, and the full acquisition of its MEP branches in Qatar and Kuwait.

Credit where it’s due: five big loans to GCC construction

HRH Prince Alwaleed entering the press conference to announce the contract two weeks ago.

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KINGDOM TOWER


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KINGDOM TOWER


KINGDOM TOWER: THE PROJECT

Tower will herald new era where ‘super tall’ is no

longer enough. By Stuart Matthews


KINGDOM TOWER: THE PROJECT

Kingdom Tower will be a hyper tall building, reaching an unspecified height of more than 1000 metres. According

to Kingdom Holding, the tower will be the centerpiece of a new property development known as Kingdom City. It will also be the first phase to begin construction.

If Kingdom Tower becomes the first building in the world to broach the 1000 metre mark, it will herald a new era of construction and set a challenging new benchmark for future towers to aim at.

“Kingdom Tower will be a landmark structure that will greatly increase the value of the hundreds of other properties around it in Kingdom City and indeed throughout North Jeddah,” said Talal Al Maiman, a board member of Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), which was set up in 2009 to develop Kingdom City.

Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG) has designed Kingdom Tower to be mixed-use and, years from completion, the tower already has a Four Seasons hotel and serviced apartments penciled in. Mention has also been made of the usual collections of office space, condominiums and, of course, the world’s highest observation deck.

There is a strong expectation that the building will become a tourist attraction, backed by the steady rise in pilgrimage traffic to the nearby holy city of Makkah. However, it will need to do more than that if it is to recover the construction cost of the tower, which is estimated at $1.2 billion.

The siteKingdom Tower will take up 500,000m2

of AS+GG’s design for 23 hectare Kingdom Tower Waterfront District, which is itself part of the wider $20 billion Kingdom City master plan, developed by HOK Architects. The city is on the drawing board as an urban development covering more than 5.3 million m2 in the north of Jeddah, overlooking the Red Sea and Obhur Creek.

As the areas around the tower will be a key part of the project’s economic viability, it’s not surprising that proposals include such things as a high-end shopping mall and additional development parcels to accommodate commercial and high-density residential and office uses. This is a

“Kingdom Tower will be a landmark structure that will greatly increase the value of the hundreds of other properties around it in Kingdom City and indeed throughout North Jeddah.” Talal Al Maiman

model which has proved successful for the development of the Burj Khalifa, where the surrounding mall, hotels and residential areas have generated considerable revenue.

The designWith design development under way since May 2009, the report that the schematic design is complete and detailed design has begun. Foundation drawings are also complete and the piling contract is currently out to tender.

“Our vision for Kingdom Tower is one that represents the spirit of Saudi Arabia. It also represents new growth and high-performance technology fused into one powerful iconic form,” said Adrian Smith, in a statement.

While release material describes the design as evoking ‘a bundle of leaves shooting up from the ground’, the final result may be more starkly technological.

The design has the look of a tapered icicle, familiar from the Burj Khalifa, and consistent with current thinking on how to achieve remarkable height. The tower will feature a three-petal footprint, with tapered wings intended to reduce structural loading, due to wind vortex shedding. As a nod to Makkah’s proximity, the southeast leg of Kingdom Tower’s tripedal base is on a direct line with the Ka’ba.

The result is a design described as cost-efficient and constructible, which will look to take advantage of innovative technology, building materials and energy conservation. An example given by the architects is the project’s exterior wall system, which is intended to minimize energy consumption by reducing thermal loads.

In addition, each of Kingdom Tower’s three sides features a series of notches that create pockets of shadow, which shield areas of the building from the sun and provide outdoor terraces.

Talal Al Maiman said: “Prince Alwaleed, Mr. Bakhsh, Mr. Sharbatly and I were impressed by the boldness and simplicity of the AS+GG design.

“Kingdom Tower’s height is remarkable, obviously, but the building’s iconic status will not depend solely on that aspect. Its form is brilliantly sculpted, making it quite simply the most beautiful building in the world of any height.”

Kingdom Tower and the city that will eventually

surround it, will be located in the north of Jeddah.

Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson

Space Center.

KINGDOM TOWER: VISION

The passion of a prince The driving force behind the decision to construct the world’s tallest building

in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, chairman of Kingdom Holding Company. Here the Prince shares his vision with Anil Bhoyrul

On his rise to the top“I always believe that someone who

studies, graduates and begins working in any area should have an objective. When I graduated in the US, I began with a small office that was 100m2. It was my charity office, my private

office and Kingdom office. I had only three employees. I knew I had to

begin somewhere. My objective was to grow. I began with $30,000 and I

went bankrupt after six months. Then I went back to my father and he gave

me $300,000 and I went bankrupt after two years. Then the third time I went to him, he said: ‘It is finished, Prince.’

So I mortgaged my house and then I took off.

On working for him“It is very easy to work for me if you know me well. With me, you

have to have high work ethics; you have to be professional; you have to be disciplined and structured and

know what you want to do. I accept mistakes, no problem; but I will not

accept the same mistakes again. One [person] should equal 30 people, that

is the name of the game.”


On leadership“A leader has to be smart. You have to know where you are heading, and be shrewd enough to hire someone as

smart as you. You have to know where you are heading, and what is

your objective.

On the timing of the tower“Why this project now? And in the period when much of the world is

still coming out of recession, people say ‘why now?’ Because we have

confidence in our Saudi economy and our market. I believe in the future

strength of the region, particularly in Saudi Arabia and its leadership.”

On the secret of his success“I got to learn from my mistakes and errors. When people ask me what the reason for my success is, I say three reasons: right genes, right place and right time. Take any out and it does not work. Right genes — there is

something in me. [The] right place is Saudi Arabia; if I was in a poor country, it would not work. And the right time — if I started in 1932, it could not work.”


KINGDOM TOWER: VISION

On the world’s tallest tower“These are the kind of projects I like to do – they are transformational and

have an impact. These big projects need vision, strength and guts to do.

It is about testing yourself, always pushing yourself to the limit, not sitting

back and accepting the status quo.”


KINGDOM TOWER: ADRIAN SMITH

It is perhaps unsurprising that Adrian Smith’s practice was chosen to design the cloud-piercing Kingdom Tower. The Chicago architect has amassed

a lofty high-rise portfolio from almost 40 years at Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM) and five years at AS+GG, including the world’s current tallest building.

In June, the architect received the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).

Antony Wood, CTBUH’s executive director, commented: “Adrian is one of a relatively small number of architects who has designed and built a significant number of not only tall, but supertall, buildings internationally. As such, his contribution to the development of the typology is beyond doubt.”

King of skyscrapersAdrian Smith, architect of Kingdom Tower, has penned a staggering number of the world’s tallest towersAs well as designing

some of the world’s loftiest structures, Smith has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from CTBUH.

As of mid-2011, Smith has designed four of the world’s eleven tallest completed buildings: Dubai’s Burj Khalifa (tallest), Nanjing’s Zifeng Tower at Nanjing Greenland Financial Center (7th tallest), Chicago’s Trump International Hotel & Tower (10th tallest) and Shanghai’s Jin Mao Tower (11th tallest). These towers were all designed during Smith’s stint at SOM.

Smith’s early career featured diverse projects. From 1971-1973 he was the resident project architect for the Wills Hartcliffe headquarters in Bristol, England. In 1989, he was selected to lead a team in exploring alternative visions for the Speicherstadt District in Hamburg, Germany. The following year he participated in a team of 40 international architects and planners in the Zentrum: Berlin Symposium, to discuss the challenges for the reunification of Berlin.

Smith was a design partner at SOM’s Chicago office from 1980 to 2003 and served as the firm’s CEO from 1993 to 1995. His design portfolio from this period also includes London’s 201 Bishopsgate/Broadgate Tower and the 310-metre Pearl River Tower, scheduled to open this autumn in Guangzhou, China. The net-zero energy tower harvests the natural forces of wind, sun and geothermal mass.

Smith’s long spell at SOM ended with the formation of AS+GG in 2006, co-founded with Gordon Gill and Robert Forest. The firm’s design portfolio includes the recently announced Wuhan Greenland Center, a 606-metre tower in China. The mixed-use tower, which will contain offices, condominiums and a hotel and, is expected to be completed in about five years and construction is due to start this summer.


KINGDOM TOWER: ADRIAN SMITH

Burj KhalifaCurrently the world’s tallest building at 828 metres, the 160-storey icon comprises residential, commercial and retail spaces.

Tower power: Adrian Smith’s high-rise portfolio“Adrian’s body of work includes some of the world’s tallest and most recognised buildings, yet his designs transcend mere height and have become landmarks because of their graceful design and inherent sensitivity to local context and culture.”Peter Irwin, CTBUH

Earlier supertall designs at AS+GG include the proposed yet unbuilt 1 Dubai, 1 Park Avenue and Meraas Tower, all commissioned by Meraas Development.

Projects under Smith’s direction have won over 90 major awards, including five international awards, eight National AIA awards, 22 Chicago AIA awards, and two ULI Awards for Excellence. Smith has also written two books: Pro Architect 24: Adrian D. Smith and The Architecture of Adrian Smith, SOM: Toward a Sustainable Future.

Most recently, Smith joined Gordon Gill, Robert Forest and Roger Frechette as founding principals of PositivEnergy Practice, an energy, engineering and consulting firm that designs and implements energy, resource management and carbon reduction strategies.

At the announcement of Smith’s lifetime achievement award, CTBUH trustee Peter Irwin, stated: “Adrian’s body of work includes some of the world’s tallest and most recognised buildings, yet his designs transcend mere height and have become landmarks because of their graceful design and inherent sensitivity to local context and culture.”

The people of Jeddah must be hoping that Kingdom Tower will be no exception.

Wuhan Greenland CenterReaching a height of 606 metres, this 119-storey mixed-use tower will feature 50 office floors, 17 residential floors and 22 hotel floors.

1 DubaiA three-tower structure proposed for Jumeirah Garden City in Dubai which contains luxury hotels, condominiums, offices, retail and cultural facilities.

Jin Mao TowerThis 88-storey, 279,000m2 complex in Shanghai includes offices, a hotel and retail facilities. It was completed in 1998.

Meeras TowerA proposed but unbuilt 112-storey mixed-use tower in Dubai, which uses a series of faceted surfaces to increase the passage of light and air through the building.


Supertall towers are not built on a whim, and while many dream to build immense towers, very few ever realise their ambitions. The

push to beat the Burj Khalifa’s height record will take more effort and expertise that went in to Dubai’s world topper, and it will tax the best minds in the construction industry as the project unfolds. That’s why the team behind the Kingdom Tower ranks as one

The major players behind the Kingdom Tower

Role callof the most experienced in the world, with some of the globe’s most notable skyscraper designers, engineers and construction experts on side for the project.

The Tower’s architect Adrian Smith is no stranger to tall building design. With a 40 year career covering some of the world’s most recognisable buildings, Smith is seen by most in the market as the go-to guy for supertall tower design.

After a 26-year stint at Skidmore Owings and Merrill, the company which pioneered supertall construction with the Sears/Willis tower in the early 1970s, Smith formed Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill Architecture with partners Gill and Robert Forrest in 2006. All three left the Chicago office of SOM, and have now beaten their former employers to two major projects: the Kingdom Tower and Masdar City’s HQ in Abu Dhabi.

Smith’s most notable achievement is, of course, the Burj Khalifa which he accomplished while employed at SOM as a Design Partner. He has also led teams behind the design of 34 other towers: 24 of them complete, six that remain unbuilt and four of which have been given the green light.

Adrian Smith designed the Burj Khalifa

(left), while Kingdom Holdings’ 302m tall

Riyadh HQ will be dwarfed by Jeddah’s new Kingdom Tower.

KINGDOM TOWER: MAJOR PLAYERS


The choice of structural engineering firm is also unsurprising given Thornton Tomasetti’s knack for landing contracts for some of the world’s tallest buildings. Thornton Tomasetti is a relatively small structural engineering consultancy that was established over 50 years ago and now has 550 people spread around the globe. Despite its size, the company has an impressive portfolio of work.

The most notable include Taipei 101 – currently the world’s second tallest habitable building – and the Petronas Towers, once the tallest towers in the world, and now the tallest twin towers on the planet.

The company also worked with AS+GG on the designs for the proposed Wuhan Greenland Centre, a 606m 119-storey tower designed for developers the Greenland Group, and destined for the Chinese city of Wuhan. Its links with Adrian Smith also stretch back to his SOM days when the company was employed to complete structural engineering work for the Times Square Tower and Random House Tower, both in New York.

Thornton Tomasetti’s other notable projects include the Kohn Pedersen and Fox Associates penned Ping International Finance Centre Tower – a 660m project in China’s Shenzen city. Construction began on site in 2010 and is scheduled for completion in 2015.

The company also has another supertall under construction. The 632m mixed-use Shanghai Tower, designed by Gensler, broke ground in 2009 and is scheduled for handover in 2014.

As largest construction firm in KSA, Saudi Binladin needs no introduction. The Jeddah-based company will build the tower and, thanks to the major construction of the Abraj Al Bait Towers (Makkah Royal Clock Towers Hotel) project in the heart of Makkah, will have gained valuable knowledge in supertall construction.

The clock tower is the tallest building in Saudi Arabia, and will, once completed later this year, be the second tallest in the world. It is somewhat fitting then that SBG has been appointed to build the tower that will beat it.

The company was founded in 1931 and now has a workforce of more than 35,000

working on projects throughout Saudi Arabia, and with subsidiaries in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and the UAE.

The company has hundreds of projects on its books, but the most significant include the recently opened Princess Noura University where the company was contracted to build low-rise faculty buildings, plus other work.

SBG also built 16 residential towers as part of the King Abdullah Economic City development, while is was also charged with the major expansion of the King Abdulaziz International Airport and the $1bn Al Jamarat expansion project in Makkah. The latter involved a massive five level above-ground bridge, underground services area, six service buildings, two heliports, six five-ton elevators, two bus stations and major site preparation works.

Saudi Binladin was also charged with constructing the 775km six-lane Al Qassim Expressway in 2005, and a 420km coastal highway between Shuqrah to Mukallah in the Yemen.

Kingdom Holding, the company behind the deal to build the Kingdom Tower, is no stranger to interesting tower design either. The congolmerate’s other tower, the Kingdom Centre in Riyadh, juts above the city skyline but, at 302m, will be dwarfed by the 1000m-plus Kingdom Tower in Jeddah. The Riyadh tower was designed by Ellerbe Beckett and Omrania & Associates, with structural engineering completed by Arup.

The 43-storey (41 above ground) mixed use tower was built by main contractors El-Seif Engineering over a three year period, and was completed in 2002.

Kingdom Holding itself was founded by HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal in Riyadh in 1980. By 2006, the company had amassed assets worth $25bn. The company has interests in companies as diverse as Walt Disney (less than 1%) and Apple (5%), to Citigroup banking and financial services, Time Warner, Newscorp, Kodak, Pepsico, Motorola and Hewlett Packard.

The company also operates a lucrative property arm, Songbird Estates, which runs the Canary Wharf estate and financial district in east London. KHC also owns London’s Savoy Hotel, and has significant interests in Fairmont Raffles Holdings International, Four Seasons Hotels Inc and Mövenpick Hotels and resorts.

Thornton Tomasetti worked on structural

engineering for the Petronas Towers

(main image), and with AS+GG on the under construction Wuhan

Greenland Centre (below) in China. Saudi Binladin was involved

in the King Abdullah Economic City (above).

KINGDOM TOWER: MAJOR PLAYERS


KINGDOM TOWER: COMPETITORS

Jeddah Economic Company selected the Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture scheme after a lengthy competition process. CW looks at the firms that missed out and the projects that have helped to make their names

Tough competition

Pickard ChiltonIn the Middle East, Pickard Chilton is most famous for the Kingdom Centre in Riyadh, commissioned by HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Abdulaziz Alsaud, the influential businessman who is behind the latest Kingdom City project in Jeddah. To represent Saudi Arabia’s role in the modern global economy, the prince envisioned a strong, monolithic and symmetrical structure, according to Pickard Chilton. The tower rises 300m, and is capped by a large opening with an observation deck that provides expansive, uninterrupted views of Riyadh. The building is clad in silver reflective glass, granite and brushed aluminum.

Kingdom Centre includes Saudi Arabia’s first Four Seasons Hotel, luxury residences, a convention centre, retail complex and Kingdom Holding Company’s corporate headquarters. To conform to Saudi customs, prayer rooms were integrated into the complex, and one entire floor of the retail mall is reserved for women only. Kingdom Centre was included in the Art Institute of Chicago’s prestigious international exhibition, ‘Skyscrapers for the New Millennium’. The project was completed in 2002.

Kohn Pedersen FoxKohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) has worked on the Abu Dhabi International Airport Midfield Complex. Conceived as a new gateway to the city, the airport expansion is integral to Plan Abu Dhabi 2030, a framework for the Emirate’s future development and projected population growth. Located between two parallel runways, the terminal, in concert with existing facilities, is designed to accommodate up to 20m passengers by 2015.

Its work in Qatar includes the 410m-high Kamal Development in Doha. It is draped in white cladding in homage to the region’s traditional thobe garment. An ellipse at its base, Kamal’s tower tapers as it rises toward the sky, a sculptural edifice at the water’s edge. A monumentally-scaled aperture in the upper portion of the mixed-use high-rise opens the building to the city and the sea.

In Kuwait City, the United Towers project transforms its site into a dynamic and important location. The project creates two buildings, a higher one for offices and a mid-rise one for residential. The high building has an orientation that maximises its presence on the skyline. The buildings are joined to a podium containing public spaces, retail and restaurants. The podium is accessed directly from a new parking structure. Between the new structures and the existing buildings on the site is an open public space, a lively and active focal point for the complex.


KINGDOM TOWER: COMPETITORS

Pelli Clarke PelliFounded in 1977, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects has earned a reputation for designing buildings that express the core values of its clients. It has designed many of the world’s most recognisable buildings, including the World Financial Centre in New York, the Petronas Towers in Malaysia and the International Finance Centre in Hong Kong.

In the Middle East, world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli has designed the Qatar Foundation’s Sidra Medical and Research Centre. This development is the first academic medical and research centre in the region based on the North American model. A modern structure of steel, glass and white ceramic tile, Sidra has been designed especially to be a benchmark facility. The dramatic design and landscaping include three spectacular atriums that serve as indoor healing gardens. The building also incorporates water features

Foster & PartnersFoster + Partners has a prestigious list of projects in the Middle East: Al Raha Beach Development, Aldar Central Market, Abu Dhabi, Masdar City, Masdar Institute, The Index, Zayed National Museum and station design for the Haramain High-Speed Rail project. The Index, a mixed-use tower in Dubai, was recently adjudged the best new high-rise building in MENA by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). The 80-storey tower combines 520 luxury apartments with 25 floors of office space. The different functions are separated by a spectacular double-height, glazed sky lobby, with views over the city to the coast. At the tower’s base, a landscaped podium creates pedestrian routes through the site.

Located on a prominent corner site within the Dubai International Finance Centre, the 326m-high tower, developed by Union Properties, is unusually offset against the urban grid, orientated east to

in the lobby and drop-off areas and a comprehensive art collection.

The towering atriums divide the sweeping facility into sections and accentuate the dedicated entrances of the three ‘hospitals

within a hospital’ – one for children, one for women and one for all adults. Connected by an enclosed walkway, a research centre is located in the clinic building to the west of the main building.

west to maximise views of the desert and coastline. This orientation also reduces solar gain, as the building’s core mass absorbs heat and reduces its reliance on mechanical ventilation. A system of sunshades shelters the interiors on the exposed south elevation.

The tower’s distinctive form and slender profile reveal the building’s structural system and internal organisation. The floors are supported by four A-frame concrete ‘fins’ that taper as they rise. This provides flexible, column-free office accommodation, which can be arranged to provide a HQ for a large corporation or subdivided to support multiple tenancies.

At the base of the scheme is a landscaped plinth, with sculpted pools of water and an underground car park, and the tower is entered through a dramatic four-storey foyer. The main lift cores, which serve the office floors, are located at the eastern and western edges of the tower. A small central lift core, serving 40 levels of apartments, rises to the sky lobby and shops, restaurants, pool and health club. A local lift core then transports residents to individual apartments. The tower is crowned with 12 duplex and triplex penthouse apartments with spectacular views over Dubai.

Oliver Ephgrave examines the structural and design challenges

involved in delivering a 1km-high tower


KINGDOM TOWER: CHALLENGES


Kingdom Tower may have been described as “highly constructible” by AS+GG partner Gordon Gill, but the

design and build of a 1km-tall tower is far from simple.

One of the main issues is wind load, which increases with height. Commenting on the solution of Kingdom Tower, Gill said: “The three-petal footprint is ideal for residential units, and the tapering wings produce an aerodynamic shape that helps reduce structural loading due to wind vortex shedding.”

Bart Leclercq, head of structures for WSP Middle East, believes that the design of Kingdom Tower provides a sound aerodynamic solution. “The shape of the building is quite stiff in itself – it’s the same footprint as Burj Khalifa. The taper reduces the wind load at the top. Because it changes shape every few floors, the wind loads go round the building and won’t be as extreme as on a really solid block. There will be local disturbances, so it’s a really good design from an aerodynamic perspective.”

Leclercq elaborates on the need for rigidity. “You have to make sure a tower is not too flexible and people aren’t getting nauseous in high winds. You have to put enough stiffening elements in your building. For example, sheer walls in combination with concrete cores in the case of a concrete building. It’s the same thing for a steel building – you have to provide really solid structural walls that take care of the wind load. The building may be strong enough, but if it is not stiff enough then people will get really nauseous.”

However, Leclercq is quick to point out that this should not be an issue on Kingdom Tower. “As long as a good structural engineer is involved, they will take care of that movement. That shouldn’t be a problem.”

Steve Kelshaw, managing director of Dubai-based DSA Architects International, believes that the tapering form is the best model for a tower of this height, despite the aesthetic limitations. “I don’t think you could do it any other way – if you built a square design up to that height, I don’t know how it would work.”

He continues: “That shape has got the wow factor. I never fail to marvel at the design of Burj Khalifa. It is truly a

“At this point in time we can build a tower that is 1km, maybe 2km. Any higher than that and we will have to do a lot of homework.”Dr Sang Dae Kim, chairman of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

magnificent building. If I was in Saudi Arabia and I saw the same structure, I’d still be amazed. I wouldn’t get tired of looking at it.”

Leclercq adds that the architect’s treatment of facade may provide the tower will a distinct identity. “Although it uses the same footprint as Burj Khalifa, the designers can be really playful with the facade. The facade of Burj Khalifa is quite astonishing and the Kingdom Tower might look completely different from Burj Khalifa.”

A big challenge for supertall buildings is vertical transportation, which includes elevators and fire escapes. Leclercq explains: “When you work on a building of that height you find that a large area of the floor plate has to be occupied by vertical transportation. This means that you have large areas that are unlettable.”


The design for the Kingdom Tower uses a similar footprint to that of the Burj Khalifa.



“When you work on a building of that height you find that a large area of the floor plate has to be occupied by vertical transportation. This means that you have large areas that are unlettable.”Bart Leclercq, head of structures for WSP Middle East

He refers to the unbuilt 1.4km-high Nakheel Tower in Dubai, for which WSP provided structural design. “The Nakheel Tower design had 47 lifts, just to get people up and down, so you can imagine the enormous amount of space that this required. The lettable area is reduced the higher you go, and that’s a problem,” adds Leclercq.

According to AS+GG, Kingdom Tower will contain one of the most sophisticated elevator systems in the world, with an estimated 59 elevators in total. This will include 54 single-deck and five double-deck elevators, in addition to 12

escalators. Elevators serving the observatory will travel at a rate of 10 metres

per second.A 1km-tall tower may

seem staggering, but is this the buildable limit? Most probably not, according to the chairman of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, Dr Sang Dae Kim. “With Kingdom Tower we now have a design that reaches around 1km in height. Later on, someone will push for 1 mile, and then 2km,” adds Kim.

Kim believes that, technically speaking, a 2km might be possible at the current time. He continues: “At this point in time we can build a tower that is 1km, maybe 2km. Any

Any super tall tower design must deal

with the issue of wind load, which increases

with height.


higher than that and we will have to do a lot of homework.”

Yet Kim states that it is highly impractical to build a 2km-high tower. He adds: “In terms of practicalities, we don’t need to built at 2km, but someone with a lot of money might still want to do it.”

He points out that building at such height will incur many structural challenges. “There might be constraints for the structural engineering – we don’t know many things. When you go up to one or two kilometres, we don’t have much information surrounding the conditions.” Kim also notes that there may be issues with floor lean due to the shortening of columns over time.

For WSP’s Leclercq, the technical limit at the current time is 1 mile. “I truly believe that 1 mile – 1.6 kilometres – is within range. Over that, it may be possible if there are improvements in concrete quality. But 2km is too big a figure – it’s just a step too far at the moment,” says Leclercq.


DSA’s Kelshaw is similarly cynical on the feasibility of a 2km tower. “I don’t know why people would want to build something 2km tall. From a developer’s perspective that can’t be feasible. Just to think about that is mind blowing and I can’t see it happening in my lifetime.”

Kelshaw also states that extremely tall towers may struggle to attract tenants. “Is the market there? Are there people that want to work and live at that height? That is an unknown market. Getting people to work and live in such a tower will be a challenge in itself,” he argues.

Yet Leclercq disagrees and asserts that there will be always be an appeal to build and occupy the tallest building in the world, no matter how high. “Is there such as thing as too high? I think mankind is always going to be challenged by finding the next frontier. I think there’s also a market - people will always want to be in the world’s tallest tower,” he concludes. The concept for the unbuilt Nakheel Tower reached 1.4km.

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KINGDOM TOWER: TECHNOLOGY

Higher and fasterThe Kingdom Tower may overtake the Burj Khalifa as the world’s tallest building but it will lean heavily on its technology to do so. By Stephen White

Architects AS+GG’s declaration that the design of the Kingdom Tower will be twice as high as the Taipai 101 in Taiwan raises

the bar yet again for both the design and the construction of super tall structures.

Add on the fact that it has to be finished within five years – the same time it took to put up the Burj Khalifa – it is safe to say building a tower beyond 1km is going to test

the very limits of what is possible for man and machine. Fortunately, according to the people tasked with working out how it will be built, the good news is the wheel does not need to be re-invented this time – although it may have to turn a lot faster.

As ever, building high means starting at the very bottom and the Kingdom Tower is set to be one of the deepest ever attempted. Buried in the flood of press releases and

news stories released last week was the announcement that the tender process for the foundation work was already underway.

Those that have been following the project closely say that the foundations were one of the major factors in determining the building’s final height. Some have speculated that plans for a mile-high version of the tower were abandoned after the soil of the Kingdom City location failed to take


KINGDOM TOWER: TECHNOLOGY

the massive pilings required after a series of tests earlier this year.

Instead it is likely that the 60m deep, 7,500m2 foundation will be based on the Burj Khalifa’s – a scaled-up high density, low permeability concrete mat designed to hold back the corrosive effects of salt water from the Red Sea. Indeed, it seems the more the plans for Kingdom Tower solidify, the more likely that Burj Khalifa will be used as a blueprint. In the years to come, Dubai’s landmark will serve as useful reference point, which did not exist seven years ago. With the tender out, companies are working on the technicalities of meeting the five-year schedule.

“We are already working on it,” confirms Jens Bawidamann of Putzmeister, the company that poured the foundation and pumped concrete to an elevation

of 606m for Burj Khalifa. Like many others, Putzmeister will be hoping that its experience on that project will hold it in good stead. Cameron Bellman of BASF (the company that developed its admixture, the appropriately titled Glenium SKY) for Burj Khalifa, explains that his company would not need major breakthroughs to cope with the heat and height.

“The DNA would be the same and the concrete technology exists to deliver the high strength needed. Certainly a Putzmeister or Schwing could cope with the pumping,” he says. “But much will depend upon the raw materials locally available to the ready-mix producer.”

If the plans demand going beyond the limitations of the ready-mix and pumps, he points out that the Burj Khalifa could again provide a solution: “I know Samsung considered using a platform at 400m for secondary pumping. But due to the mix rheology this was not required and the concrete was pumped the 606m through one line at the base of the tower.”

Ironically one of the major hurdles will be building the infrastructure required to support the project, says one of the contractors on the Burj Khalifa.

“The major problem we aced during the construction was the logistics. The higher you go, the more problems you face,” says Philippe Dessoy, general manager at Besix.

Even in an oil-rich state like Saudi Arabia the realities of constructing a sustainable building in a cash-strapped world also have to be taken into consideration.

“I don’t know (when work will be begin).It will be interesting to see, everything that is happening in the news at the moment could have an effect,” says Bawidamann alluding to the reports of financial distress in the global markets.

According to Andy Smith of Hyder Consulting, it is the prickly issue of ROI that is the limitation of building at such height: “The thing to do is build it in a series of sub-problems and it becomes possible. The question is how patient is a developer and how quickly can we turn a building around.

“The materials to build twice as high as the Burj Khalifa exist: they’re not even at the cutting edge. The secret is to choose pieces of the puzzle you can reliably deliver and put them together.”

Lessons learned from Burj Khalifa will be

vital in the construction of the Kingdom Tower. When built, the Kingdom Tower will stand

as the tallest tower on earth, but it’s just one of 25 proposed towers to exceed 1000m, and the only one of 35 projects designed to top the Burj Khalifa’s 828m to have been given the green light.

Of course, until it’s built, the Burj Khalifa’s record remains intact. That hasn’t, however, stopped architects and developers from producing concept drawings of mega-monolithic spires and gleaming shards of steel and glass to drum up publicity.

It’s cheating, of course, but it does get you bragging rights. Until a project breaks ground and construction starts, nothing has been achieved other than a nice set of drawings and a lot of internet forum comments. It’s a clever ploy, but it robs genuine projects of their rightful claims with little more effort than a few hours in front of a computer.

The most outrageous of the lot is the mammoth X-Seed 4000, a four kilometre high behemoth that surfaced in 1995 as a design concept by the Taisei Corporation for Tokyo, Japan.

According to experts, it was never designed to be built but it did prompt discussion – so it served its purpose.

Interestingly, 10 designers felt that the mile-high mark was achievable, while seven believed that the 2km mark (or higher) could be accomplished.

1 X-Seed 4000 - Tokyo- 4002m2 Ultima Tower - 3214m3 Dubai City Tower - Dubai - 2400m4 Hexahedron City - Scottsdale - 2101m5 Houston Tower - Houston - 2092m6 Try 2004 - Tokyo - 2005m7 Aeropolis 2001 - Tokyo - 2001m8 Houston Pinnacle - Houston - 1611m9 The Illinois - Chicago - 1609m10 Mile High Tower - Jeddah - 1609m11 New City Tower - London - 1501m12 Pyramid-In-Pyramid - Singapore - 1501m13 Mother - Tokyo - 1321m14 Bionic Tower - Hong Kong - 1128m15 Bionic Tower - Shanghai - 1128m16 Orbita Residence - Sao Paulo - 1112m17 Murjan Tower - Manama - 1022m18 Mubarak Al Kabir - Madinat Al Hareer - 1001m19 One Dubai Tower A - Dubai - 1000m20 Nakheel Tower - Dubai - 1000m21 The Spiral - Tokyo - 1000m22 Sky City 1000 - Tokyo - 1000m23 Super Pyramid - (JP) - 1000m24 Europa Tower - Brussels - 1000m25 Kingdom Tower - Jeddah - 1000m+

Head in the clouds


KINGDOM TOWER: REACTION

Re: Binladin lands deal to build world’s tallest towerOf course, yes, I would definitely be interested in climbing the tower. The only issue is time: I have been told it will be at least 10 years before it is finished, and by that time I will be in my late 50s. That doesn’t mean I can’t make it: I know within myself that I can definitely make it.ALAIN ROBERT

We can see the positive aspects of this investment. The construction will provide thousands of jobs, and the construction-related market will be developed, which will provide a definite economic boom. We should feel proud of this investment in our country.ABU ZAFAR SADRUL HAQ

Tourism, what tourism? I have been knocked back for a Saudi visa every time I have applied, and I cannot be the only one. I would love to see the Makkah Clock Tower and other architecturally significant places, but Saudi must open up its borders to more than business-men and Hajj pilgrims if it wants to begin to enjoy the fruits of tourism.AHMAD

For sure this might create job opportu-nities for many, but is this the only way? Whatever happened to the Palm islands and other projects in Dubai? Everyone knows the end result … pity the poor Indian labourers who will have to sweat out in the desert heat to build this tower for meagre pay!TINA KHAN

The building is just a front; it is really an attempt to speed up the economy, increase spending ... and encourage further debt downstream, which is where the money really is.JOHN REIGERT

All that flat sand and they go up? How many miles of canals and shoreside vil-las and restaurants could you build with the same money? Oh dear!JONATHAN

It is great to have the tallest building, but as we all know, the higher we go, the higher the cost. Instead of spending such money on one building, why not develop an area around Jeddah with a great number of buildings that could really expand the city and ease traffic congestion.MAJD TURKY

Sheer extravagance. Such lavish projects are not required near our holy lands! Instead the money could be used to save people dying in African countries from hunger and disease. MOHAMED

Re: How long will Kingdom Tower take to construct?Being the tallest, biggest and longest does not lend personality to the archi-tecture of a place. As architects, we have to convince the Middle East’s elites and ourselves that the optimistic con-cept of importing ideas of ‘progress’ will only kill the character of a place and its public realm. The future of architec-ture desperately lies in logical design,

Opinion: what people thinkReaders of ConstructionWeekOnline.com react to the Kingdom Tower contract announcements


KINGDOM TOWER: REACTION

controlled urban growth and in the acceptance of one’s own cultural roots. Let’s go back to these roots then.ROMI SEBASTIAN

Re: Kingdom Tower is next step in skyscraper designI wonder at which level the observatory decks will be located. At Burj Khalifa, they are almost midway. If the position-ing is similar at the Kingdom Tower, say at 800m, a director elevator travelling at 10m/s will take more than 80 seconds.SAMSON RAJAN BABU

Re: Besix: we expect Binladin to win Kingdom TowerI am sure Jeddah will become one of the best cities to visit in the GCC, but at the moment it is not, hence the reason why there is a lot of city regeneration going on. With regard to the Binladin Group, this company has a sufficient control over a particular sector, i.e. the construction market in Saudi Arabia. Other companies (whether local or international) should also be awarded big projects in Saudi Arabia to reduce the monopoly in the market and increase competition.ASIF

Re: Tallest tower ‘needs guts to do’, says AlwaleedI agree. Guts is when you take a risk. Monopoly is not a gutsy move. What Dubai did in the early 1990s was a clever and gutsy move. Building the Burj Khalifa when the market was full of product is gutsy. But building a tower in a deliberately starved market is not gutsy, it is a matter of having the money. ADRIAN

Without Sheikh Maktoum’s vision, the whole Gulf would be where they were in the 1980s. He started it and they copied it, which is a good thing. Like I said when they announced the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building will be in Saudi Arabia, because every record in the Gulf belongs to the Saudis by default. No one else is allowed to have that.AL SHEIKHPicture courtesy of Getty

“I don’t know how difficult it will be to climb because I have only seen

some pictures. If the height is

1000m, then that is achievable.”

French Spiderman Alain Robert, on the possibility of scaling the Kingdom Tower.

PROJECT UPDATE

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ON SITE CW provides a collection of its most recent site and plant visits to keep you up-to-date with project progress


Deerfields Town Square has been an active, complex construction site for the last two years, and aims for full delivery in a little over a year. The mixed-use project is a shopping mall in the Bahiya district outside the capital, an area under-serviced in terms of retail outlets. The rectangular mall will have a built-up area of 22ha, with a central causeway of shops and a podium in the centre flanked by two anchors at each end.

DEERFIELDS TOWN SQUARELocationAbu Dhabi

VisitedJune 2011

$191mTotal value

of Deerfields Town

Square

While Downtown Dubai is graced by the 828m-high Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, the other end of the city, Dubai Marina, is host to an equally impressive record: The Tallest Block in the World. Here a bunch of super-tall towers are clustered together in a single block, ranging from 250m to 500m in height. One of these is Princess Tower,

DUBAI MARINA LocationDubai

VisitedJuly 2011

The CMA Tower, at its final height of 385m, is arguably the stand-out structure of the near 50 skyscrapers rising from the site of the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh. It will be the centre of the KAFD's Financial Plaza, which incorporates the five tallest structures in the development, including the CMA Tower, over a spac of 50,000m2. It is a focal point and a landmark development.

CMA TOWER LocationRiyadh

VisitedJuly 2011

PROJECTS


Al Falah is a $2.5bn, 1,200ha housing development for UAE nationals near Abu Dhabi, with 4,857 villas and an expected population of 60,000. About 20% of the total number of villas are due to be delivered in the first quarter of 2012, with the remainder scheduled for handover at year end. Al Falah forms part of a larger plan by the Abu Dhabi government to build 13,000 new homes for locals in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the Western Region.

AL FALAHLocationAbu Dhabi

VisitedMay 2011

$2.5bnTotal value of Al Falah

project

The skyline of Qatar's capital, Doha, could ne transformed by the 2022 FIFA Football World Cup. CW looks at some of the major projects underway. The Barwa Financial District (BFD) in West Bay has a total site area of 71,600m2. It features an outer ring of six office towers ascending clockwise from 20 to 35 storeys, and an inner ring of towers, comprising three office towers and a hotel tower ascending counter-clockwise from 31 to 50 storeys.

DOHA CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICTLocationQatar

VisitedJune 2011

Conceived in 2008, Burj Rafal combines both hotel and apartments, and is one of the most anticipated tall towers in Saudi. Designed by Dubai-based P&T Architects & Engineers (which this year opened a Riyadh office), it is a 62-storey structure sitting atop a six-floor podium, on a 20,000m2 plot area in the Assahafa District along the King Fahad Highway. Dubai Saudi Arabian Contracting Company (DSACC) is the main contractor.

BURJ RAFALLocationRiyadh

VisitedJune 2011

PROJECTS


The $163m Park Towers mixed-use project at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is due for completion this year. Both of the 49-storey towers are fully glazed, and are reminiscent of London's iconic Gherkin tower, except there are two of them side by side. The twin towers comprise three basement levels, seven podium levels and 42 additional floors housing penthouses and one-, two- and three-bedroomed apartments.

PARK TOWERSLocationDIFC, Dubai

VisitedMay 2011

Where Lamar Tower and Jawrarah Tower, two upcoming structures, reflect the demand for hotels, the Galleria project aims to exploit the opportunities in the retail sector as a new shopping venue. The Galleria will eventually boast a classical façade and a contemporary core. Main contractor United Constructors ContractingCompany (UCCL) has been working on the project since November.

THE GALLERIALocationJeddah, Saudi Arabia

VisitedMay 2011

$550mTotal value of Galleria

project

A mixed-use project of a type becoming increasingly common in Saudian Arabian cities, Lamar Tower is two towers of residential units sitting atop a curved podium that will, for the first time in the region's history, contain a hotel, shopping mall, restautant, conference centre, ballroom, spa and other facilities.

LAMAR TOWERLocationJeddah Corniche

VisitedApril 2011

A $10bn development overseen by the publicly-listed United Development Company, Pearl Qatar is a statement of intent for the country's anticipated population growth, and the complementary demand for new living choices, hotels, shops, restaurants and office space. It is situated about 20km north of downtown Doha, jutting out about 8km into the sea, with 40km of reclaimed coastline and 20km of beaches.

PEARL QATARLocationQatar

VisitedMay 2011

PROJECTS


Located in the heart of Dubai Sports City, Champions Tower III is one of a series of residential developments by Memon Investments. At just 16 storeys and with no extravagant architectural features, it is not your typical Dubai high-rise. The overall development features four different buildings on four different locations, namely Champions Towers I, II and III and Frankfurt Sports Tower. The no-frills design has speeded up construction and reduced costs.

CHAMPIONS TOWER IIILocationDubai Sports City

VisitedFebruary 2011

16Number of

storeys in this Dubai Sports

City tower

The Regent Emirates Pearl Hotel is surrounded by other hotel developments in a dense, fenced-off hub of construction activity, off the roundabout at the end of Corniche Road. Main contractor ACC has been coordinating construction of the 47-storey hotel tower since last March. The client is Emirates Pearl for Development and Investment.

REGENT EMIRATES PEARL HOTELLocationAbu Dhabi Corniche

VisitedMarch 2011

UEMedical has split the project into two phases. Phase One, due for completion in 2013, will include construction of an 11-storey, 59m north tower and service block, covering 48,000m2 and providing 182 beds and general in-patient services, with a focus on maternity and delivery. The second phase will involve construction of an 11-storey, 59m south tower connected to the first by a bridge, providing mostly out-patient care and covering 222,000m2.

DANAT AL EMARATLocationAbu Dhabi


The Al Jawharah Tower represents the beginning of something big for the coastline of Jeddah. The Damac Properties project, started last year and currently at ground level, is the first that will be constructed in the wake of a relaxation of building rules that will allow structures as high as 350m along the Corniche.

AL JAWHARAH TOWERLocationJeddah Corniche

VisitedApril 2011

350mHeight

regulation for Corniche

buildings

Upon completion, Damac's first luxury serviced-apartment project will offer 39 residential floors , three mechanical floors, a lobby or ground floor, a leisure floor (at the top of the podiums), five floors of car parks and a basement. Thus, with as many as 49 floors above ground level and 351 apartments, the building will reach a height of 168.4m and have a total built-up area of 63,754m2. The main construction contract is valued at $54.5m.

BURJSIDE BOULEVARDLocationDubai Downtown


Asymmetrical and extremely slender for a building of its height, the Pentominium Tower is actually one of the most architecturalloy significant projects being built in Dubai at present. Designed by Aedas, it features six hanging gardens and several apartments down just one side of the structure at the high levels, and a 604m2 penthouse on every floor. The 516m-high tower will have a total built-up area of 163,720m2.

PENTOMINIUM TOWERLocationDubai Marina

VisitedMarch 2011

This is one of five school projects awarded to specialist contractor the Sammon Group by ADEC as part of its Future Schools Programme. These are located at Al Towaya, Al Jahly and Al Khazna in Al Ain, and at Al Khatem and Abu Dhabi West. The 20,290m2 project is on track for completion in August 2011.

ABU DHABI WEST SCHOOLLocationAbu Dhabi

VisitedMarch 2011

20,290square metre project

Upon completion, the Yasmeen Rotana will not only be tne second international five-star hotel in Damascus, but also the newest five-star hotel in the capital, and the flagship development for new Syrian developer Bena Proeprties, part of Cham Holding. There are three packages: enabling works, raft foundation and main construction work.

YASMEEN ROTANALocationDamascus, Syria

VisitedMarch 2011

PROJECTS


After 25 years in the formwork business, and the last 12 year as MD of Doka subsidiaries in the Middle East, Geir Jensen has retired. His last successfully completed assignment was establishing Doka Muscat LLC, and introducing the company into the Omani market. During his tenure with Doka, Jensen has been the backbone of the company’s growth in the region. Effective 16 July, another MENA veteran,

Harald A. Hartung (pictured), assumed the role of MD Doka Muscat LLC. Graduating as a civil engineer in 1979, Hartung brings with him multinational professional experience in the construction industry. He joined Doka in 2001 as GM of Doka Saudi Arabia. In 2005 he took over various tasks in the Doka headquarters in Amstetten, Austria, leading to stints in Iran, India and Libya. In 2006-07, he founded and managed several Doka company subsidiaries with offices in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Libya and Morocco. Woods Bagot Middle East has welcomed Karim Benkirane as Managing Principal of the Dubai studio. Benkirane has been working with Woods Bagot at a global level, most recently spending seven years in the London studio. He is an experienced project director with a proven track record in the successful delivery of major projects across both the UK and other regions.

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Every new graduate coming out of college should focus on career building. This is a process which involves great efforts and hard work, and it starts from seeking a job. In terms of your resume, start with your name and address in clear, bold format. Add your qualifications in a systematic manner. Fresh job seekers should highlight any special training received in college, even for extra-curricular activities.

Mention your experience in a separate paragraph or format. This should include any formal or informal training received after finishing col-lege. This can form the first part of experience for all fresh graduates. There are several websites that cater to the as-pirations of new job seekers. Some of these sites also assist in sprucing up your resume in a professional manner. Although there can be many sites offering jobs globally, it is better to visit and join those sites that provide local jobs for candidates in your area. Hence, all those wanting to find a job in Malaysia can visit some of the sites listed below.

It is better to visit and join all of them and post your resume there. Some employees have a procedure of eliminating candidates in the initial round by calling them in for a test. It is important to take such a test seriously in terms of your future prospects.


Role: Contract Administrator, QatarAgency: Adept Personnel

The client is a leading main contractor operating within Qatar. It currently has an urgent vacancy for an experienced contract administrator with highway experience to join an existing project in Doha. The initial position is a project-based role, which will last for about two years. However, it is a healthy order book and, based on your performance, this position could be extended past project completion. You will have a minimum of seven years’ experience within contract administration, degree-educated within either quantity surveying or civil engineering and fully conversant with FIDIC.

Role: Chief Resident Engineer, JordanAgency: Halcrow This is an exciting opportunity to work in the thriving Middle East engineering sector. We have clients from the public and pri-vate sectors. Halcrow employs over 1,000 people across the Middle East, working on projects ranging from highway drain-age schemes to multi-million dollar infrastructure projects, submersible pumping stations to complete waste water treatment plants and much more. We are currently undertaking the role of Owner’s Engineer on a pipeline project in Amman. The principal function of this position is the overall leadership, management and direction of all the owner’s engineer’s site supervision overview staff at site.

Role: MEP Manager, Saudi ArabiaAgency: ICDS Constructors The client is a leading Middle East main contractor. Due to continued success, it currently has a requirement for an expe-rienced MEP Manager for its Riyadh office. Candidates must have: ten to 15 years’ experi-ence in MEP management, ex-perience gained with well-know main contractors, high project value experience, a degree in mechanical engineering and ideally have some Middle East experience. This is a fantastic opportunity to join a progressive and fast-moving organization, with great opportunities for fu-ture career development. ICDS specialises in the recruitment of design, PM and site-man-agement personnel.

For directory information visit constructionweekonline.com/directorySPECIALIST SERVICES

TO ADVERTISE PLEASE CALL +971 4 444 3570 OR EMAIL [email protected]

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ENGINEERING GENIUS

Dubai International AirportModern Terminal 3 boasts world record for largest internal floor space

Phot

o: G

etty

imag

es


When it comes to setting records, airports are fairly good places to start. The sheer size of the aircraft required to haul people around the globe means that terminals need to be incredibly big if they’re to cater for millions of passengers every year – and none more so that Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 3.

Home to Emirates airline’s expanding fleet, Terminal 3 handles a bulk of the airport’s 40.9 million passengers annually (2009 figures) and, with its dedicated Airbus A380 Concourse 3, is able to handle 75 million travellers every year. Terminal 3 alone will have a maximum annual capacity of 43 million travellers.

Not surprisingly, the terminal boasts the largest interior floor space of any building in the world: its 1.456 million m2 easily beats nearest rival, the Aalsmeer Flower Auction (990,000m2) in Holland.

Terminal 3 was opened in 2008 after an extensive construction phase involving the Al Habtoor Leighton Group, Murray and Roberts and Japanese firm Takenaka. More than 136 million man hours were worked on the project at a cumulative lost time injury frequency rate of 0.17. At one stage the project accumulated a record 32 million man hours without a lost time accident.

STATISTICSBuilding: Dubai International Airport, Terminal 3City: Dubai, UAECompleted: 2008Client: Department of Civil Aviation, Government of DubaiMain contractors: Al Habtoor Leighton Group, Murray & Roberts and TakenakaFloor space: 1.456 million m2

Maintaining Standards,Exceeding Expectations

P.O. Box 120780, Dubai, UAETel : +971 4 351 8871Fax : +971 4 351 8873

www.kele.ae Kele Contracting LLC

Born of an Australian heritage spanning two decades, Kele

was established in the United Arab Emirates in 2005 as

a partnership between Australian firm Kele International

Holdings & the UAE-based ENSHAA. From this promising

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significant force in the Middle East construction industry.

Kele is proud to set standards in the construction industry in

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Social Responsibility.

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