|
Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises
Over Dhs420 million represents projects that Al Habtoor alone is working on in the capital, and the company is optimistic 2001 will continue to reap huge rewards. Since joining the company in 1984, Abu Dhabi Area Manager Abdullah Mowahid has not seen a year like it. This huge figure represents a success story hard to match in the UAE’s construction industry, and shows the growing respect Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises is gaining from a lengthening list of clients. These latest contracts secured highlight the wide range of projects the company is able to specialise in, and Al Habtoor now boasts a CV that any international construction company would be proud of. Following the efforts of the company’s estimators and the fine work carried out by the Abu Dhabi office, almost Dhs400 million worth of contracts were announced during the second half of the year.
“We used this system to construct 200 villas in Abu Dhabi earlier this year and we managed to complete the job in six months which received huge coverage in the media. It was quite an achievement,” said Abdullah. “This particular job is more labour intensive and will take a little longer. Ten months is a more realistic target for this project.” While the Khalifa B project is relatively straightforward in comparison to some of the tasks the ground-breaking company has tackled over the last few years, the project to build 50 villas on Dalma Island represents a tougher proposition. Despite the smaller number of villas, the remote location on an island 70 kms off Jebel Dhanna in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region makes it a tricky logistical challenge. Every single item to be used and constructed on the island will have to be shipped in by sea on a barge, that includes personnel, equipment and materials.
“The barge makes at least one trip and sometimes two trips every day,” explained Abdullah. “It takes almost three hours for it to reach the island. It is time consuming because there is a lot of loading and unloading that has to be done every day, but nevertheless it is an honour to have the privilege of being able to do the work.”
The third job currently under construction puts the icing on the cake to a very a successful year for the company. The project, for a private client close to the Polo Club at Ghantoot, Abu Dhabi, consists of a main villa, clubhouse, supplementary villas, support buildings and facilities in a coastal setting. With a covered area of almost 21,000 square metres, the palace compound will consume over 22,000 metres cubed of concrete and 3000 tonnes of reinforced steel. Mazen Abu Khait will manage the project which is expected to take 13 months to complete at a cost of Dhs185 million. “There are a lot of ongoing changes for this particular job. It is going to be a very spectacular place when completed. When we started we planned a site of seven hectares but now we are working with 75 hectares, including the surrounding, decorative compound and a boundary wall of more than 3km!” said Abdullah. The news of these jobs came at a time when the Abu Dhabi office of Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises was hard at work on a number of other projects in the capital.
The building is currently going up on the corner of Khalifa and Lulu Streets and will consist of a total of 45,000 square metres. There will be a three-level underground car park covering 10,000 square metres and the rest is in the super structure. While a large chunk of the building’s 33 storeys will be occupied by the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, several floors will be available for leasing. The increase in business interests in the capital is set to continue in the New Year as Al Habtoor extends its portfolio. Al Habtoor’s superb work standards have been used in Abu Dhabi in previous years. One major success is the futuristic Officer's Club in the capital, where an estimated 60,000 square metres of quality woods and marbles have been laid under the largest shell span of its type anywhere in the world. The company has a track record unrivalled in the United Arab Emirates. Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises, in a Joint Venture with South African company Murray & Roberts, played key roles in the construction of breathtaking feats of engineering magic in the form of the Burj Al Arab and the new Dubai Airport Concourse. Prior to these architectural marvels undertaken with Murray & Roberts, Al Habtoor were also the contractors responsible for erecting the prestigious Holiday Centre Complex on Dubai's Sheikh Zayed Highway which includes an office block, shopping mall, residential apartment block and a large luxury hotel. In 1995, the 29-storey Dubai Creek Tower was completed, a high-rise residential and office complex that is one of the tallest buildings in the Southern Gulf, and then the Tower Number 1 building on Sheikh Zayed Road and the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. The company has also been responsible for erecting a number of other buildings and villa complexes throughout the UAE, making it one of the most comprehensive and flexible construction companies in the country. l
|
||||||||||
The first year of the new millennium has been a landmark one for a Dubai-based company widely recognised as performing on the cutting edge of modern architecture.
Making up the biggest chunk of that figure is the construction of 200 villas in a complex in the Mafraq area of the city. Expected to take 10 months to complete at a cost of Dhs150million, the Khalifa B project will be the second time Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises has used the pre-engineered building system pioneered by Al Habtoor and Dome Contracting at Shawamaikh nearby.
