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  After the exceptional Burj Al Arab and the elegant Emirates Towers, Dubai now boasts yet another spectacular landmark, the Madinat Jumeirah Resort. Quite different in style from the above two buildings, this property gives visitors a true feel of old-time Arabia while combining the region’s traditional architectural features with modern state-of-the-art facilities. With its lively souk, picturesque canals and beautiful waterfront, the resort has quickly become a focal point of social life for the emirate’s residents as well as a major attraction for an ever-increasing number of foreign visitors.

  After the first concrete was pored on 30^th July, 2002, three days after the Dhs.535 million (US$150 million) contract was awarded to the Joint Venture between the Dubai based Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises and Murray & Roberts Contractors from South Africa, the second and biggest phase of this challenging project was completed in just 19 months. Al Shindagah talks to Peter Fell, the JV Project Manager of Madinat Jumeirah about this spectacular new development.

  Phase two of the development included the eight-storey Al Qasr Hotel, which is reminiscent of an opulent summer palace. Spreading onto a built area of 58,000 square metres, the five-star hotel boasts 296 rooms and suites, restaurants and lounges, business facilities and car park for over 200 cars.

  Part of phase two are also 29 villas with 284 rooms and suites, as well as The Royal Villa, which is essentially a beachside palace with elaborate designs and finishes. The HMR JV was also responsible for building the complex’s spa, which features 14 small stand-along buildings and 28 private treatment rooms and spreads to a built-up area of 4,400 square metres. The contract also included work on restaurants, swimming pools, landscaping and roads as well as a corporate office building for Jumeirah International, which is the hotel operator for the Madinat complex.

  A main feature of the whole development is a network of man-made water canals and lagoons with some 60,000 cubic metres of pumped water circulating in them at any given moment, which was also part of the scope of work of the Joint Venture. Almost four kilometres in length, and featuring 17 bridges, as well as a 24-metre long main bridge at the entrance, the canal system is one of the development’s most attractive features with hotel guests going around its parts via traditional abrah boats.

  Aiming to provide an authentic experience, the project reproduces traditional elements from old buildings in Dubai’s Bastakiya region. The buildings’ attention to detail is what contributes to their charm and it was precisely this feature that posed one of the main construction challenges for the developer.

  “The extremely elaborate detailing in the mosaics and the intricate panelling meant that a large number of labourers skilled in the region’s traditional construction methods needed to be sourced and hired. Traditional methods were employed on a huge scale with labourers placing over 135,000 cubic metres of concrete, 35,000 cubic metres of plaster, some three million masonry blocks and 100,000 square metres of ceramic finishes”, explained Peter Fell. 

  Safety and quality control was a major concern for the contractor with some 3,500 varies inspections and over 1,000 compaction tests being performed in the course of the project. The Quality control team also produced 10,000 concrete test-cubes and checked more than 20,000 delivery mixer trucks to verified quality of supplied concrete and plaster.

  “With only 19 months allocated for the project, the time factor was another major challenge for the contractor. The time constraints meant the contractor had to be as efficient as possible in managing both workers at the site and subcontractors. With about 4,000 workers on the site during peak times and with some 200 subcontractors, the project was a huge management exercise”, Fell said.

  “The site was so big that on the average, supervisory staff would walk a minimum of five kilometres a day,” continued Fell. “Work days were 11 hours long with the site being effectively in operation throughout the week. The project was an elaborate logistics exercise as the canal network meant the contactor had to overcome difficulties in accessing the artificial islands, which are part of the project. Moreover, construction was taking place during an upgrading of the road network surrounding the project.

  “Working smart was just as important as working hard and one way to make sure all work was streamlined and tight deadlines were kept, was to divide the whole job into two major sections comprising of the Al Qasr hotel and the villas with different teams, working on probably five or six fronts at one and the same time. The project required a team of 18 management staff and 27 engineers.”

  According to Fell, the cooperation between the HMR team and the consultant also played a huge role in the success of the project. “Everybody worked towards the same goal – to get the project finished on time,” he said.

  The team consisted of project managers Mirage Millé Leisure and Development Inc, South Africa-based DSA Architects International and interior designers KCA International Designers, well-known in Dubai for their work on the Burj Al Arab and Emirates Towers projects.

  As the design was produced in South Africa, the contractor had to liaise with DSA electronically to obtain 16,000 drawings and produce 260,000 copies needed for work on the project. 

  “In the initial stages we went through quite a stringent interviewing process with the consultants,” Fell said. “We had the key people approved before the contract was awarded and this also helped us all work better together.” According to Fell, one of the main reasons why his team has been awarded the contract was because it consisted of the right people. 

  The joint venture with Al Habtoor Engineering, one of the leaders in the local market, was another decisive factor. “The team over at Al Habtoor Engineering has an incredible understanding of the local market and of the way things are done here,” Fell said.” Our partners have a substantial labour force and this allowed us to recruit and employ additional labour as and when required.

  Unlike many other companies, who might form a joint venture only for the sake of a specific project, the partnership between Al Habtoor Engineering and Murray & Roberts dates back to 1994. The Joint Venture mechanism seems to be working excellent for the two partners who have accumulated an impressive client portfolio, including some of the most technologically-advanced and visually attractive building throughout the country. The Al Habtoor Engineering / Murray & Roberts Joint Venture boasts developments such as the Burj Al Arab hotel, the Sheikh Rashid Terminal at Dubai International Airport and the Shangri-La hotel, as well as Sharjah’s City Centre and Marina Mall in the capital Abu Dhabi.  

  “A lot of our success in the country is because we are and have always been in a joint venture agreement with Al Habtoor Engineering,” Fell said. “Throughout the years we have jointly developed systems and methods of work to make sure we deliver consistently good results,” he said, adding, “All our quality and safety procedures are the same, we know each other and we work exceptionally well together.”