For the construction specialist
A Matter of MEP Mick Cairns on the MEP market and how data and modelling can drive quality engineering ON TOPIC
Riyadh’s office, residential, hotel and retail markets
IN PRACTICE
Tatjana Dzambazova on the future of construction
ON SITE
Women in construction profile: Lama Harb
ISSUE 049
June 2018 Publication licensed by Dubai Production City A product of Big Project Middle East
CONTENTS
On topic INdUstry VIEWs frOm acrOss thE mIddLE East
07 aNaLysIs
06
07
10
13
16
18
24
28
36
40
JLL shines a light on how Riyadh’s office, residential, hotel and retail markets fared in Q1 2018 10 aNaLysIs
Core Savills’ David Godchaux discusses Abu Dhabi’s office, industrial and retail markets 12 NEWs
Sheikh Mohammed opens third phase of solar park; Currie & Brown recruits Sporle Consultancy for Middle East operations
In practice aNaLysIs, INsIghts aNd INtErVIEWs
18 INtErVIEW
Mick Cairns, CEO of Black & White Engineering, talks to Jason Saundalkar about the regional MEP market and how data and modelling can drive quality engineering solutions 24 INtErVIEW
Jason Saundalkar talks to Autodesk’s Tatjana Dzambazova about machine learning, data and the future of construction 28 casE stUdy
Middle East Consultant talks to Thomas & Adamson about the delivery of a monument dedicated to Sheikh Zayed
On site casE stUdIEs, OpINIONs aNd sNapshOts
36 prOfILE
Middle East Consultant talks to JT+Partners’ Lama Harb about her influences, career and gender diversity in the construction industry 40 thE back pagE
HKA’s Brian O’Connor on how private contractors can avoid VATrelated pitfalls within Saudi Arabia 2 JUNE 2018
Pace is a leading multidisciplinary consulting firm providing architecture, engineering and planning services to a wide range of clients. Our story goes back 50 years as one of the region’s leading consultancies operating internationally. Whether it’s the comfort for a new city, the detailed design of a rail network, managing the construction of a skyscraper or the improvement of a management process, we plan, design, manage and construct solutions.
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WELCOME
Group EDITOR’S NOTE
It’s Time To Embrace Change Ramadan Kareem Middle East Consultant readers! The Holy Month and the onset of summer take us firmly into H2 of 2018. The second half of the year is certainly going to be very busy for myself and Gavin Davids, Editor of Big Project ME, as we organise the 2018 editions of our magazines’ respective awards, our first Value Engineering Summit and the ME BIM Summit 2018. We’re also looking forward to our first Contractors vs Consultants Golf Day in December, while I’m working in earnest on the next phase of MEC’s Women in Construction initiative. It’s something that I’m convinced will have a positive effect on the industry. Along the same lines, another thing that the construction industry has been slow to embrace but which can have a massive and transformational effect is technology. The good news is that while it’s taken the industry some time to get to this point, the wheels are now turning and some truly impressive stuff is on the horizon. Even today, companies are using data and modelling to deliver quality engineering solutions that will greatly reduce running costs and, more importantly, reduce the impact on the environment. Beyond that, combining machine learning and immense amounts of data is now being used to identify quality and safety issues, while generative design is giving architects and designers the power to flex their creative muscles and make informed, data-driven decisions. The way projects are built could also change radically in the not too distant future, as robotics-driven additive printing and on-site construction have the potential to come together and do the dangerous jobs that construction workers now undertake, on a larger scale than is possible with today’s 3D printing solutions. While these technological solutions will make some job roles obsolete, they will also create entirely new ones. Remember, these solutions will have to be programmed, deployed, supervised and maintained, and that’s exactly where the new jobs will come from. The time to get on the bandwagon is now. Enjoy the issue.
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ON TOPIC
MOST POPULAR
ReADeRS’ COMMeNTS
FeATUReD
CONSTRUCTION
WOMeN IN CONSTRUCTION SeRIeS: The NeeD FOR bALANCe
UK government lacked ‘bravery’ as Carillion became a ‘time bomb’
CONSTRUCTION
Abu Dhabi government sign agreement to speed up construction licences
In Pictures: On-site at Marina Gate II
CONSTRUCTION
Vox to set up new IMAX screens in Saudi Arabia
CONSTRUCTION
Premier Estates launches The Terraces project at Meydan
CONSTRUCTION
KEO and InSite complete Dubai’s new Bluewaters Bridge
6 JUNE 2018
Feature: New schemes suggest Abu Dhabi market has bottomed out
I want to say thank you for doing your bit for ‘Women in Construction’ with these articles on the site. Greater diversity is an absolute necessity for the construction industry going forwards and one of the strengths of the industry in the region is its ability to draw on the experience and knowledge of people from many different kinds of backgrounds and experiences. In my opinion, there has been a lot of progress in terms of greater participation of female co-workers in the industry but there is still a lot more to done. In my experience, many of the roles women find are in administration or in the softer skills of construction such as design or architecture. That’s not just in the Middle East but across the globe, however slowly with time we will see more and more women on-site. Having said that, and reading some of the interviews you’ve published, it is heartwarming and reassuring to hear many of these professionals being treated as equals and with respect on projects. Name withheld by request
ON TOPIC
ANALYSIS
The Riyadh Report JLL shines a light on how Riyadh’s office, residential, hotel and retail markets fared in Q1 2018
A
rriyadh Development Authority (ADA) has announced plans to convert the old airport into a new Riyadh Central Park spreading over an area of two million sqm. The market expects strong demand from residents wanting to live near the new central park; this suggests new residential supply will be launched in nearby districts including Al Sulaimani-ah, Al Wuroud, Salahuddin and Al Wahah. The focus on providing more affordable housing continues, with the Ministry of Housing announcing it distributed 15,272 affordable residential products in Riyadh during Q1 2018. This total comprises completed units (787), off-plan residential units (7,235), developed residential land plots (25) and subsidised housing loans (7,225). Moreover, a new US-Saudi consortium was announced in March 2018 to build 25,000 housing units in northern Riyadh. This project will further increase the supply of affordable housing and promote higher home ownership in coming years.
Residential Supply
Almost 7,500 units were completed in Q1 2018, bringing total stock to 1.26m units. Notable completions in Q1 2018 included the Malaga Project by Gulf Real Estate (148 apartments and 18 villas), the Darraq DQ phase 4 by Our Hospitality (45 apartments and 41 villas), the Nuzul Fatin by Horses Architecture (33 apartments), the Jomanah Plaza (56 apartments) and the Khouzama villas by Al Bani (14 villas). These new completions are in northern Riyadh districts (Al Malaga, Diplomatic Quarter, Al Khouzama and As Sahafah). While some developers are expanding their upper quality offering, most remain focused on the affordable sector of the market. Future supply in 2018 and 2019 is expected to be 22,000 and 29,000 units respectively. Likely completions this year include DAMAC Tower by Paramount (252 apartments), Al Bayt 53 block 83 (235 apartments), DAMAC Esclusiva (189 apartments), Malathek l.a (160 apartments), Aali Ar Riyadh (85 apartments), Malathek l.a (85 apartments), Canary JUNE 2018 7
ON TOPIC
“According to data from the Ministry of Justice, the number of apartments sold in Riyadh increased 15% in Q1 2018, relative to last year. Despite this, sale prices continued to decline by 1.5% q-o-q and 3.2% y-o-y” Al Khozama (54 villas), M Residence (48 apartments) and Al Bani Sulaimaniah mixed-use project (24 apartments). A number of housing projects announced by the Ministry of Housing received good reservation rates, including Dawaween Aljazira (Southern Riyadh, 4,500 units), East Gate (Eastern Riyadh, 7,000 units) and Diyar Al Saad (Northern Riyadh, 577 units). These projects are expected to increase affordability in Riyadh once completed. Performance
According to data from the Ministry of Justice, the number of apartments sold in Riyadh increased 15% in Q1 2018, relative to last year. Despite this increased activity, sale prices continued to decline by 1.5% q-o-q and 3.2% y-o-y. The number of villas sold increased slightly by 3% in Q1 2018 compared to last year, as sale prices declined 2.2% q-o-q and 6% y-o-y. The rental market also softened further, with continued declines reported in all sectors. Apartment rents declined 0.9% q-o-q and 5.1% y-o-y, while villas rents decreased 1.7% q-o-q and 5.1% y-o-y. The introduction of VAT and the new expatriate dependent fees pushed
some expatriates to repatriate their families and relocate to smaller one-bedroom or studio units. The dependent fee, launched in July 2017 at $27 per dependent per month, is expected to increase to $53, $80 and $107 in July 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively. Saudi families may also seek smaller villas, as women’s ability to drive will reduce the need for family driver rooms over time. The introduction of the new Ejar unified contract facilitates the ability to collect rent and should strengthen demand from investors, as the residential sector becomes a more investable grade asset across the Kingdom. Office Space
The Municipality of Riyadh is expected to launch 1,100 smart parking spaces in the area between Olaya Street, King Fahad Road, Urouba Street and Khurais Road in the coming months. This initiative is aimed to increase parking provision in the central area, which currently has limited options. This should have a positive impact on demand for properties located along the major commercial roads covered by the initiative.
Riyadh office supply, million sqm of GLA (2015-2018) 4.00
Riyadh residential supply, million units (2015-2020) 1.34
1.32 3.90 1.30 3.80 1.28 3.70
1.26
1.24
3.60
1.22 3.50 1.20 3.40
1.118
2015
8 JUNE 2018
2016
2017
Q1 2018
2018
2015
2016
2017
Q1 2018
2018
2019
2020
ON TOPIC
Riyadh hotel supply, rooms (2015-2020)
Riyadh retail supply, million sqm of GLA (2015-2020)
18,000
2.80
17,000
2.60
16,000
2.40
15,000 2.20 14,000 2.00 13,000 1.80 12,000 1.60
11,000
1.40
10,000
2015
2016
2017
Q1 2018
2018
2019
2020
The northward expansion of the office market continues to accelerate. The Ministry of Health is expected to relocate from central to northern Riyadh by leasing two towers in the Ra’idah Digital City (RDC) in the Al Nakheel District, with an annual rent of more than $26.3m under discussion. Supply
There were no major completions in Q1 2018. Three small completions of the Maather Project (3,500 sqm), the Bani Sulaimaniah mixed-use project (2,000 sqm) and the Ammar Tower (4,000 sqm) brought total office space in Riyadh to 3.9m sqm. The Riyadh market is expected to exceed four million sqm of GLA by the end of this year. Likely notable completions this year include the Majdoul Tower (75,500sqm), Rajhi Tower (30,000sqm), Malathek 1 (20,000sqm) and Cayan Mefic Centre CMC (12,000sqm). This represents a significant level of new supply, with supply generally exceeding demand at present. The most significant new office project in Riyadh is the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD), which has the potential to totally transform the current office market. While the first stage of this project is physically complete, no decision on the release date has yet been made.
Source: JLL
Performance
Office rents in Riyadh have remained largely unchanged over the past year, with the average currently standing at $346, which marks no change to rent on either a y-o-y or q-o-q basis. JLL has improved its performance basket to include a number of new buildings and
2015
2016
2017
Q1 2018
2018
2019
2020
removed certain older and poorer quality buildings. As a result of this revision and the decision of the Ministry of Health to take two towers in the ROC project, vacancies declined to 9% in Q1 2018, a 6% improvement. While the market is likely to remain relatively stable in the short term, the delivery of the KAFD has the potential to result in an oversupply situation that could place downward pressure on rents. Retail and Hospitality
The retail sector experienced little effect from the introduction of VAT in Q1 2018. However, rents and occupancies both softened because of lower consumer purchasing power and the departure of some expatriates. The value of transactions in Riyadh increased by 5% YT Feb 2018 compared to the same period in 2017, indicating continued strength in this sector. ‘Shoppertainment’ continues to be a hot topic in the retail industry, with the opening of the first cinema in Riyadh (within the KAFD). The hotel sector is expanding its current stock of almost 12,300 keys (as of Q1 2018), with 1,900 keys scheduled to complete by the end of the year. The main indicators recorded a small improvement over the first two months of the year, with occupancies increasing by 6% and ADRs by 3%, compared to the same period in 2017.However, the hotel market could experience further downward pressure over the remainder of 2018. With the increased use of virtual meetings affecting the currently dominant corporate sector, growing the demand for leisure tourism is critical to the sector’s long-term success. JUNE 2018 9
ON TOPIC
ANALYSIS
Abu Dhabi Commercial Market H1 2018
Core Savills’ David Godchaux discusses the capital’s office, industrial and retail markets
T
he office market has adjusted to the redundancies and office consolidations seen over the last two years and has reached a new equilibrium by stabilising at lower rental rates. Due to the gradual recovery in oil prices, we are starting to see a marginal uptick of downstream oil & gas occupiers expanding or looking to upgrade existing units, while trading and construction sectors continue to be under pressure and are witnessing contraction in spatial requirements. International first phase expansions in the office sector continue to be limited. Most ongoing office leasing activity is led by occupiers, particularly those with a stronger performance track record despite the current downturn, upgrading to better premises by locking attractive mid-long-term contracts. Rent-free periods, multiple check payments and contributions to fit-out are becoming increasingly commonplace. Rents are forecast to remain under pressure across the board in 2018, while grade A assets are expected to be relatively resilient, due to limited 10 JUNE 2018
stock availability and sustained underlying demand. Elsewhere, we expect tenant migration to cause rising vacancy levels and further rental drops. This has led grade B buildings and older office districts to continue witnessing deflationary pressures. Landlords who have not adjusted to these evolving market conditions by either adjusting headline rents or upgrading building premises are facing a standoff and losing tenants. With government diversification measures starting to bear fruit, and subject to continued stability in oil prices, a potential economic recovery is expected to start in 2019. However, new spatial demand in the wake of this effect is predicted to be very gradual, as occupiers optimise existing office space and remain cautious towards expansion. Industrial Market
Abu Dhabi’s industrial sector witnessed a decline in rents over the period 2015-2017, largely attributed to the 2015/2016 fall in oil prices. Enquiries
ON TOPIC
“Rents are forecast to remain under pressure across the board in 2018, while grade A assets are expected to be relatively resilient, due to limited stock availability and sustained underlying demand” from oil & gas companies, unsurprisingly, decreased significantly. Rents across all key industrial areas registered a decline of over 10% over this time period, with areas such as KIZAD, Abu Dhabi Airport Free Zone and Mussafah seeing rental declines of more than 16%. The supply of high-quality warehouse space in Abu Dhabi continued to increase over 2015-2017. KIZAD, for example, offers strong infrastructure and continues to invest in increasing its terminal capacity, which is expected to grow from 2.5m containers to 6m over the next few years. Phase two of KIZAD Logistics Park, launched in 2016 and adding 105 units over 118,965sqm to the market, achieved full occupancy after phase one. The Eco Logistics Park, launched by Masdar City, has also added approximately 10,916sqm of GFA to the total supply of high quality industrial units and offers customised build to suit opportunities. A purpose-built facility by Honeywell already occupies half of the total plot. An occupier sweet spot has emerged for properties offering flexible space, preferably warehouses with an option to have serviced offices, enabling occupiers to test market conditions and expand as they scale. Retail Supply
Retail GLA in the capital is set to rise steadily over the next two years. Maryah Central, which is expected to add at least 785,000sqm to total supply, is nearing completion. Reem Mall, on the other hand, is likely to be delayed beyond the projected opening in 2020. Weak overall economic sentiment over the past two years, contractions in household incomes and limited discretionary spending
have affected the emirate’s retail sector. Deflationary pressures in the hospitality sector are also negatively affecting the retail market, given that tourist expenditure traditionally contributes a significant portion of Abu Dhabi’s overall retail spend. Although tourists from other growing markets such as India and China have partially offset the contraction, the strong dollar continues to affect traditional source markets such as the UK, mainland Europe and Russia and their expenditure levels. Despite overall weakness in the retail sector, prime and super regional malls appear to be more resilient than older regional and community malls. Many of those are finding it challenging to maintain occupancy levels as retailers increasingly prefer to position themselves in newer and larger retail spaces. These underperforming older malls are expected to face further downward pressure on occupancy levels, footfall and rents as new retail space is handed over in the next three years. To avoid obsolescence, mall operators and asset managers of these older, weaker performing malls may look at proactive marketing strategies, optimising tenant mix while creating higher engagement with shoppers, and in turn increasing footfall. To maintain occupancy levels and viability, mall operators may resort to easing tenancy terms in line with revenue generation (linking rents to tenant revenue). Re-strategising marketing initiatives with a higher focus on social media, branding and public outreach, taking into account the affordability and demographics of the catchment areas, is expected to have a positive impact on footfall.
Abu Dhabi industrial area lease rates, AED/sqm/annum (2015-2018)
2015
2016
2017
2018
800 700 600 500
Source: Core Savills Research
400 300 200 100 Abu Dhabi Airport Free Zone
Mussafah
ICAD
ICAD2
KIZAD
Al Markaz
Al Mufraq
JUNE 2018 11
ON TOPIC
Shk Mohammed opens third phase of solar park The 200MW first stage of the 800MW third phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park was inaugurated by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The second and third stages, which have a capacity of 300MW each, will be completed in 2019 and 2020 respectively. “This phase is a key milestone and shows our strong belief in the role of clean energy in shaping a sustainable future. In Abu Dhabi in June 2016, we witnessed the signing of the partnership agreement between Dubai Electric and Water Authority (DEWA) and a consortium led by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) to implement the 800MW third phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of DEWA. The total capacity of the photovoltaic and concentrated solar power IPP-based projects is now said to stand at 1,500MW. Following the commissioning of this milestone, solar power will comprise 4% of Dubai’s total installed capacity.
MARCH 2018 12 JUNE 2018
Currie & Brown recruits Sporle Consultancy for ME operations Currie & Brown (C&B) has integrated the team from Sporle Consultancy Services into its regional operations. The move is aimed at enhancing its bouquet of services. Sporle Consultancy Services’ team consists of Chari Generoso, Thomas Kurian, Feby Mathew, Ben Simbulan and owner Lee Sporle. The team specialises in forensic planning/delay analysis, expert planning work and project planning services, and will complement C&B’s Contract Advisory department. “We are delighted that Lee and his team have joined Currie & Brown. Their skills and experience bridge the gap between our contract advisory services and project management divisions,” said Simon Andrews, COO (Middle East) at Currie & Brown. C&B advises clients on the management of their physical assets – from procurement and construction to utilisation and disposal. “We look forward to incorporating our core skills into those of Currie & Brown’s project management and contract advisory services teams, in order to enhance the company’s service offering to clients in the region,” Sporle explained.
ON TOPIC
Mott MacDonald appoints Edward Forrester to mobility role
Al Ahli to build world’s largest entrepreneur hub Al Ahli Group plans to develop a one million sqft entrepreneur and media hub named Nomad. The project aims to enable and support the growth of local and international entrepreneurs. It will be located close to the Echo Plex and will focus on growing, incubating and funding talent. The development is to offer flexible office and working spaces and will boast state-of-the-art studios and makerspaces within the media, culinary arts, arts and design, and gaming and technology arenas. It will also have one of the largest 3D printing facilities in the world. The project’s infrastructure will be developed over two years, with the first phase launching at the end of 2018. The second phase will feature larger facilities and community development and is scheduled to launch at the end of 2019. “The sheer size, scope and proposition of Nomad will put the UAE on the map as a global game changer when it comes to the type of creative, disruptive and outstanding entrepreneurship that will guarantee a bright, thriving future for generations to come. Nomad will make it entirely feasible for both local people and those from outside the UAE with fantastic business ideas and talent to put down roots here and see their company grow, supported by a range of practical and financial support services and advanced on-site facilities,” said Mohammed Khammas, CEO of Al Ahli Holding Group. Al Ahli believes Nomad will contribute to the Vision 2021 directive to create a competitive knowledge economy in the UAE by the year 2021.
Edward Forrester has joined Mott MacDonald as a planner in the UAE. Forrester will be charged with developing the consultancy’s future mobility transport advisory services across the Middle East, focusing on its interaction with transport policy and economic and social impacts. Additionally, the firm said that Forrester will be responsible for a range of future transport projects involving autonomous vehicle trials, electric vehicle roadmaps, and policies around developing connected and autonomous vehicles, as well as advising the government on mobility as a service. “Edward’s civil engineering background and passion for technology and sustainability gives him the ideal balance for understanding and applying existing engineering principles to exciting and emerging transport technologies. His experience will add significant skills, knowledge and expertise to our existing team so that we’re perfectly placed to support our clients, develop our staff and deliver solutions that are fit for the future,” said Andy Stevenson, Mott MacDonald’s future mobility leader in the Middle East.
JUNE 2018 13
ON TOPIC
Bentley acquires Plaxis and SoilVision Bentley Systems has acquired Plaxis, a developer of geotechnical software, and soil engineering software provider SoilVision. The acquisitions enable the firm to become a complete source for geotechnical professionals looking for a digital solution. Through the acquisitions, Bentley said BIM advancements can be extended to the essential subsurface engineering of every infrastructure project. Bentley Systems’ CEO Greg Bentley said, “My colleagues and I welcome our new teams from Plaxis and SoilVision, which have in common a zeal for applying science for better engineering practice. Dr Ronald Brinkgreve from Plaxis and Dr Murray Fredlund, founder of SoilVision, exemplify this. I believe that every geotechnical engineer has benefited from Plaxis’ continuous advancement, in scope and quality, of tools for their discipline to add value. With a professional and dedicated management team led by Jan-Willem Koutstaal, Plaxis has become one of the most successful software businesses I have ever seen.” The firm said the new opportunity, through digital workflows, is for geotechnical applications to be integrated with Bentley’s structural applications for in-depth geostructural engineering performance.
14 JUNE 2018
SAA signs $27.2m worth of project agreements Sharjah Airport Authority (SAA) has signed three agreements in line with its ongoing expansion project. The agreements, worth $27.2m, include the delegation of consultancy services to specialist airport architecture and engineering firm ADP Ingénierie. ADP Ingénierie is responsible for the design and construction supervision of the airport expansion project, while CORE Engineering Consultancy has been appointed to oversee and manage the demolition of existing structures. The design-build of a new sewage treatment plant was awarded to Metito Overseas Limited. “Sharjah International Airport has earned its excellent reputation due to its high operational efficiency, resulting from an effective management team who apply the highest international standards daily. This pursuit of excellence led SIA to select the best specialised consultancy companies to manage these projects, which contribute to accelerating the achievement of the comprehensive expansion that was previously adopted, with a view to keep pace with the growth in air traffic and number of passengers recorded annually by the airport,” explained SAA chairman Ali Salim Al Midfa. The $408m airport expansion project comprises several phases, including the construction of a new building and terminal for arrivals, aircraft hardstands and connectivity to the current building, developing roads leading to the airport, building a new terminal for departures and separating it from the arrivals terminal.
ON TOPIC
OPINION
01 Tim Martin is head of aviation at Perkins+Will.
Aerotropolis: Designs to Transform the Passenger Experience Perkins+Will’s Tim Martin explains that it’s crucial to design closer to passenger emotions
01
M
ajor airports have become engines powering local economic development, attracting aviation-linked businesses of all types. The rapid expansion of airport-linked commercial facilities is making them drivers of metropolitan development, where travellers and locals can relax, meet and conduct business. This evolution is transforming many airports into airport cities, also known as the Aerotropolis. It’s then crucial to maximise a destination’s economic opportunity by focusing on the end user experience – in the case of aviation, 16 JUNE 2018
it is the passenger. Influencing purchasing decisions involves a multitude of factors but the driver is understanding your audience. Airports are a stressful place; often people are charged with emotions when departing or arriving and they are a place that affects many people. It’s important to understand a passenger’s stress points, their way of finding preference, physical movement and emotional connections with space. Effective emotional design speaks to two main elements: first impressions and perceived value. The identity and feeling of an airport can install initial trust in a passenger or indeed lose that trust and create anxiety. If there is an aspect of design that evokes negative emotions, that memory will stay with them forever; conversely, positive signals and calming designed spaces have a positive effect. Once passengers are past a favourable first impression, they look for that next pulse point – what they need to do next and why. Clear navigation and intuitively designed elements prepare them for the next process in their journey, guiding them to their destination. Since the average human attention span is short, you also need to address: ”What’s the value of the space? Is the space worth spending time in? Is the product or service worth paying for?” Making the answers easily attainable facilitates positive feelings. It’s important to remember that not every airport has the
same function – there are scales to consider. Airports can be big Aerotropolis cities or parttime airfields in remote areas. Whatever the size and function, airports need to consider their passengers more effectively, the context of their location and the service they provide. The structure should be a destination space, the business card of a country or region. It should be designed not to be a large warehouse space with just stuff in it but to be a place that welcomes and excites, that promotes a sense of pride in a place – a venue passengers are excited to go to and be in. It should be timeless, adaptable, flexible and it should be about and for the passenger. A few key focus areas can make a huge difference. Let’s take retail as an obvious one. With traffic in 2018 forecast to grow 2.4% to 90.3m in Dubai International Airport alone, there is a huge opportunity to increase consumer spending. For retail to truly evolve, it needs to be more inclusive of non-passengers. We should look to create a destination where passengers can not only spend more time with their loved ones, but the space can be used outside of travel purposes. This, to me, seems a very obvious and natural step and I look forward to finding out who the pioneer will be. While stress points in airports are an element of contention, there are many ways to alleviate this factor. A research document published by Rutgers Business School in 2016
ON TOPIC
shows that consumers in a state of stress are far less willing to spend than consumers in a positive state of mind, specifically feeling in control of their environment. As designers, it is our job to create that positive feeling and reduce stress in order to encourage passenger spending, amount of dwell time in an airport and likelihood of a return visit. Stress can be affected by anything from long queues to colours or travel distance. For example, passengers do not like to walk further than 250m at any one time, so what can we do about this? We can break up long distances by installing travellators or adding an experience. Stress is affected by almost every touch point a passenger experiences, including ease of wayfinding, security transparency and the development of a sense of location. Since all passengers are different, it is also important to ensure the airport space remains flexible,
physically and technically; space should also be experiential. Bringing the calm of nature indoors is a key objective in a terminal. Research shows that the ability to focus and relax goes up when people see and experience nature. For example, a space that mimics an outdoor nature experience would have a much higher success and occupancy rate, should it be free to passengers to make use of and spend time in. An airport is basically a large passenger processor. There are of course compulsory processes that need to be followed for international security and safety, and there are many think tanks on how to break down these processes to make it easier for the passenger. However, there is still a large element of the unknown for passengers. We want to make them feel included in the process, and part of it, rather than giving them additional stress about which process is next, and why.
Operators and owners need to make money but they also need to keep up with the pace of the passengers and their needs and wants. 2018 is forecast to see over 4.3bn boarded passengers globally, which is a big market opportunity. Here, airports and airlines will be fundamental in driving these 4.3bn destination and travel decisions. Now is the time to invest in the future of aviation. Designed airport spaces that retain the passenger will result in ROI and countries are realising the importance of their infrastructure, and the need to invest. The industry is a collection of big employers and their success affects not just those who work and pass through the space – it affects the community. The bottom line is that Aerotropolis development and smart urban growth that is economically efficient and environment, resident, visitor and worker friendly can and should go hand-in-hand.
“We should look to create a destination where passengers can not only spend more time with their loved ones, but the space can be used outside of travel purposes� JUNE 2018 17
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18 JUNE 2018
IN PRACTICE
INTERVIEW
A Matter of MEP
Mick Cairns, CEO of Black & White Engineering, on the regional MEP market and how data and modelling can drive quality engineering solutions onstruction projects comprise hundreds of elements, and while each is important in its own way, MEP engineering is perhaps one of the most vital aspects. This has always been the case, but its importance has grown even more in recent years, as project owners, consultants and contractors look to design and build projects that are more energy-efficient, in line with sustainability objectives. Of course, sustainability extends far beyond MEP engineering, but it is still seen as the first port of call for many in the industry. MEP is the element that brings projects to life, regardless of whether it’s a standalone structure or infrastructure. In either case, MEP engineering can have a massive impact, particularly on the cost of construction, operating performance and long-term running costs. It’s an element that Dubai-based Black & White Engineering (B&W) specialises in, with a broad portfolio of complex projects in the aviation, commercial, healthcare, high-rise and data centre sectors. The independent firm was founded in Dubai over 10-years ago and has delivered multiple projects within the region and around the world. In fact, a healthy chunk of the firm’s business comes from repeat customers. “Most years, 95% of our workload is repeat business. In many instances when we have a new client, there’s a person in that business that we’ve worked with before – there’s a relationship that’s existed before. Our clients are developers, end users and architects,” says CEO Mick Cairns. Cairns has a vast amount of international experience and has been CEO of the consultancy since it was rebranded from Red Engineering Middle East (Red) in August 2014. He previously served as MD of Red, since it was founded in Dubai in 2007. Looking back over the company’s history, Cairns is proud of the projects his firm has delivered and is particularly happy about its healthy staff retention. “Last summer we had our 10-year celebration and what was particularly satisfying for me was that of the 10 staff who joined us when we opened, nine still work with us – only one relocated back to the UK. We provide staff with a gift to acknowledge long service (in our case
10-years) and we’re starting to dish them out on a more regular basis, which is great,” he says with a smile. One reason for the firm’s solid staff track record is the quality of projects and the complexity of work, Cairns remarks. “Staff rarely leave us, and I guess it’s because we’re picking up good work. Engineers like to work on interesting and challenging projects, no matter what the company is. We look after our staff, they are well incentivised and well rewarded, and the opportunities are unlimited.” Looking Beyond Certifications
Discussing projects and current client requirements, Cairns notes that sustainability is high on the agenda. However, he’s also quick to point out that ratings and certifications don’t always mean a project is sustainable. “Most clients have recognised they have a responsibility towards the environment and are calling for building design to be more sustainable. The issue is with the definition of sustainable – is a building actually sustainable because it achieved a LEED Gold rating? A lot of sustainable points are achieved by doing simple things which don’t really have a direct impact on energy consumption or on good engineering or the ability to run a building efficiently. Black and White has reviewed LEED Gold projects and has been able to value engineer the cooling system and ultimately reduce the central plant by 25%. I consider this is one of the drawbacks of the sustainability approach adopted by many,” he explains. He feels projects could be made more sustainable if certain benchmarks were introduced by authorities. “I believe this could be improved if target ‘utility caps’ were imposed on all buildings – this is a more tangible benchmark. We have that with some of our clients who have the maximum amount of power/gas/cooling per sqm.” In line with this thinking, Black & White Engineering has been having discussions with authorities. “We had some discussions and debates before the last regulations were published, which is good. We always try and suggest that there should be more than just the calculations that are required – there should be something which sets utility caps on buildings and performance requirements.” With regard to MEP engineering in the GCC countries, Cairns warns that there are real issues to be addressed. JUNE 2018 19
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01 The firm worked on the refurbishment and expansion of Festival Square within Dubai Festival City mall. 02 B&W worked on the expansion of two live data centres, one on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi and one in Dubai.
01
“We speak to hotel operators frequently, and very recently one client was asked to sign up for significant district cooling capacity, yet he had a similar property that was consuming less than half of the capacity being recommended. B&W was asked to report and recommend a final building load. When we drilled into the original numbers, it’s not that there were any significant errors in the calculations, it was simply the way they had been applied holistically to the project. Room by room the numbers are not far off, but holistically, it’s the approach to the overall system design,” he says. One reason projects aren’t being engineered as well as they should be is a trend of buying engineering services where lower service fees take precedence over quality and long-term cost.
Cairns explains, “The current trend of buying engineering inexpensively is impacting on the quality of the engineering product. We undertake a lot of peer review work for clients, and it’s rare that we don’t find a job where we can pull another 20-25% out of the central plant load – many designs are so safe and conservative. If you reviewed the cooling loads for a mixed-use high-rise building or a major hotel building, you could find that the terminal unit in each space is correctly sized, the zone unit is correctly sized, and when you add them all together, the central plant is then often the sum of all units multiplied by an arbitrary diversity. It’s rarely, if ever, based on detailed analysis on how the building will operate as a whole.” He adds, “If you run several simulations for when occupants are actually in each room, when the lights are on, when equipment is being used, etc (most calculation software 02 will simulate the solar load and the conductive loads and what have you), it is possible to reduce the total peak coincident cooling load by 20-25%.” Driven by Data
Project modelling and a data-driven approach to MEP engineering is critical, but Cairns notes that clients don’t necessarily realise the benefits of investing in quality MEP design. “Data is absolutely massive. If you run the calculations for a building, say you take a typical residential structure, you might end up with something crazy like 130-150 watts per sqm. If you do the analysis properly for each space, you’ll still get 120 watts per sqm. However, if you simulate the entire building with profiling, whether people are in the lounge or bedroom for example, and run two, three or even four different simulations, extract the information, apply factors and loadings and weightings, that can give you a real building utilisation and profile. The results could show the load is only 80 watts per sqm.” 20 JUNE 2018
IN PRACTICE
“A lot of the sustainable points are achieved by doing simple things which don’t really have a direct impact on energy consumption or on good engineering or the ability to run a building efficiently” “That’s what takes time – we can design the job in say 100% of the hours, but to engineer the job will take 130%. That’s often what clients don’t understand; they don’t realise that the extra investment in MEP engineering can save 5, 10, 12% of the MEP cost,” he comments. Discussing his firm’s approach to MEP engineering, Cairns says Black & White is practical and uses the significant experience its staff has accumulated from working on and delivering complex projects within the region and globally. “We strive to get things right the first time – that’s the culture in the business. The team are always challenged to develop ideas and suggest how we can improve knowledge management and improve exemplar work sharing. We have a technical committee which is chaired by Jamie Darragh, and those guys will disappear for a couple of days every three months and the business will feed into that. They’ll say, ‘I need this technically from the company,’ and then decide who will go away and create it.”
Cairns points out, “They can work on a variety of projects, everything from the most energy-efficient cooling solution for a data centre in a tropical climate or even the most effective electrical distribution strategy for a 100-storey mixed-use building. It could be anything. They will convene and identify resources required and the time necessary to complete the task and assign a task leader, and this will be submitted to the board for approval. We have a technical college of 25-30 people and they come on and off the committee.” “We adopt a practical approach to engineering, and if you evaluate the green building regulations, they say you need to design for 24 degrees Celsius room condition, which is perfectly adequate. A simple example is where we have worked with many developers or operators who will say, ‘We really want 20ºC or 22ºC in this room, because we’ve got a lot of clients with those requirements.’ We would then demonstrate that due to occupancy profiles and overall building use, there is adequate 03
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IN PRACTICE 03 The Caspian Waterfront is a 120,000sqm retail & leisure project that takes inspiration from the
capacity for the local cooling unit to control a room to those specific requirements.” He continues, “We advise to design at 24ºC on the plant at these profiles, the reality is it’ll be partially occupied and anyone can then wind down the thermostat to achieve a lower desired room condition. It’s not always necessary to increase distribution or plant capacity – that’s the understanding of buildings that we bring to assist clients in making decisions, to avoid wasting money.” At the same time, Cairns points out that real building occupancy is rarely considered in the region, which then affects the total plant load needed on projects and therefore the build and 04 running costs. “In the Middle East environment during peak summer period, most buildings are partially occupied. But if you look at calculations for any building, they will be based on full occupancy on the hottest day of the year. People don’t factor in that this is not the true occupancy. Hotels drop to 50% occupancy, schools are closed and, with residential, families return home and offices have 20% staff on holiday, so it can be as low as 25% occupancy. We try and factor that in and discuss that with clients.” Besides data and modelling, another trump card is the B&W Global Design Hub, says Cairns. “We’re at 50 people in the Middle East, and we have a Global Design Hub in the Philippines which supports all of our offices. We don’t do projects in the Philippines, so it’s actually an extension of each office. We get to pool all the knowledge there, so if Newcastle, London or Dubai is designing MEP for a new hotel for example, the Manila team will know within a day or so what the primary loads should be. If an engineer has done some basic early analysis and hasn’t consulted the rest of the knowledge experts in the business the way they should, Manila will pick it up in a heartbeat. We immediately get those checks and balances in place.” The hub also allows the firm to avoid scaling issues with staff in relation to project loads. “Rather than three project directors in Dubai needing 20 designers and CAD guys for three weeks, they’ll utilise the Global Design Hub. We don’t have to hire and fire around the globe; 22 JUNE 2018
Azerbaijan state emblem and Sydney Opera House. 04 Mick Cairns is CEO of Black & White Engineering. Prior to taking the reins of B&W, he was MD of Red.
it helps to take the peaks and troughs out of our business and it is also a knowledge centre for the entire company. Moreover, it encourages our engineers to become project leaders. We push our younger guys to what we call the front offices, which face clients, so they have to step up and take ownership, learn to manage and communicate and make decisions that are correct, because they are experienced and knowledgeable.” Future Plans
Following its recent 2018 leadership conference, B&W has committed to expanding its business in terms of staff and territories. Cairns comments, “We’ve all just signed up to the next generation of our strategic growth plan, which is to take the business to 500 staff. To do that, we intend to open nine more offices; four of them will be in the United States, one or two more in the UK, and three or four in Australia. That’s the focus.” At the same time, Cairns says the plans aren’t set in stone and the company will react accordingly to market realities. “When we wrote the original 2020 plan in 2013, we had other offices included which didn’t transpire, so the plan is not absolutely rigid. We will react to hot markets and to clients who want to take us abroad. We hadn’t discussed Saudi in any great detail, it was planned to serve this market from the UAE, but we haven’t had a focused plan. Since we had our leadership conference, we’ve now appointed one of the guys to build a business case to look at entering into Saudi with a JV arrangement.” He concludes, “We are very agile, and we can make decisions in the blink of an eye. The same day someone comes up with an idea, we’ll ask questions about the client, the money, whether we know the architect or developer, and then decide whether to go for it or not. We don’t have to go through lots of board approvals and layers of sign-off. We’re very agile and quick to respond to things, and it’s the same with everything we do.”
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Leaders in Project Management
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IN PRACTICE
INTERVIEW
Technology that Empowers Jason Saundalkar talks to Tatjana Dzambazova, AI strategist, Office of the CTO at Autodesk, about machine learning, data and the future of construction utodesk University Middle East 2018 was held in Dubai on May 7-8 under the theme ‘The Future of Making Things’. The two-day event served as a business networking platform, shared a vast array of technical knowledge, discussed cross-industry opportunities and sought to offer solutions to unique business challenges. Following her presentation, Jason Saundalkar spoke to Tatjana Dzambazova about technology that could transform the industry. Data is at the heart of machine learning systems. How do you source the data you need and were there any challenges?
New innovations and technology will always have an uncomfortable 24 JUNE 2018
adjustment period and make people feel concerned. The BIM 360 Project IQ example I talked about during AU Middle East is using the data of customers who volunteered to participate in the beta program of this tool. They realised that to get a risk prediction tool working well, you need a lot of examples and data, many more than what they would have from their own projects. Project IQ uses machine learning to automatically identify construction quality and safety issues that pose the biggest risk to a project at any given time. That enables teams to act quickly, prevent catastrophes and avoid downstream problems that create cost issues and delays. As a company, you only have so many examples; so even if you have smart IT people who know how to develop deep neural networks, you can only really learn from the examples you have access to. In the case of my colleagues on the BIM 360 Project IQ, they realised that customers have logged 27m issues that could be learned from, and that could actually
IN PRACTICE
teach a computer system to learn patterning and classifications. It’s true that machine learning, unlike other technologies, will require regulations and different types of contracts. In that regard, we want absolute transparency and to be clear about what we do and don’t do. I think data openness is what will bring us to a completely new and smarter way of working, one that is data-driven, goal-driven and informative. You’ll eventually have this extremely smart assistant that will advise you before something happens, rather than after. So, getting real customer data shared explicitly by the customer is one data acquisition avenue. Another avenue is simulation. For certain problems, we can also use the powerful simulation tool that we at Autodesk have to generate data that serves as an input into machine learning systems. Some companies may not want to share data because it may involve sharing mistakes they have made. How do you make your case to these customers?
For customers who have had issues with their projects, I think it’s even easier to make the case to start participating and leveraging the intelligence. With this technology, they will be able to catch things before they happen: predict safety, quality, scheduling risk and, 01 most importantly, predict cost issues, etc. Cost is a magic word for construction companies; working on projects is so unpredictable (in the construction industry, the ratio between predictable and unpredictable issues is 1:4, the absolute opposite of manufacturing ratio) and things do go wrong. So, if there’s a tool to advise you about what might happen and that’s tied in with historic costs, they will know exactly how much money they can save if they address issues before they actually happen. The thing to remember is: We pseudonymise the data, so there is no relationship between a customer and his data, and more importantly, no one sees the actual data, so a concern that a customer might have that he would be judged for many mistakes is simply not even a topic. We are trying to create a smart system to address the chronic inefficiency of an industry that is high risk, low margin. According to some studies, large projects across asset classes typically take 20% longer to finish than the schedule and are up to 80% over budget, which makes the challenge to solve this really appealing. 60% of construction projects fail
“We are trying to create a smart system to address the chronic inefficiency of an industry that is high risk, low margin” to meet cost and schedule targets, 30% of all construction cost is rework. And construction accounts for 40% of all waste. Lot of challenges! On a more general level, with AI and machine learning integrated in our tools, what we are trying to do for our customers is to create a Knowledge Graph of all things, from Design to Make. There will be specialised graphs and BIM 360 IQ, as an example, will be the construction knowledge graph. It will pull all types of data (text, image, voice, sensor data) from whatever other sources the customer has, since many sources are not part of the BIM model, but they are still important. Tell us about the Forge Platform and the things happening there.
Autodesk is moving into a direction where we understand that we cannot build all the solutions in the world. By creating a platform with an open API, many companies, small or big, customers or third parties, who have expertise, curiosity or knowledge to build solutions are given a chance to build new, custom or specialised solutions. Now data is shared and can be mixed and matched and learned from. If you need to remember one thing about Forge, it’s that it’s about data. The data is in the centre, data in various file formats, and in the future the incompatibility of various file formats will be solved, all through this new data-powered, data-centric platform. SmartVid.io, for example, works with Autodesk BIM 360 and the Forge Platform to take real-life footage from a construction site, find an issue and then come back with risk predictions. All construction projects have a large amount of photos and videos taken every step of the way. Smartvid.io has developed a smart photo and video management platform that uses synthetic vision and deep learning to tell you important things about your project, like people on the job-site not wearing hard hats or safety glasses. Others are using VR and AR empowered with ML; they’re bringing the BIM model to the construction site and overlaying it in a mixed reality experience. When we talk about AR and VR, it’s important to say that yes, of course it helps you visualise things in context, but what’s really interesting is that while we’re augmenting the construction worker onsite and helping him out with additional contextual data, the system is also capturing what the workers do in certain situations. That data can train the neural network to say: “When the worker saw a wet corner, he logged an issue.” Here, two types of information become connected with geolocation information, so you have much richer data. JUNE 2018 25
IN PRACTICE
01 Generative design will allow architects and designers to make data-driven decisions. 02
AR and VR is not just about looking through the goggles and getting information, it’s also about capturing the activity of the user so it can then be used to train machine learning systems. I think that’s interesting because no one has ever really captured that – we certainly never captured what somebody did and why, so we repeat the same things all over again. What are your thoughts on modules and pods? How fast do you think the industry will be able to scale up to larger sizes?
The AEC industry is starting to learn from and apply manufacturing methodology to the process of building. 02 Automating the production of building components or of the construction site is inevitable, if we want to achieve the volume of buildings we need to build for the growing urban population. One aspect of it is to build buildings in factories, producing modular, multidiscipline modules/pods that are then assembled on-site. The other is full-size robotic automation on-site. The industry began with modular construction a while ago, producing in a controlled, factory environment things like toilet blocks or kitchen units. This now moves towards building fully equipped modules with furniture, MEP and other elements in factory. This method is much
“In the future, you’ll be able to design things just by speaking to the computer – there will be no learning complex geometry or math paradigms, or need for programming” 26 JUNE 2018
Tatjana Dzambazova, AI strategist, Office of the CTO at Autodesk. 03 Robotics and 3D/additive printing could one day do the dangerous jobs that construction workers currently undertake.
more efficient, however it will require a new approach to design buildings. As far as scaling up, I don’t think the industry is there just yet. More and more, I’m seeing pods being used around the world, especially in places like Europe. In Sweden, they’re building hospitals very quickly using pods because sometimes the conditions are harsh, and sometimes it’s just because it’s more precise and predictable to build this way. At the moment, the limitations – at least in Sweden – come from the size of the truck that can carry the pod. In some countries, they use ships to carry the pods. Generally speaking, the limiting factors for pod-based construction are the size of the transportation vehicle, how far the site is and how much weight the cranes can handle safely. Building with pre-fab components or pods is not applicable to all projects, however. The alternative and next step is full robotic automation on the construction site itself. Robots will be doing any type of repetitive, dangerous or laborious work on-site; humans will monitor and guide. Given what you’ve said, is 3D printing or off-site construction more likely to take the lead in the construction industry?
This is very interesting, because they are two different and competing trends but may yet come together. On one side you have 3D printing building on-site and on the other you have building parts of buildings in factory, off-site. With the former, it’s still dependent on weather conditions and largescale robotics that have not yet been invented; however, you can make the system mobile and take the robot and put it in a clean space and let it work. So now you’ve made the factory mobile and that’s a combination of both things. Robotics can be used for large-scale addictive construction, so I think all these things will come together eventually.
IN PRACTICE
“I think data openness is what will bring us to a completely new and smarter way of working, one that is data-driven, goal-driven and informative” In your presentation, I noticed a lot of skeletonisation in the
see this to some level in the automotive sector – cars look similar
examples you used. Materials look like a very important element
to each to other as brands pursue safety, fuel efficiency etc.
of the future of building things. be they structures, parts, etc.
You’re right, a lot of cars look the same these days. I think I bought a VW Beetle because it’s the only car that doesn’t look like anything else. You might be correct that this may happen, but I think that will only happen if you leave the computer to its own devices and don’t use the tools as tools but as the end product. Generative design is just the beginning of design, not the final design. It’s a tool that helps me focus on what I want something to be and do rather than how to look. It helps me explore in a more informed way, understand trade-offs, and it gives me all the options outside of the limitations of my knowledge and bias. But at the end of the day, in my humble opinion, that’s just the beginning – an informed, data-driven, rich exploration. We will push that concept further and enable personal creative control. We want you to be able to say: No, I’d like to go in this direction now and be smart about it. From there, the system gives you another 10 options and you can then say: From those 10 options, I’d like to combine this and that, and now I want to start going in that direction. Generative is the beginning of things, and I think it’s an exciting methodology for working. It should not be viewed as the final solution for a design.
Material optimisation is great for the planet – we can use less raw material, less embedded energy to produce the materials, less waste and it can make structures lighter and stronger. Weight is a challenge in every industry, not just aerospace and automotive. But in the construction industry, I hope to see the emergence of new materials that might change the game altogether. There are experimentations with concrete mixed with graphene that makes it so much stronger – then you can make walls that are much thinner yet better performing. There are also experiments with self-healing materials. This is very interesting, especially when combined with additive methods where you can not only print with smarter materials but you can print sensors, optical fibres and other equipment as part of the building components, making buildings speak, breathe, be responsive, be alive. With generative design and the creation of building models, is there a danger structures will look the same because the computer is using certain parameters (cost, efficiency, etc)? I
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ON SITE
CASE STUDY
The Founder’s Memorial Middle East Consultant talks to Thomas & Adamson about the delivery of a monument dedicated to HH Sheikh Zayed he UAE government declared 2018 to be the Year of Zayed, as it marks 100 years since the birth of the UAE’s founding father, His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. In line with the national declaration, the country unveiled several events and initiatives locally and internationally to commemorate the memory of the late Sheikh Zayed. One such initiative is the Founder’s Memorial, which was inaugurated on February 26 and fully opened to the public on April 22. It aims to provide visitors with insight into Sheikh Zayed’s life and legacy, while showcasing how he paved the way for the future prosperity and well-being of his people. Thomas & Adamson (T&A) was originally appointed to work as a cost consultant during the pre-construction phase in 2015. The firm’s scope was then expanded to provide project management services throughout the two-year construction phase. To win the contract, the firm participated in a competitive tendering process alongside five other international consultancies. T&A was ultimately awarded the contract based on commercial and technical analysis, following a multi-stage review process. The Project
Housed within a 30m x 30m x 30m pavilion, the centrepiece of the memorial, known as ‘The Constellation’, is a specially designed public artwork comprising stainless steel geometric shapes precisely arranged using 1,110 tensioned steel cables. The elements coalesce to provide visitors with a 30m-high 3D representation of Sheikh Zayed. The artwork was designed by American sculptor and public artist Ralph Helmick and boasts more than 1,300 geometric shapes of varying size – platonic solids, shimmering tetrahedrons, cubes, octahedrons, dodecahedrons and icosahedrons. The artwork weighs 250 tonnes, and the steel structure of the roof supporting it weighs 190t. More than 5,745 counterweights hold the 28 JUNE 2018
suspended shapes in place to form a series of profiles of Sheikh Zayed from different perspectives, both within the memorial’s landscape and from outside, along the Corniche, where the project is located. Illuminated by more than 2,000 lights, the suspended shapes of ‘The Constellation’ shine like stars at night. The memorial features a walkway that offers a view of ‘The Constellation’, as well as Abu Dhabi’s skyline, as it would have been seen through the eyes of the founding father. Challenges
The Founder’s Memorial is a unique project which had several challenges from a design, procurement and construction perspective. The 30m-high three-dimensional artwork structure was a first-of-itskind piece of construction with numerous elements, each of which had to be installed to exact X, Y and Z coordinates. This created detailing, fabrication and installation challenges, and a significant amount of coordination between team members across the globe was required. This included entities in Italy, the UK, the US and Australia, in addition to extremely detailed QA/QC processes at the site level.
“The project was both challenging and exciting for T&A, due to the bespoke nature of the artwork, its very scale, which has never been accomplished before, and the level of precision required to ensure the accuracy of the installation”
ON SITE
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ON SITE
01 The centrepiece of the Founder’s Memorial is ‘The Constellation’, which shows an image of HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. 02 The visitor centre, along with tour guides, will provide insights into the life and legacy of Sheikh Zayed. 03 The project is illuminated by more than 2,000 lights.
02
“The project was both challenging and exciting for T&A, due to the bespoke nature of the artwork, its very scale, which has never been accomplished before, and the level of precision required to ensure the accuracy of the installation. From the outset of the project on-site, it was incumbent upon us as the project manager to lead by example and abide by the core project values of integrity, honesty, compassion, humanitarianism, wisdom, tolerance, coexistence and equality,” explains Zander Muego, director at T&A. Use of Technology
The site was surveyed by drones prior to the start of construction, with the architectural designs embedded onto the videos to create a life-like fly-through of the finished project. The fly-through video
was then presented to leadership to ensure that they fully understood the design. The artwork’s 1,350 stars were welded by robots to ensure each one was perfect, while each of the 1,110 stainless steel cables was positioned using lasers. The artist had specified that each of the 1,350 stars had to be within 3mm of his AutoCAD designs, which was achieved on the site. 3D mapping also played a critical part. “The landscape portal’s concrete structure was cast by using polystyrene formwork to obtain its unique shape. After the concrete was cast, we 3D scanned the concrete structure and created a computer model to ensure that natural stone (imported from Oman) was perfectly cut to size, thus reducing wastage and saving time. When the stone arrived (approximately 2,600 pieces of limestone), it fitted perfectly the first time,” Muego remarks. 03
Approach to Cost Consulting
T&A’s approach focused on identifying and implementing value engineering opportunities throughout the project duration. This included reviewing and challenging the finishing details and material selection, with active engagement from the leadership, ensuring that all details of the project were in line with expectations. The project team continuously explored new opportunities to re-engineer structural or utilities solutions throughout the procurement and construction stage, challenging both the design and construction methodology proposed. This enabled cost reductions to be achieved, which offset areas of cost increase and ultimately ensured an appropriate balance of expenditure which represented a best-value solution for the client. “T&A is thrilled to have been involved in a project of this stature and national importance, and is proud to have contributed to such an iconic project, thus playing a part in the 2018 Year of Zayed,” concludes Muego. 30 JUNE 2018
ON SITE
Educate ME The Specialist
Della Penna, CEO of Technical Supplies & Services Co. (TSSC) talks to Middle East Consultant about the features and benefits of the company’s insulated panels
Tell us a little about TSSC and its range of insulated panels. What are the different types of panels offered and what are their potential applications?
TSSC is a key member of the Harwal group and the leading manufacturer of advanced building systems in the MENA region. The company, by production capacity, is the largest insulated panel manufacturer in the GCC and specialises in the manufacture of PIR and rockwool insulated panels for architectural façades, cold stores and commercial and industrial roofing projects. The panels are available in different profiles, finishes and colors, offering an aesthetic look to the building with superior thermal insulation and resistance to fire spread. 32 JUNE 2018
Our diverse range includes: corrugated insulated panels in seven different profiles; insulated regular and concealed ISO wall panels in six different profiles; single sheet cladding in seven different profiles; camlock and slip joint panels for cold stores; panel insulation with thicknesses ranging between 20mm to 200mm, and structural decking in five different profile. Applications include external roof and wall panels, cold stores, internal linings, fascias and barge doors, decorative finishes for buildings, partitions for commercial & industrial purpose buildings and weatherproof layer for the roof. Discuss your product’s compliance with local fire and safety codes and guidelines.
Our insulated panels comply to various local and international safety codes for internal partitions and external envelope (roof and wall) construction. International certifications range from FM approval to FMRC 4880, 4881 Class 1 fire classifications for unlimited height. The panels are also FM 4471 certified and tested by Thomas Bell Wright and InterTek. Local body certifications include DCL Certification - proving panels have been manufactured to the highest standards and TSSC is the winner of the 2017 DCL Award - Best Factory for Thermal Insulation. The panels are approved by Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah Civil Defense authorities. A two-year warranty is offered, to guard against manufacturing defects and based upon specifications, TSSC can offer up to a 25-year guarantee on the insulation of the panels. We constantly improve our technology and will soon launch an improved formulation, which will be even more environment friendly and have enhanced fire properties. What are the product’s USPs?
The construction and operation of buildings has a significant impact on the economy and environment. Sustainable buildings account for 39% of US energy consumption and 38% of carbon dioxide emissions. Our panels are characterised as modular and insulated, and can play a significant role towards achieving a sustainable building. PIR insulation technology has an Lambda Value of 0.018W/m.K and a U Value
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FM
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of 0.08W/m²K, which offers an unbeatable thermal efficiency and reduces energy costs. Fire rated panel systems with noncombustible core provide up to three hours of fire resistance. The FM approved panels are self-extinguishing and exhibit limited or no flame spread in case of fire, thereby protecting the building envelope. Our insulated panels are exceedingly efficient, lightweight and costeffective insulators. The panels act as vapor barriers and improve the building performance by lowering lifetime costs and reduced environmental impact. We have a range of food safe panels for cold store applications, which are immune to attack from mould, fungi and mildew. Concealed-fastener insulated metal wall panels can be used in the disassembly and reassembly of commercial/industrial project walls, such as airport hangers. These buildings can have a streamlined architectural appearance with vertical and horizontal installation of different profiles and finishes. Highlight a project where these panels have been used and the impact they made.
TSSC has recently completed a state of the art food processing and distribution unit for Master Baker in Dubai TechnoPark, in the UAE. The building qualifies as a green project with solar panels, energy efficient insulation and environment friendly refrigeration.
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TSSC, with its expertise in building envelopes and industrial refrigeration systems, was chosen to supply insulated panels for external cladding and the cold stores. The new facility consists of processing lines, freezer & chill temperature storage spaces, and blast freezer rooms that provide temperatures as low as applications of -36°C. Insulated panels were formulated to provide maximum energy-efficiency and the external cladding was provided in non-stock colors, as required by the client, to give the building a trendy look. TSSC also installed an ammonia (NH3) refrigeration systems plant.
APPROVED
FM
building APPROVED product and a green product which saves energy. Carbon emissions can also be reduced with better thermal performance, especially when implemented with an optimised building design approach. What ancillary services does TSSC offer?
In addition to the manufacture of panels, TSSC provides a collection of services which include engineering, structural calculations, shop drawings, detailing, installation and erection, project management, site supervision and training. Tell us about TSSC and the benefits clients
Tell us about the product’s sustainable
can expect when working with your firm.
elements and how they can help clients?
TSSC specialises in using leading-edge technology to design, produce and distribute a range of comprehensive building products and building systems. The company also specialises in commercial and industrial refrigeration products, and offers value-added services from its facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. TSSC, is a member of Harwal Group, an international conglomerate headquartered in UAE that focuses on manufacturing technologies. With TSSC, clients get the best quality product in the shortest possible time and an extraordinary after sales service, which gives TSSC an edge over its competitors.
Our insulated panels are tested for air and water infiltration. Typical roof and wall side-laps allow zero water penetration and an almost immeasurable amount of air infiltration. The panel core technology is based on green characteristics, as we use environment friendly pentane gas with Zero Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) and Low Global Warming Potential (GWP). The core insulation is HCFC, CFC, HFC free and has a higher R value contributing to green building ratings. The panels are also tested for flame spread and smoke development as per FM Approvals Standard. Our insulated panels are a premier
JUNE 2018 33
ADVERTORIAL
PREVIEw
To The Pointe
Nakheel reveals how it is transforming waterfront dining and entertainment on Palm Jumeirah
01
D
ubai’s retail landscape is constantly evolving – and new lifestyle and entertainment destinations continue to emerge to meet the ever-growing needs of residents and visitors. One such destination that will be open to visitors by the end of 2018 is The Pointe by Nakheel Malls. Valued at $217.7m, the 130,064sqm dining and entertainment destination will be an iconic, must-see attraction offering remarkable lifestyle experiences for
Dubai’s residents and the millions of tourists who visit each year. Inspired by the heritage and culture of the emirates, The Pointe is set to be one of Dubai’s most eagerly-awaited new attractions and will be a vibrant addition to the city’s dining, retail and entertainment scene. Located at the tip of Palm Jumeirah across the bay from Atlantis The Palm, The Pointe will feature unique concepts from around the globe, with over 100 shopping and dining outlets on offer. At the centre will be a spectacular
fountain, dazzling visitors with stunning shows that can be viewed from The Pointe’s wide range of waterfront dining spots. The Pointe will also be home to a 1.5km promenade – a destination in itself for residents and tourists to unwind with family and friends or click the perfect holiday pictures against a stunning backdrop. The destination will also have a cinema, a children’s play area, beauty salons, a supermarket, gyms, unique gifting concepts and parking for 1,600 vehicles.
“Inspired by the heritage and culture of the Emirates, The Pointe is set to be one of Dubai’s most eagerlyawaited new attractions and will be a vibrant addition to the city’s dining, retail and entertainment scene” 34 JUNE 2018
01
ADVERTORIAL
The Pointe is spread over 130,064sqm. 02 Over 100 outlets will be on offer to visitors. 03 The project will feature a 1.5km promenade.
Creating new lifestyle experiences in Dubai
Part of Nakheel Malls’ vision is to identify consumers’ demands and design solutions that cater to the evolving needs of residents and visitors. This is why the company is constantly investing in building community retail centres and lifestyle destinations in strategic locations across Dubai. An example of this strategic direction is the Club Vista Mare, a vibrant beachfront dining destination on Palm Jumeirah. Club Vista Mare offers seven upscale beachfront restaurants with a range of cuisines and spectacular views of Palm Jumeirah’s eastern shoreline and Dubai’s worldfamous landmarks. Golden Mile Galleria is another exciting destination avenue by Nakheel Malls on Palm Jumeirah. Located adjacent to Al Ittihad Park, beneath the 10-building Golden Mile residential complex, the mall has 37,161sqm of retail space and offers doorstep convenience for thousands of residents on Palm Jumeirah. Anchor tenants include a Spinneys supermarket and a Fitness First Platinum Club. There are also two nurseries, a medical centre and a host of other retailers, as well as a diverse collection of restaurants and cafés, including Tim Hortons, Shakespeare & Co, Nando’s, Wagamama, Zaroob, Caffé Nero, Burger Fuel and London Dairy.
02
Furthermore, the upcoming Nakheel Mall on Palm Jumeriah – part of Nakheel Malls’ $4.35bn expansion – is set to cover a built-up area of more than 418,063sqm, including five retail levels and three underground parking floors with 4,000 parking bays. Nakheel Mall will contain nearly 350 shops, including a 4,200sqm supermarket and two anchor department stores, a nine-screen cinema and six medical clinics. The mall will also feature an outdoor roof plaza with extensive food and beverage outlets, with additional restaurants and cafés overlooking the spectacular views of the island and the Dubai skyline. Expanding the retail footprint
Nakheel Malls’ portfolio continues to expand and currently comprises 1.62m sqm of leasable space across 19 projects, including large-scale malls, souks and neighbourhood retail centres. More than 418,063sqm is already operational
03
through Ibn Battuta Mall, Dragon Mart, Golden Mile Galleria and five neighbourhood Pavilions, with another 1.20m sqm under development in the city. In addition to The Pointe, upcoming projects include Deira Mall, Deira Islands Night Souk, Warsan Souk, Al Khail Avenue, The Circle Mall and Nad Al Sheba Mall, as well as major extensions to Dragon Mart and Ibn Battuta Mall. Nakheel Malls’ community retail centres – branded Nakheel Pavilions – are also part of the company’s commitment to enhance its existing developments with local facilities. The Pavilions are integral to the company’s fast-expanding portfolio of retail projects. Nakheel Pavilions are currently in operation at Al Furjan, Discovery Gardens, International City, Jumeirah Islands and Jumeirah Park, with more on the way at Al Furjan West and Badrah. One of the large-scale projects in Nakheel Malls’ growing retail portfolio is Deira Mall, which is set to become the Middle East’s biggest shopping, dining and entertainment destination in terms of retail space at Deira Islands. With a total built-up area of 95,6901sqm including 418,063sqm of retail space and a 353,031sqm multi-storey car park with 8,400 spaces, Deira Mall will feature over a thousand shops, cafés, restaurants and entertainment outlets across three floors. Looking ahead, Nakheel Malls will remain focused on delivering the most diverse range of retail, leisure and entertainment experiences in Dubai, while upholding and enhancing the emirate’s position as the most important global shopping destination in the world. JUNE 2018 35
ON SITE
INTERVIEW
WIC Profile: Lama Harb Jason Saundalkar talks to JT+Partners’ Lama Harb about her inf luences, career and gender diversity in the construction industry ollowing our special edition dedicated to women in the construction industry, Middle East Consultant continues to share the inspiration and experiences of women working in the male-dominated industry across the GCC. Here we catch up with Lama Hab, associate director at JT+Partners. What drove you to get into construction
to juniors. Having climbed the ladder of my career path as a woman, I was selected as a board member in the Women Business Network, where I was working on the mentoring programme. Joining JT+Partners, I experience different challenges but I’m always supported by internal motivation and passion. Serving as the right hand of our MD Joe Tabet, who I’ve been working with for more than 10 years, is a great opportunity to explore a different colour in the architecture rainbow of diversity and practice. Smart, hard work is always rewarded by more opportunities, respect and the trust of others.
and your very first role in the industry? What were some of the influences that set you on your path?
What would you say is your proudest moment in the industry?
Looking back at my professional career over two decades, what attracted me to architecture was my interest in details and how things are put carefully together to reach an innovative goal. A statement from Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is always in my mind: “Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins.” Today, I can say that architecture as a subject and a profession has never stopped amazing me, as throughout the years it exposes you to a rainbow of diversity. In doing so, it shapes your personality through art creation, cultural knowledge and societal influence. This has been my motivation and passion for all these years.
I am proud of where I am; I can’t think of only one proud moment. I am proud of every step I’ve taken during my career path, even when I’ve missed out, as it taught me how to succeed in the next challenge. It’s important to define yourself by your work; I am focused on delivering quality projects in all aspects, specifically in responding to the client’s vision, as well as creating a unique journey for end users through designs that respect the society, culture and the environmental conditions. It’s important to be honest and responsible; gaining the trust of the people you are working with is key for me. It facilitates communication with the client, enhances the team’s work spirit and creates a healthy environment between all parties.
Tell us about your career, mentioning key milestones.
I started my professional career back home in Beirut at the age of 23, directly after graduation. I joined my professor’s architecture practice as a junior architect, where I was the only female and surrounded by older architects with over 25 years of experience. On one side, it was very hard as a fresh graduate to cope with their pace and background, but on the other hand, it exposed me to valuable experience and I was determined to stand for myself and fill my own basket with the right experience quickly. I left this practice as a project architect to join an international firm (WS Atkins), where I reached the level of principal architect, leading more than 20 architects from seniors 36 JUNE 2018
What are some of the barriers to women entering the construction industry? What was your personal experience?
In every profession there are barriers that you will face during your career development, regardless of gender. Therefore, like any other individual, women have to stand up for themselves, stand by their professional choices to overcome any challenges. How do you see the GCC construction markets changing in the coming years? Share your thoughts and views of the market.
Architecture was always known as a male profession. However,
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“Any practice, country and culture will have its specific work style and standards, which will be different from one another, but what should be common ground are the human and professional ethics� JUNE 2018 37
ON SITE
nowadays the number of women choosing architecture as a major is increasing considerably, which is reflected in the professional practices. In JT+Partners, we have almost reached equilibrium in terms of numbers (male/female) and more importantly with regard to positions.
challenges be addressed?
The biggest challenge is the fact that women have to really prove their capabilities and competency at any level, while men are seen as having the capabilities and required competency for a wide variety of jobs. In doing your job, what sort of discrimination (if any)
Everyone has a part to play
have you faced and how
in diversity and equal pay.
did you or your employer
What would you like to see
address it?
government authorities
Any individual might face a form of discrimination in their professional career. In my case, I haven’t experienced any serious discrimination.
and construction firms do to increase diversity and make pay a level field?
The rulers of the UAE have given a very strong message to the professional community by the recent appointment of nine women ministers, who now form 28% of the UAE cabinet. This strong statement will have a positive translation in the market in regard of the role of women in the GCC market, in all its sectors. It will also change the stereotype of the non-working women or, in other words, women not allowed to work in this part of the world.
Joe always mentions that in JT+Partners the sky is not the limit. There are opportunities for everyone to develop their career and that is part of the ethos of growing our practice. One of my responsibilities is to ensure the development of the team and to create opportunities for their progress.
Besides authorities and construction firms, who else can play a
How does JT+Partners approach diversity in the workplace?
part in increasing diversity and balancing pay scales?
What more can your firm do to increase diversity?
Women themselves have a big role to play, to prove their capabilities and their ability to be of high competence in the field they chose to conquer.
Our team is very diverse at all levels: gender, nationalities, background specialty and experience. This is the strategy at JT+Partners.
What has your experience been working in the GCC construction
How do you personally push for diversity and equal pay in the
sector? If you have worked in markets outside the GCC, how does
construction sector? Are you involved in any groups/councils
your experience here compare with what you’ve experienced
etc that focus on increasing diversity and equal pay?
and observed in other markets?
I was a board member in the WBN (Women Business Network) in my previous workplace, which was focused on supporting diversity and the growth of women in the company. Currently, I am not part of any groups or councils.
Any practice, country and culture will have its specific work style and standards, which will be different from one another, but what should be common ground are the human and professional ethics. Having been in the UAE for more than 10 years, I have been exposed to opportunities where each held a dream project.
Do you feel there’s a limit to how far you can progress within JT+Partners?
What advice would you give to a woman entering the GCC construction industry today?
In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge women in the construction sector face in GCC countries? How can these 38 JUNE 2018
Persistence and determination are omnipotent. This is my advice to any individual, regardless of gender.
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01 Brian O’Connor is a director with HKA in Saudi Arabia.
VAT Implications in Saudi Arabia Unless private contractors have contract provisions to facilitate payments, they may struggle to recover VAT from employers, says HKA’s Brian O’Connor
01
T
he introduction of VAT is a key part of the Kingdom’s broader plan to improve fiscal sustainability and diversify government revenues. However, a pitfall exists for unwary contractors that entered into contracts with private sector employers prior to implementation of the new law, with no express contractual mechanism to recover VAT from the employer. Here, employers probably have no allowance in their budgets for VAT and are highly unlikely to compensate their contractors. In fact, HKA contractor clients advise that they are being met with this response from employers: “VAT is deemed to have been 40 JUNE 2018
included in the contract price.” It is hard to argue with this (private sector) position. This will give rise to cash-flow difficulties for the affected contractors, the magnitude of which will depend on the value and duration of the contracts and the ability of these contractors to find alternative sources of funding. Contractors fortunate enough to have a facility in their contracts, such as a Change in Laws clause, could offer a remedy to the extent that an entitlement may exist at law to recover the VAT from employers under their contracts. However, there may still be practical difficulties in recovering VAT in circumstances where a Change in Law clause exists in the contract but employers have not been prudent in making provision in their budgets. Other potential pitfalls include failing to register with GATZ in due time and failing to make VAT returns by the due date under the law, particularly as it is understood that this will be policed robustly by the authorities, who can impose penalties for non-compliance. The situation in the public sector is different, in that the Government Tender and Procurement Law allows for recovery of increased costs arising from “customs tariff, fees, taxes or officially priced materials or services after the bid submission date”. Thus, VAT will be recoverable.
However, Aramco’s ‘Schedule C’ states that the ‘Contract Price’ includes “governmentcaused cost increases imposed at any time, all applicable taxes”. Thus, when tendering, contractors should carefully check the tender documents vis-a-vis the payment of VAT, make due allowance for these risks and include VAT in the tender price, if necessary. Avoiding Pitfalls
Contractors need to: be fully conversant with the law and register for VAT with GATZ; be fully conversant with their rights and obligations under tender and contract documentation; make sure that all sales invoices are issued with the addition of VAT at 5%; make sure that they receive VAT invoices/receipts for purchases post January 1, 2018; consider opening a separate account for VAT receipts on sales; make sure they maintain proper books of account; make sure that they make VAT returns on time; and seek professional advice if they run into difficulties. While VAT is invoiced by contractors at the rate of 5%, the VAT due to the government in any applicable VAT period is the difference between the contractor’s total VAT receipts from the employer and its various VAT payments to its supply chain, in respect of goods and services received.
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