The GCC plans to build $115bn worth of rail projects and should pronounce its focus on functional stations to enhance take up of passenger services. Frans van de Laak, general manager at Hunter Douglas Middle East, said that while the GCC countries are constructing a large number of rail projects, in order for them to succeed in growing strong ridership numbers they need to create uncluttered, well-lit stations where travellers feel comfortable. He said: “Ceilings play an important part in enhancing the traveller experience, as they can absorb sound, lead travellers toward trains, and make travellers feel safe by providing…
Author: Paromita Dey
As The Big 5 2015 introduces a new hall space, event director of the show, Josine Heijmans, talks about how visitors and exhibitors could use and benefit from the new features “We have a lot of new features this year,” Josine Heijmans, event director of The Big 5 Show says when asked how this year could possibly beat the last. The Big 5 Show is one of the biggest construction tradeshows in the region, and last year broke records with 80,000 participants from 147 countries. “It was completely sold out,” she says. “We had an overall 2,800 exhibitors and I…
The Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) and Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET) organised a workshop on industrial diversification and job creation between GCC and Republic of Korea in November 2015 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi. The GCC has supplied 71.2 % of Korea’s crude oil imports and 52.4 % of its natural gas imports in 2013. In his session, Al Mulla emphasised how the GCC has provided Korea with opportunities in the construction sector including the building of expressways, seaports, and industrial plants. He said that about 39.8% of the foreign construction projects Korean…
REC will power a new solar installation for Redtag Group as one of the first projects to be completed as part of a new UAE initiative, Shams Dubai, to promote renewable energy. The European solar panel manufacturer is not only providing the photovoltaic (PV) panels but the full EPC expertise. The rooftop installation extends over 7,000m2 and will be located in fashion retailer, Redtag’s, logistics and warehouse centre. It will be one of the first installation under Dubai’s new renewable metering scheme for renewable energies. The solar panels (2,161 in total) are expected to generate 904,000kWh of electricity, reducing the…
Chinese delegation attended a two-day fact-finding mission to study Estidama, the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council’s (UPC) sustainability programme. The delegation, represented the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation, recognises innovation in improving social, economic and environmental sustainability in cities and regions. The delegation was given a detailed insight into the workings of the UPC’s Estidama Pearl Rating System (PRS), Abu Dhabi’s mandatory sustainability rating system, which guides development projects through design, construction and operation, along with a tour of Masdar City. “The fact that Estidama was shortlisted for such a prestigious award and is now the basis of a…
Architectural and design practice Perkins+Will Middle East, won two awards at the 2015 Arabian Property Awards. The firm was recognised for the ‘Best Residential High-Rise’ for Ellington Group’s DT1 in Dubai, and ‘Best Hotel Architecture’ for the Marriott-branded Diplomatic Quarter Hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia The event took place at the JW Marriott Marquis in Dubai, on 12 November 2015. Projects awarded The 20-storey DT1 tower, is an innovative residential project which is situated in Downtown Dubai, covers approximately 20,000 square metres and rises to 72 metres. While the Best Hotel Architecture’ for the low-rise design was awarded to the…
Cities are the economic powerhouses of society and home to more than half the world’s population. As they continue to grow, how will they adapt and change to new technologies, climate conditions and the population demands of the future? By Stuart Matthews It’s the future and like the estimated six billion other urban dwellers by 2045, you live in a city. As a lucky citizen of the developed world you may look forward to a commute involving a combination of mass transit and smaller scale node transport to get you from office – or remote hot-desking work station – to…
Pelican Products opens its first distribution centre in the Middle East on 11 November 2015. The new logistics centre based in Dubai also includes an office for the local team. Piero Marigo, EMEA MD of Pelican Products, said that with the new distribution centre, the company can now store inventory in the region to optimise customer service, improve delivery times and make smaller shipments economically viable. “With our newly expanded sales and customer service team in place, our company is well positioned to help accelerate our customers’ business.” In addition, Pelican has chosen Danzas (DHL) as their third party logistics…
STR Global Construction Pipeline Report launched in October 2015 reveals an increase in hotels under construction in the Middle East and Africa region. The report stated that there are 781 hotels currently under contract in the region. This represents a 29.1% increase in rooms compared with October 2014 and a 43.1% year-over-year increase in rooms under construction. The under contract data includes projects under construction, in final planning and planning stages. However, the data does not include the projects under the unconfirmed stage. In October 2015, the region reported 105,177 rooms in 407 hotels under construction for the month. Sister…
National Aluminium Products Company SAOG (NAPCO) revealed tremendous growth in domestic and international markets. Its revenue for the first nine months of 2015 is OMR18.5m, which is a 37% increase from the revenue generated same time last year. The company’s net profit, OMR 0.582m, has also increased by 20% during the same period of the previous year. Robert Holtkamp, CEO of NAPCO, said: “The GCC is bullish in its economic growth because of continued infrastructure development that has created opportunities for key players such as NAPCO. We remain optimistic about our growth in the near future because of our high-quality…