David Barwell, CEO for the Middle East
Projects:
Yas Mall in Abu Dhabi, UAE
Al Rayyan Stadium, Qatar
King Abdullah Port, Saudi Arabia
AECOM is a fully integrated professional and technical services firm positioned to design, build, finance and operate infrastructure assets for global public and private-sector clients. The company has nearly 100,000 employees which include architecture, engineering, design, planning, management, and construction professionals. AECOM is ranked as the first engineering design firm by revenue in Engineering News Record’s annual industry rankings. The company’s Middle East division has been around for 60 years and has over 4000 employees. It covers a broad industry in the region including buildings, transportation, infrastructure, water and urban development.
AECOM professionals in this region are said to be the only consultant capable of delivering a fully integrated offer – from feasibility study, design, programme management, construction management, through to operation and maintenance. These offers exist across all market sectors of oil & gas, energy, retail, leisure, sports, healthcare, education, hospitality, water, rail, highways, ports, aviation and defence.
AECOM focuses on the importance of safe, efficient and sustainable ways to move people across nations through its projects in road, airports, ports, metros and railways. Whether introducing freight rail to the UAE with Etihad Rail, program managing Qatar’s Hamad Port, or providing construction management of Abu Dhabi’s new airport, AECOM is entrenched in the region’s infrastructure.
On the buildings side, AECOM has seen significant advancements in healthcare, education, residential and hospitality developments. For example, Al Raha Beach Development, for which AECOM provided infrastructure design, introduced the first luxury waterfront mixed-use development to Abu Dhabi.
With the GCC witnessing an increasing focus on environmental standards, the company has also made sure to contribute and add to these standards. For example, in Qatar AECOM was the architect for the experimental Passivhaus project, Qatar’s first low-energy villa that is advancing sustainable building research for the region.