Aldar Laing O'Rourke axes jobs and work

Aldar Laing O’Rourke, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi’s largest property developer and a UK construction company, is cutting a further 320 jobs, the company announced last week.

A senior company official told Arabian Business it was also halting work on part of a key development, pending a design review.

Aldar said it was putting on hold schemes within its Al Raha Beach development in Abu Dhabi including the World Trade Centre, pending a design review, and incorporating more affordable housing within other sites.

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Aldar was fully committed to deliver all announced projects such as Al Zeina, Al Muneera, Al Bandar and Al Kuberia within Al Raha Beach, said Sami Asad, chief operating officer of Aldar.

But a decision by the developer to introduce a more measured approach to design and construction, in the light of market conditions, meant it was halting certain aspects of Al Dana, Asad said.

“In today’s market we have to review our strategy to cater for the changes in the market,” he said.

Al Dana Towers development had been suspended pending a review of the architectural design, with the brief extending to both the inside and external aspects of the building.

Work had also stopped on Al Seef, until the completion of a review, expected to include a significant increase of middle income housing.

“We said that we want to be sure that we don’t go to the market until our design is mature, complete and ready and then we can go to the contractor and start building,” he said.

“A year back because of the pressure of the market we had the construction parallel with the design itself. Now we have no obligation to do this. So we said we will finish the design and when it’s ready we will go the contractor and let them do their job, reducing everyone’s risk.”