Project Showcase Qatar

Buildings 5 & 6 are connected by a mezzanine level bridge.

In a recent report on the current status of the construction industry in Qatar, market researcher Proleads Global found a total of 191 “major” projects, valued at US $82.5 billion, moving forward throughout the country.

The projects range from real estate and civil infrastructure to leisure and entertainment and, while 82% of the projects are late, budgets have not been affected and all of them are continuing steadily.

On the architecture front, Ibrahim Jaidah, managing director of Doha’s Arab Engineering Bureau, doesn’t see the economic slowdown that has affected much of the rest of the world, afflicting Qatar anytime in the near future.

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“Whether it’s government-owned or private sector, growth in Qatar is steady, healthy and mature,” explains Jaidah. “Whether it’s hotels or high-rises, in Qatar, more and more projects are happening and there are quite a few concepts currently on the design table.”

Courting international firms and signature starchitects is nothing new for the growing desert nation and, because of its efforts, it would seem that rapid development is happening on two separate but related fronts: Projects and profile.

From what ARCHITECT has been hearing, Qatar is quickly becoming the Middle East’s new playground for architects, designers and engineers. To that end, we visited Qatar to get the lowdown on some of its most promising projects.

DohaLand – Heart of Doha
A subsidiary of Qatar Foundation, DohaLand’s signature master plan ‘Heart of Doha’ with a budget of QAR 20 billion (US $5.4 billion), represents the development and regeneration of the 35 hectare site located in inner Doha.

The project is designed to reinvigorate the sense of community, heritage and tradition almost lost in the country’s economic boom. “Through our first project, we are recreating and regenerating the most important part of old Doha,” explained Eng Issa M. Al Mohannadi, CEO of DohaLand.

“Today, we aim to restore the lost lustre to a location that is close to our hearts, we want to bring it back to life.”

Through Heart of Doha, DohaLand will build sustainable, innovative communities that enrich lives, promote eco-friendly living and rediscover the heritage and culture that makes a place unique.

“Our ancestors didn’t see the house as just a house – it was a family member. The homes in this area were built by the hearts of the people,” explains Al Mohannadi. “Family members would use their bare hands to build the home, leaving behind their handprints to illustrate the uniqueness of each house, and each family.”