ITCC: Saudi's smart city

ITCC is looking to provide critical infrastructure and networking for Saudi Arabia's ITC industry
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In two and a half years Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh will burst into the cyber-century and beyond with the completion of its Information Technology Communications Complex (ITCC), the Kingdom’s first “smart city”

In order to attract the world’s leading Information Technology and Communications (ITC) companies to a place like Saudi Arabia, you need to offer the world’s best ITC services and infrastructure - this is the concept behind the Kingdom’s new US $1.65 billion (SR6.5 billion) ITCC development.

The project is being developed by Rayadah Investment Company, the investment arm of the government’s Public Pensions Agency (PPA), which is also developing the $10 billion King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh.

As with KAFD, ITCC aims to generate income to support the PPA’s social security network, as well as achieve the broader goal of stimulating new jobs and industry to improve Saudi Arabia’s social future.

Currently, the Kingdom’s ITC sector is disjointed, lacks sufficient infrastructure and faces numerous challenges and limitations with its internet service providers. ITTC is looking to change that.

Included in the project’s 776,000m² will be administration buildings for ITC companies, technical business centres, buildings for research, training and development and software production companies.

There will also be support buildings such as hotels, restaurants, a convention centre, residential apartments, a technical college and government service buildings.

When commissioned in mid-2012 it is expected that ITCC will make Riyadh a regional hub for ITC services, education, research and innovation.

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FEATURED COMMENT Well ITCC is going well and i hope it will be in time limits.Alrajhi-Projects has set out this project in well order.   1 Comments Read more comments »

The master plan for ITCC was designed by a joint venture between local consultants Zuhair Fayez and Singapore’s Jurong International. Zuhair Fayez then carried on with the detailed design of infrastructure and substructures.

In April 2008 Rayadah awarded a US $65 million contract to local contractor El Seif Engineering for construction of infrastructure for the 487,000m² development.

The contract included a sewage treatment plant and an underground concrete-encased optic fibre cable network which was completed in August 2009.

Meanwhile, mobilisation and excavation works for the superstructures began in July following the award of three more contracts for phase one of construction.

The main package went to Al Rajhi Projects for construction of ITCC’s central area, which includes four 20-storey towers and is the project’s main architectural feature.

The contract also includes construction of two R&D buildings, two business technology incubator buildings, a sports club and a clinic. The second contract, valued at US $150 million, was awarded to Construction Contracting Enterprises for a 326-room Crown Plaza hotel and a 5000m² convention centre.

The third contract, worth US $50 million, was awarded to Al Yamama Company for the construction of a residential complex including apartments, villas and recreational areas. All three contracts are due for completion in 30 months.

ITCC project director Mohammed Alsabek says construction is progressing as per schedule and few hiccups are expected. “The time frame for this project is satisfactory; with hard work and good coordination we should be able to achieve the completion dates,” he says.

Alsabek says excavation work for the superstructures is ongoing and isn’t expected to be complete until the end of the year. He says a staggering 1.6 million m³ of earth must be removed from the central area alone to accommodate ITCC’s extensive parking facilities. “For this development to be successful we wanted to provide enough parking for every tenant,” he said.

Alsabek adds: “So under each of the four towers there will be five basement floors of parking, a total of 22m deep, while under the R&D building there will be two levels. Beneath the hotel and conference centre there will be an additional three levels.

“If we don’t have proper parking it will be difficult to market the development properly, so overall we have worked out a design that features one car per 25m², which is quite a lot.”

According to Alsabek, there are still several other elements within the project that are yet to start construction, one of which includes a 35-tonne district cooling plant. He said tenders will start rolling out gradually over the coming months.

Meanwhile, phase two of construction, which includes 18 buildings and the second infrastructure package, is currently under design and tenders will be open to bidders during the course of next year.