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ConstructionWeek caught up with Nicholas Thompson, CEO of architecture practice Aukett Fitzroy Robinson, which has recently returned to the region.
What motivated you to move back to the Middle East?
We looked at coming to Middle East some time ago but the mechanics of it didn’t really work, we couldn’t price ourselves into the market and we didn’t have a local partner.
Although over the years we bid for work in Bahrain, Oman, Saudi and various places we never got close enough in terms of the economics to make it work. It wasn’t really possible for us until now. Now the whole financial framework has changed.
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So what do you think has changed in recent years that have made this region so attractive?
The region has probably now raised its level above everywhere else, whereas before it was probably below everywhere else.
There has been a sea change, which you can see in both the 2030 plan [Abu Dhabi] and its equivalent in Dubai. To use Dubai as an example, the emirate seemed to be just trying to do whatever they could before the oil ran out, to keep the game going as long as possible.
Whereas here in Abu Dhabi, and also in Qatar, they’re taking a more realistic approach – they’re trying not to have so many high buildings, not to make development so dense.
I think that’s good for the environment but also I think it’s good for consultants because it opens the market up. When you just put in high-rise buildings, which have to be iconic, that tends to limit who can work on developments.
There is a feeling that because a building is very tall the architect has got to be a world-renowned name. If you come down in height it opens the market up to many other firms. I mean, it’s more competitive but from our point of view that’s quite a good thing.”
In the last 12 months we have seen a lot of UK architects moving to the region. Why is that?
It is true that in the UK the market has slowed down quite dramatically and the financial side of projects has dried up.
I think government work is going to abate as well, because most of Western European countries have got pretty big debts, so governments can’t keep spending the money.
But it’s an obvious place to come too, because Oman, Abu Dhabi and Qatar have all said they are going to increase their capital spending by 10% this year. That represents a huge amount of work.
One of the criticisms levied at Dubai is that because of the short time architects were given to design and get things on the ground, quality has suffered in that city. What are your thoughts on whether Abu Dhabi are going to learn lessons from that?
Our buildings at Yas Island were caught by the timescale of the race day, if there wasn’t the race day they wouldn’t have been built. Had they been built almost certainly it would not have been on the same programme.
I think on more recent projects that we’ve looked at the programmes are still what we would consider to be very short, particularly in the design phase. I think there is still an assumption that you can get the beginning of the building phase in five months. If you do that, quality does suffer.
Did that belief have anything to do with your company’s decision to set up base in Abu Dhabi, rather than in Dubai?
When we came here we decided not to go and base ourselves in Dubai because we didn’t think that market was sustainable. But we also decided we would build a hub up in Abu Dhabi for geographical reasons.
It’s much easier to get from here to Oman, Dubai and Qatar as well as North Africa, and Egypt and Libya are growing markets. So this is really quite a hot spot, and even if there wasn’t any work in Abu Dhabi it would still be a good location, because it is centrally positioned. As a UK firm you can’t do things from afar; you’ve got to be here.
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