Capital gains

Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Grand Mosque.
[More Images]

RELATED ARTICLES: UPDATE: Progress on Abu Dhabi's Capital Gate | Abu Dhabi hourly worker pay falls AED6 in 2 years | Besix and Takreer win contracts in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi has not escaped entirely unscathed from the economic downturn, in spite of the hype.

However, a number of factors have left it in a stronger position than many of its peers. “The UAE has not been immune to the global downturn,” said Stephen Embley, managing director – Middle East operations, Aukett Fitzroy Robinson (AFR). “However, Abu Dhabi is well placed for economic recovery, with over 100 years of oil reserves, a balanced economy and enlightened leadership,” he added.

“Leading this recovery has been government investment in ‘social infrastructure’, so healthcare, hospitals, education, universities, and key worker and Emirati accommodation. Hospitality and cultural investment remains strong but luxury residential and retail developments are suffering from over supply and competition from the Dubai market,” he detailed.

Story continues below

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT Please click here to comment on this article

AFR was one of the first design practices to establish a presence in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the 1970s and 80s, and was responsible for a number of iconic projects at the time, including The Arab Monetary Fund and the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed office buildings on the Corniche, which appear on the AED 1,000 bank note. After some time away, the company returned to Abu Dhabi in 2007 and was responsible for the architecture and interior design of the Radission Blu and Park Inn hotels on Yas Island.

AFR has offices throughout Europe, with ‘hubs’ in London, Moscow and, now, Abu Dhabi.

“Strategically, we believe the global economic and cultural centre of gravity is moving eastwards. Abu Dhabi’s position as a bridge between east and west is significant, being only six hours travel time to 100 global capital cities,” said Embley.

US-headquartered design firm RW Armstrong is also convinced of Abu Dhabi’s potential. “We came to the Middle East in about 2005. Our president is of Middle Eastern origin and he wanted to come back to this part of the world and try to be part of the growth,” said Mona Salem, senior associate and programmes director, RW Armstrong.

“When we moved to this region, our president saw that the opportunity was in Abu Dhabi. Even though everybody was in Dubai, he decided to start with Abu Dhabi, and I think that was a good move,” she continued. “We started looking at opportunities and then in 2006 we won our first project, which was lead consultancy for the Sorouh Sky Tower project. Since that time, we’ve grown from an office of about three people in the Middle East to nearly 250 people.”