Beach build up

Al Muneera.

RELATED ARTICLES: Honeywell wins Abu Dhabi gas contract | AED240m Abu Dhabi work for DSI | Al Futtaim Carillion wins Abu Dhabi university job

Al Muneera is a busy site. People and equipment are everywhere, and it is all on the move, these people have a deadline to meet.

Heading toward a handover in the first half of next year, the project has been dubbed the ‘great Arabian water city of the twenty-first century’.

Al Futtaim Carillion is the main contractor for Al Muneera, which is part of Khor Al Raha, one of 11 precincts within the larger Al Raha Beach development. The mixed-use development is expected to accommodate up to 120,000 residents and is right next to 5.2 million m² of natural beach, just off the main highway leading into Abu Dhabi.

Story continues below

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT Please click here to comment on this article

The Abu Dhabi arm of Drake & Scull (DSI) is contracted for the MEP works and the company’s area general manager, Ahmad Al Naser, is acutely aware of the project’s importance. “It is a high-profile Aldar development that will constitute a new gateway to the Emirate and form a new regional hub,” he said.

The project is made up of two distinct areas, island and mainland, divided by a canal. The two sections have an approximate 50/50 split with respect to built area/cost, though the island is marginally larger in size. The site area is 146 000 m2, with a total built-up area of 594,000 m². This is divided into 254,500 m² of residential space, plus a 106 000 m2 of basement car parking – the island's podium level will be entirely pedestrian.

The bulk of the residential space is comprised of 1286 apartments spread over 16 residential towers. Right down on the beach are 11 sea-facing villas, each with five bedrooms.

The development also includes 148 canal-facing, four-bedroom townhouses, and an office tower. DSI Abu Dhabi’s contract is valued at AED420 million, and includes the full scope of MEP services, including firefighting and access control.

Labour force
DSI’s construction programme is 21 months long, and kicked off in August 2009. There will be 3 500 workers on-site at the project’s peak. Given the sheer scale of the project, this poses immense challenges in terms of logistics.

“Meal breaks have to be co-ordinated and appropriate facilities made available so that productivity is not unduly hampered. With a project of this size, the devil is definitely in the details,” said Martin Lewis, a senior project manager with DSI’s Abu Dhabi operation.

Lewis explained that DSI Abu Dhabi fine-tuned a single residential tower to use as a working template for the large number of buildings required. This sped up the work schedule, as well as improving the overall build quality.

The office tower, in particular, posed a specific challenge as it has a circular shape, which the MEP design and installation had to take into account.