Buildings from the inside out

Ahmad Matar, head of the electromechanical subsidiary of contracting giant Al Arrab Contracting.
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Any company that launched in Dubai in 2006 would have since experienced something of an exciting start, given the market fluctuations between then and now.

But in June of that year KSA-based Al Arrab Contracting Company launched its electromechanical business, Al Arrab Electromechanical Engineering (AEME) in the UAE, to capture the market opportunities for electrical, mechanical and telecommunication systems.

AEME is a good example of Al Arrab Contracting Company’s strategy, in which new subsidiaries are quickly set up where there is sufficient business to create a pocket of expertise and compete with specialist rivals. At the helm is Ahmad Matar, chief executive, who is into his fourth year at the company and his 13th in Dubai.

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“We do everything electromechanical,” says Matar, “including lighting, power supply, standby generators, evacuation systems, lightning protection systems, as well as drainage, water supply, air conditioning, plumbing, heating and ventilation.”

Market conditions have not been the only change for AEME and Matar. In the last quarter of 2007 the company already established an office in Qatar – a move which now seems astute given the shift in big business toward the gas-rich state.

By the middle of 2010, the company has a substantial business line in the country, most notably seven of the Porto Arabia Towers in the nascent  Pearl Qatar development, located offshore from Doha’s West Bay area.

The contract for the construction of the first three towers had been won by the parent company in November 2006. Two of the seven have been handed over, so far.

The Pearl Qatar is a familiar concept to any who followed the development of Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah, though with elements of unique design and layout.

The island, developed by United Development Company, will house 35,000 people and will contain three large bays, ten precincts as well as shops, schools and restaurants.

The differences between the projects go further however. To an extent the latter project has learnt from the former, which was built in the haste of an overheating property boom.