Joon Hun Kim is the managing director of South Korea’s Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Company’s (Ssangyong E&C) operation in the Middle East.
One of the key contract wins for Ssangyong E&C in the past 12 months was a $169m contract from UAE-based Wasl Asset Management Group (Wasl) for Dubai 1 Residence – a 44-storey residential building in Wasl’s community development project in Dubai.
The contracting giant is also working on Dubai-based megaproject, the $1.4bn (AED5.14bn), 46-storey, 800-room Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences development on the Palm Jumeirah.
In addition, the company is working on the Andaz Hotel by Hyatt in Jumeirah 1 District in Dubai’s La Mer – a seven-floor, 156-key hotel that is slated to complete in 2020. This will be the firm’s sixth project since its re-entry into Dubai’s construction market in 2015.
According to intelligence platform ProTenders, Ssangyong E&C is also working on ICD Brookfield Place – a 54-storey commercial tower located in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
The project’s office tower and retail building will be connected by pedestrian walkways, and will have underground parking facilities that can accommodate 2,700 vehicles. The development will also contain 1,672 m2 of public areas flanked by restaurants.
Other major projects for Ssangyong E&C include the company’s involvement – as part of a joint venture with Trojan – as the lead works contractor at the Deira Enrichment Project by Dubai-headquartered real estate developer Ithra Dubai.
This development project, located in Dubai’s historic trading hub of Deira, is being carried out in two phases and aims to transform the area’s commercial and retail offering.
Phase 1, covering 580,000m2, is due for completion later this year and will see new commercial and residential areas created, and the existing Gold Souk extended. The area will also offer an integrated transport hub, and new leisure and hospitality facilities, with cinemas and three new hotels set to be operated by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
Further afield, Ssangyong E&C has worked on a number of high-profile projects. These include the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore.
With a 52-degree slant from the ground level, the hotel is 206m tall and is made up of three buildings. The 57-storey hotel encompasses 2,561 guestrooms and a sky park. The project was propelled by the Singaporean government with $4bn-worth of investment.
The group also built the W Hotel Singapore Sentosa Cove Hotel, a seven-storey, 240-key facility that was designed – according to Ssangyong E&C – to naturally lower the indoor temperature by 3˚C without the need to operate the building’s cooling system.
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