Construction and Infrastructure

La’ala Al-Kuwait Real Estate is proving that urban development and ecological protection can go hand in hand. Ian Williams talks to Gay Sutton about the symbiotic relationship between engineering and the environment at the new Sabah Al-Ahmed Sea City.

A reputation for reliability and a track record for delivering on time and on budget has helped to turn one Saudi Arabian business into an international giant.

Saudi Arabia has an impressive programme of converting its oil dollars into other forms of essential infrastructure. Billions are being spent on water desalination plants and even more on ever increasing electricity capacity (although it has to be said that not all projects have yet received their financial green light).

Long before BEE, an altruistic businessman was working tirelessly to improve the lot of rural black South Africans, as Alan Swaby discovers.

Business men and women like to make money. Make enough of it and they sometimes turn philanthropic, contributing some of their wealth back to the community. But making money while being philanthropic results in a whole new level of personal satisfaction.

Pascal Mittermaier, head of sustainability EMEA for leading global property solutions provider Lend Lease, talks to Gay Sutton about the challenges of sustainable construction.

Canadian engineering and construction group SNC-Lavalin has been awarded a contract by Emirates Aluminium Company (EMAL) for phase II of its smelter in Al Taweelah in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The contract involves the engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) services for a new aluminium smelter, including a 1,000 MW power plant and a 1.7 km-long potline, the longest ever built.

UK budget hotel operator Travelodge is to spend £135 million on expansion within and around the country’s national parks.

The company said it is responding to the rise in the number of people staying in or near the UK’s 15 national parks.

The Travelodge property team is prioritising a search for 37 sites in total, with key locations including Aviemore in the Cairngorns, Betws-y-Coed in Snowdonia, Grasmere in the Lake District and Minehead on Exmoor.

Canary Wharf Group is to construct a new office building of over 500,000 square feet at Canary Wharf in London.     

Work on the substructure at 25 Churchill Place has already been completed, with construction of the 20-storey tower due to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.

Canary Wharf Group has called the building of the tower “a symbolic milestone”, as it completes the development of the original Canary Wharf masterplan.

Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) has announced the signing of a contract to construct the country’s tallest building.

Construction of the Kingdom Tower, which will measure over 1,000 metres in height, will begin imminently in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the company said.

The building is set to be the centrepiece and the first construction phase of Kingdom City, Jeddah Economic Company’s new urban development of over 5.3 million square metres of land in North Jeddah, overlooking the Red Sea and Obhur Creek.

Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company and Canary Wharf Group have signed a deal with Shell International to redevelop the Shell Centre site on London’s South Bank.

The two companies have entered into a 50:50 joint venture, and will each contribute £150 million to secure the 5.25 acre site on a 999-year lease.

Canary Wharf Group will act as the construction manager for the project and will also be joint development manager with Qatari Diar.

Dutch construction and engineering company Ballast Nedam is to be part of a consortium that will build a new biomass power plant in the port of Delfzijl in the Netherlands later this year.

Ballast Nedam will join forces with Germany’s Areva Renewables and with Finland’s Metso Power to build the 49 megawatt plant, which will produce energy from recycled waste wood chips—enough to meet the needs of 120,000 households.

The plant will be located alongside the maritime channel at Delfzijl and will begin operations in the summer of 2013.