Alternative designs reducing both costs and construction time have resulted in a £25 million contract for Skanska Cementation International to extend one of Dubai's premier international shopping malls.
The project at the Bur Juman complex in the new Dubai Centre includes a four-level retail podium above which two apartment towers and an office tower will be constructed. Below a four-level basement car park will be built.
From its local office in Dubai, Skanska Cementation International worked with its sister company, design specialist Skanska Technology, to propose a high-tech substitute to the traditional reinforced concrete slabs and beams which were originally proposed. The structure will now be built with large areas of post-tensioned concrete.
The company also developed a post-tensioned raft foundation system for the 22,500 square metre footprint of the complex – the first time such a solution has been used in the United Arab Emirates. At 13 metres below the water table, the concrete basement will be constructed as a fully watertight structure surrounded by a waterproof membrane.
Starting immediately Skanska will carry out the structural work on the massive 275,000-square metre extension in Bur Dubai. Work is expected to be completed in just 19 months following Skanska’s value-engineered solutions.
After successfully bidding for the 16-metre deep sub-structure contract, Skanska negotiated the superstructure work, offering the client the benefits of a combined programme and continued value engineering.
The client is the Bur Juman Centre LLC, member of Saif Al Ghurair Group of Companies of which Mr Majid Saif Al Ghurair is the managing director. The client’s representative and project director is Innotech Construction Co, the project manager is Dar Al Handasah (Shair & Partners), the lead architect is Kohn Pederson Fox Associates (International), the retail architect is Eric R Kunhe & Associates and engineering consultant is Buro Happold.