EXCLUSIVE: Dubai awards Expo 2020 pavilion construction deals

ASGC wins Sustainability Pavilion and Alec is awarded the Mobility Pavilion

Dubai has awarded contracts to build two of the main pavilions at the Expo 2020 site.

The local ASGC has been awarded the contract to build the Sustainability Pavilion and the local Alec has won the contract for the construction of the Mobility Pavilion.

Local developer Emaar is the development manager for both of the pavilions, while the UK’s Laing O’Rourke provided pre-construction services for both pavilions.

Architects won design competitions for the two pavilions in 2016. The UK’s Foster + Partners won the competition for the deal to design the Mobility Pavilion, while Grimshaw Architects, also of the UK, submitted the winning entry for the Sustainability Pavilion.

Alec has also been awarded the estimated AED1.3bn ($353m) contract to build exhibition space for Dubai World Trade Centre at the Expo 2020 site. Known as the Co-Ex Campus, it has been designed to host events and performances as part of the Expo that starts in October 2020, as well as provide an arrival area for visitors travelling to the Expo on the new Route 2020 metro rail link.

There has been a string of construction contract awards at the Dubai Expo 2020 site in recent months. In January, the UK’s Laing O’Rourke was awarded two contracts totaling AED670m ($183m) for construction work on the Wasl Plaza and connecting access tunnel at the Dubai Expo 2020 site.

The Wasl Plaza contract involves building a concrete apron and two main buildings. The first is the Leadership Pavilion that will be used by dignitaries visiting the Expo site, while the other main building is the Media Pavilion. The buildings will be used as four star hotels after the Expo event has been held.

A steel structure that was awarded to the local/Italian Cimolai Rimond Middle East General Contracting will be built on top of the concrete apron.

The access tunnel is also known as the hammerhead road and provides vehicular access into the heart of the Expo site.

Dubai World Trade Centre has also awarded two contracts totalling more than AED1.2bn ($327m) for the construction of its Expo Village development next to the Expo 2020 site at Dubai South.

Beijing-based China State Construction Engineering Corporation has been awarded an estimated AED620m contract for parcels 10 and 11, and India’s Shapoorji Pallonji has been awarded the estimated AED650m contract for the construction of parcels 8 and 9.

The development involves the construction of mid-rise residential towers connected by three-storey podiums.

The awards this year follow a series of major deals that were signed in 2017. The Expo organisers said at the end of last year that that AED10.8bn of contracts awarded for the event in 2017.

The largest contract, valued at AED2.2bn, was awarded to the local/UK Al-Futtaim Carillion for the construction of the Thematic Districts.

Other significant awards included deal to build and operate the UAE pavilion at the Expo 2020 site secured by the local Arabtec Construction, and the contract to build the Project Star retail centre, which was also awarded to Arabtec.

 

Courtesy: MEED.com


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