Construction Week Viewpoint

Championing intelligent solutions in its processes, Group AMANA operates and invests in technology to advance construction quality and efficiency, all of which are integral to the region's growth ambitions. In this episode of ‘Behind the Mic', Construction Week Middle East sat down with Jihad Bsaibes, CEO of AMANA Contracting to discuss the Middle East's changing construction landscape, including how the company is adapting to the new future of construction in the region. The conversation circles around topics that include #modular construction, #digitalisation, and #inflation in the market.

As the construction sector embraces transformation in the region, one country that continues to showcase extraordinary achievements in the industry is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A nation that is witnessing its huge ambitions come to life through an impressive array of gigaprojects supported by Vision 2030. This achievement wouldn't have been possible if not for the excellence and expertise presented by construction stakeholders. In this episode, Barry Lewis, Managing Director - Construction at ALEC, shares insights about the status of the exponential construction market in the kingdom. He also elaborates on why now is the right time to be involved in the nation's construction industry.

The Middle East construction market has faced several challenges over the past 18 months, in the light of the ongoing pandemic. And these have pressured clients and contractors in the region, highlighting the need for fast and cost-effective supply. For this podcast, Brett Smyth, general manager, EMEA, IDEAL Industries highlights the company's extensive range of electrical supplies, wire connectors, lubes, tools and test, and measurement equipment and how its portfolio delivers on the quality, reliability, and compliance that clients and contractors in the Middle East need.

A façade builds on a structure's response to an external environment, protection capabilities, technical performance, and eventually contributes to the overall ‘health' of a building. In ensuring optimal façades, important considerations are safety, sustainability and cost. On a recent podcast episode, Construction Week's Multimedia Reporter Disha Dadlani hosted Liam Northam, Façade Team Lead at Ramboll and Marina Kindelan, Associate Director, Façades at AESG to go over the important considerations, criteria, and gaps in designing and building façades. Catch the experts' insights in Construction Week's latest podcast - out now!

Early contract involvement can perhaps make or break the way a project is executed and delivered. The industry has oft-discussed the need to ensure such involvement alongwith optimal collaboration for the successful and smooth delivery of a project. Collaboration by itself does not suffice, as the coming together of all stakeholders could be a futile exercise if not initiated or undertaken early on. Construction Week's Multimedia Reporter Disha Dadlani recently sat down with ALEC's Operations Director Sean McQue to go over all this and more in Construction Week's latest podcast episode.

UAE's AEC (architecture, engineering and construction)landscape are having to navigate a lot of uncertainty, induced by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. And while braving the implications of the crises, AEC firms can focus on ensuring proper project management methodologies, collaborate efficiently, and incorporate a strategic way of working. In this podcast episode, we sit down with Dr Fadi Bayoud, Founder of Strategic Anchors, a company that guides AEC firms to tackle such implications.

Fire safety has remained topical for the construction industry globally, and recently for the Middle East, given the growing number of high-profile cases within the region. The question then remains: how can architects, developers and contractors be better-equipped to tackle building fires; how can they ensure enhanced safety across a project's lifecycle?

Construction Week's in-house podcast, featuring Disha Dadlani, multimedia reporter and Ranju Warrier, digital editor rounds up discussions on several pertinent topics including the change in on-site roles and functions to suit female members of the industry, the need to revaluate hiring strategies and gender diversity at the workplace, going beyond diversity to shift the spotlight onto inclusion and more.

Acuity's Roger Cruickshank & Jonathan Spear on the future of transport

It's only the start of the year and it has been raining appointments at construction consultancy WSP Middle East, with some of the key appointments including Kathleen McGrail as Managing Director - Advisory Services and Ian McGauley as Managing Director for Project Management Services. Listen to the podcast for details on both appointments.

Recruitment across industries has been evidently impacted through 2020 due to the ongoing pandemic and its implications. While this has been a recurring trend across sectors, the impact across the construction industry has been collosal. As part of the most recent Construction Week Viewpoint podcast series, we sit down with Shyam Visavadia, who has developed an online portal, driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning to ensure efficient, seamless and speedy recruitment during these trying times.

In line with its ongoing expansion as a globally-focused organisation, AESG, a specialist consultancy, engineering and advisory firm, has announced the appointment of Global Directors for each of its business lines. The move follows the company’s establishment of offices in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom, and successful delivery of large-scale projects across the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. The consolidation of service teams under unified global divisions will enable AESG to now deploy the industry-best skills and resources from all its international offices on projects worldwide. As part of this move, former managing director at AESG Saeed Al Abbar has been appointed as the group-wide chief executive officer for the firm. Saeed joins us in the Construction Week studios to reveal further details about the firm's upcoming plans.

As part of the latest episode of CW Viewpoint podcast series, Mark Castell, Partner at dispute avoidance & resolution firm HKA shares insights on how expert witness services have changed in the wake of COVID-19. Castell is a quantity surveyor with more than 35 years of construction industry experience. He has undertaken more than 25 expert witness appointments and five expert determinations. Listen to the entire podcast!

Compass Project Consulting, project and cost management consultancy, which took home the Sub-Consultancy of the Year Award at the CW Awards 2020, featured on the first CW Viewpoint podcast for the year to share details about its 'secret' project in Saudi Arabia, its 2021 strategy, upcoming projects and more.

Contractors and developers' HSE concerns today go beyond the norm, with COVID-19 being thrown into the mix. Is it then possible to mitigate HSE concerns and improve safety across sites with the use of technology? Identifying this as a win-win situation for the sector, digital construction thought leader, Prakash Senghani devised a mobile-first, AI-enabled smart management platform that works towards just this - reducing risk and enhancing safety across construction sites.

How often do you meet an all-women team of structural engineers working on projects of prominence? "Not very often, especially in the field of structural engineering," says Vanja Dimitrijevic, senior structural engineer at multi-disciplinary consultancy WME, on the latest episode of the Construction Week Viewpoint podcast series. Listen to find out how the company is redefining gender diversity and inclusion in engineering

In the latest episode of the Construction Week Viewpoint podcast series, we sit down with senior associate in Reed Smith's Energy & Natural Resources Group, Alison Eslick to gain insight on the need for a gender-diverse environment in the projects and construction (P&C) sector.

As part of a recent Construction Week Viewpoint podcast series, we sit down with one such solar provider, SirajPower, which provides solutions combining development, financing, construction and operation of solar rooftops for commercial and industrial (C&I) applications in the UAE.

The emirate of Abu Dhabi has ranked high on real estate investment and advisory firm, JLL’s Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI) for the year. Construction Week sat down with the firm's head of research, MENA, Dana Salbak as part of the Construction Week Viewpoint podcast series, to discuss the capital's performance in real estate through the year.

CK Architecture Interiors is a vertically integrated design-and-build boutique specialist, working on premium properties in Dubai, including luxury penthouses, apartments, and villas. The company confirmed that it is on-track to deliver its six-villa development project at Palm Jumeirah. The six ultra-luxury villas range from five to nine bedrooms in Palm Jumeirah with a total construction area of over 20,800m2 and a plot area of over 9,300m2. All the villas are due to be handed over by 2022.

As a MENA business buyer looking to purchase construction or building material and/or machinery online, in the interest of restricted movement due to the ongoing pandemic situation, what's the ideal resolve? Are there enough platforms within the B2B marketplace to serve this purpose? Chief executive officer of Tradeling.com, an e-marketplace for MENA business buyers, Muhammad Chbib, answers these questions and more in a recent podcast interview with Construction Week.

International construction consultancy, Linesight, is focused on delivering data centre developments throughout the Middle East.

While UAE's hospitality sector has suffered an undeniable blow in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry is slowly but certainly getting back up on its feet. Construction Week sits down with Elie Milky, vice president for business development in the Middle East for Radisson Group to gain insight on the way forward for the hospitality sector and the group's plans for the EMEA market.

With the current economic climate induced by the COVID-19 pandemic scenario, looming over and impacting several sectors, exporters' recovery, business continuity and competitiveness as well as the state of the export-import industry, are in question. As part of the latest episode of Construction Week Viewpoint podcast series, we gain insight from chief executive officer at Etihad Credit Insurance, Massimo Falcioni on braving the vagaries of the present economic situation.

Diamond Developers, which is working on developing the Sharjah Sustainable City and has developed The Sustainable City in Dubai, shares his insights about the increasing sustainable responsibility on developers' shoulders. In addition, he speaks about marrying sustainability with technology and insists that sustainability has taken a "frontseat" rather than a backseat during COVID-19.

Several industries' operations and core businesses have been affected negatively, and in some refreshing instances, positively, in the face of COVID-19. For the most recent episode of Construction Week Viewpoint, we shift the focus onto the additive manufacturing or 3D printing industry as we speak with Neil Harrington, regional director and general manager of Kingsbury Gulf. As "conventional manufacturing methods face pressure", additive manufacturing paves the way forward, Harrington notes.

Construction Week's multimedia reporter Disha Dadlani sits down with director of Linda's Real Estate, Noa Wardman. Linda's Real Estate is a boutique estate agency, named after its founder Linda Mahoney, and a part of Betterhomes Group. The community-based brokerage caters to Dubai's villa communities and strives to empower working parents in the emirate.

Bee'ah's senior manager of int'l business, Mohammed bin Kuwair, discussed the Office of the Future, upcoming projects, challenging targets and how the company aims to achieve them, and the general approach towards waste management

Tom Watson, Partner for the Page Executive Saudi Practice disccused on the episode the impact of COVID-19 on recruitment in KSA's construction and property industry; increased remote onboarding as a result of the current situation; Saudization in the region's construction and property sector; recruitment in a post-COVID-19 scenario

The developer recorded strong sales through the introduction of virtual tours and contactless payments

UAE contractor ALEC and global consultancy firm Cundall have launched the Project of the Future initiative designed to engage young professionals at both companies to come up with groundbreaking ideas “to build a better future” for the industry.

UAE contractor ALEC has revealed exclusively to Construction Week that the industry needs to “stick to the basics” in order to thrive amid the recent accelerated shift of technology and modular construction methods. Speaking on Construction Week’s podcast series, ALEC managing director for construction, Barry Lewis, said that the industry needs to understand the ecosystem that we operate in and for anything to change and to be successful, you need “buy-in” from all the stakeholders.

Abu Dhabi-based Khidmah, which is a facilities management company, fully-owned by real estate developer ALDAR Properties is strengthening its focus on delivering effective technology solutions, chief executive officer of the firm, Abdulla Al Wahedi, discussed during the latest episode of Construction Week Viewpoint.

Dubai-based real estate developer, Samana Developers' general manager, Alan James discussed its upcoming project Samana Golf Avenue as well as the developer's focus on sustainability and resort-style living, among other topics, during the latest episode of the Construction Week Viewpoint podcast.

Anthony McCarter, discusses the firm's focus on the incorporation of sustainability in construction in the region, as well as its upcoming projects during the latest episode of the Construction Week Viewpoint podcast. McCarter also revealed in the podcast Ramboll's focus on high-rises, hospitals, and aviation infrastructure projects. McCarter, who was recently appointed to the role has worked in engineering consultancy for more than 35 years, and expects to grow Ramboll’s buildings portfolio across the Middle East region.

The director and partner of Dubai-based property developer Danube Properties, Atif Rahman, discussed the company's focus on affordable housing as well as its recent and upcoming projects during the latest episode of the Construction Week Viewpoint podcast. Rahman also reveals in the podcast Danube Properties' 1% payment per month plan, which facilitate ease of purchasing properties and discusses at length about the focus on crowdfunding in real estate in the region.

The founder of construction and engineering recruitment firm FifthEdge, Marcus Taylor discussed the challenges and legacy issues in recruitment in the construction and engineering sectors during the latest episode of the Construction Week Viewpoint podcast. Taylor discusses in the podcast how FifthEdge is harnessing technologies to change the recruitment process in the construction and engineering sectors at an industry level, with its recently-launched artificial intelligence-driven platform.

Construction Week editor, Ashley Williams, sits down with the head of sustainability at international consultancy firm Cundall, Hala Yousef, to discuss the firm’s net-zero and net-positive commitments. Cundall recently pledged to make its global business net-zero by mid-2020 and net-positive by 2025 by 15%, in line with the United Nation’s 2030 Sustainable Development targets. Speaking about the firm’s approach towards the sustainable commitments, Yousef said: “Cundall takes sustainability very seriously. We made a pledge with [entrepreneurial charity] Bioregional to become a one-planet living company in 2012. We made the pledge with a longer-term view; when the net zero commitment came about, it only made sense to sign up and accelerate our targets. We are already carrying out all the five steps of the net zero commitment – to commit, to disclose, to act, to verify and to advocate it.”

Construction Week editor, Ashley Williams, sits down with the client director of WSP, Gurminder Sagoo. Business providing management and consultancy services WSP has launched a campaign around the future of placemaking and society. Sagoo, who is a qualified town planner with a Masters’ degree in Urban Regeneration talks about how cities work and how they are evolving. The future of placemaking and society campaign covers six topics – urban spaces, loneliness, multi-use spaces and the well-being of those spaces, how population change impacts that and relevant fundamental smart solutions, Sagoo explains.

Construction Week editor, Ashley Williams, sits down with the founder and chief executive officer of Contractors Direct, David Cook. Launched in January 2020, Contractors Direct is a digital startup company that facilitates stakeholders’ access to pre-qualified contractors in the commercial fit-out sector. Cook talks about the driving idea behind the company, which started as a boutique project management consultancy firm. He stated that Contractors Direct’s aim was to link stakeholders with contractors through a free-of-charge platform, representative of the best value, backed by diligence tests to ensure credibility and enhanced contractor choices. Contractors Direct aims to “clean up the contractors market” by distinguishing favourable contractors from the unfavourable and “educate the clients on the same by offering a route of new leads."

Construction Week editor, Ashley Williams, sits down with the owner of V8 Architects Michiel Raaphorst, who is responsible for the design of the Netherlands' Pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai site. Michiel Raaphorst talks about the concept of sustainability built into the design of the Netherlands pavilion, stating that it is "a driver of change in the society that affects all of us." Raaphorst adds that the key word going forward is "harvesting", as the Expo 2020 is "all about finding answers and inspiration to overcome global challenges." He says that we, as humans, are using a large part of our planet, and we need to restore the balance by producing more and consuming less. This also needs to be backed up by harvesting locally. He also spoke about recycling the building material that is being used to construct the Netherlands Pavilion. "This all relates to our Dutch way of civil engineering. We thought that if we are able to rent the locally available building material for the time being, during the six months of the Expo, and after the event, if we give back to the local building industry, then 80% of our construction material is already covered by that," Raaphorst adds.

Construction Week editor, Ashley Williams, sits down with Design Infinity's managing partner Geetha Nayak and co-founder of Design Infinity Pratap Mendonca, to talk about its involvement in the Dubai Technology Entrepreneur Campus project in Dubai Silicon Oasis, otherwise known as the DTEC project, and the firm’s plans for 2020. Nayak began the podcast by talking about how the design aspect of the DTEC project was focused on health and wellbeing, with slides included in the fit-out works for the development. Mendonca outlined the firm's plans for 2020, which included expanding its operations in Abu Dhabi and exploring opportunities for the Northern Emirates of the UAE.

Construction Week editor Ashley Williams sits down with deputy editor Anup Oommen to discuss the surge of renewable energy projects coming up across the Middle East. Some of the projects highlighted were Saudi Arabia-based developer ACWA Power implementing an agreement with Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Energy to develop, build, and operate a 240MW wind power project, as well as its major expansion plans across the MENA region. Other companies focusing on renewable energy developments include Enoc after they opened two service stations in the UAE at Dubai Hills and Lehbab First in the end of 2019, with the facilities being equipped with solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roof.

Construction Week's editor Ashley Williams sits down with deputy editor Anup Oommen to discuss the surge of construction activity from the Sultanate of Oman with a broad range of contract wins, project deliveries. Oommen discusses the recent $130m engineering, procurement, construction, and management (EPCM) services contract by Petrofac from the Sultanate’s exploration and production firm, Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) for the Mabrouk North East Development Project. While, Williams talked about what Oman's General Budget 2020 will means for the countries infrastructure sector, as well as overseas firms expanding into Oman.

Construction Week's deputy editor, Anup Oommen, sits down with chief reporter Ranju Warrier to discuss the main construction projects and contract wins that highlights the Middle East's focus on Africa. Ranju Warrier shares key details from Dubai-based AMEA Power and Tadawul-listed Saudi Electricity Company awarding contracts to Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC). She also talks about clean energy projects and sports developments constructed in the African region. Anup Oommen sheds light on the major power purchase agreements (or PPAs)in the region, and delves into the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development's (ADFD) interest in African development projects.

Construction Week's editor, Ashley Williams, sits down with Ludwig Bouldoukian, Hyatt's regional vice president of development for the Middle East and Africa, to gain insights on the hospitality chain's plans for 2020, its Middle East pipeline, and its new lifestyle hotel in Dubai. The Middle East has seen a surge in hotel construction during the last decade, but the market will need to slow down in terms of new projects, says Bouldoukian, who sees "the start of a downcycle" in the region. This will bring to the forefront developers who are serious; who can deliver; who have the financial backing - the kind of developers that Bouldoukian says Hyatt wants to work with. In addition, Bouldoukian speaks about Saudi Arabia's megaprojects such as The Red Sea project and hints at talks with Qiddiya developers.

Construction Week's editor, Ashley Williams, sits down with deputy editor Anup Oommen to discuss the projects such as The Avenues and Alba that are located in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Oommen talks about how Bahrain has laid the foundation stone for its 2,000m2 Pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai site, as well as Bahrain’s King HM King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa inaugurated Aluminium Bahrain’s (Alba) Line 6 Expansion project, one of the biggest brownfield developments in the kingdom. Williams discussed the progress on The Avenues - Bahrain Phase 2, with construction work set to commence in Q1 2020, and US-based HALO Defence Systems choosing Bahrain as its Middle East headquarters.

Construction Week's editor, Ashley Williams, sits down with Patrick Parsons environmental consultancy director, Josh Smithson, about the firm's involvement with the Neom project in Saudi Arabia and its plans for expansion into Africa. Ecologists at the engineering consultancy firm have been involved with the Neom project in KSA since 2018 across multiple projects stages, including conducting habitat, mammal, bird and reptile surveys. Smithson also talked about the firm's plans to enter the African market and will be aiming to establish partnerships to boost its presence in the continent

Construction Week's editor Ashley Williams sits down with Serco Middle East's Chief Digital Officer, Paul Bogan, to discuss his plans to drive technology across the region's public service sector.

Construction Week's editor Ashley Williams and deputy editor Anup Oommen discuss the major aviation deals from the Dubai Airshow.

Construction Week's editor Ashley Williams sits down with CleanMax Solar's co-founder and CEO, Sushant Aurora, to discuss upcoming solar projects for the UAE. CleanMax Solar are India's largest provider of solar power to the commercial and industrial sectors and are now focusing on developments within the Middle East including the UAE and Saudi Arabia.