Built on Collaboration

I've come across a blog about one of my favourite topics: mega projects in the UAE. It's filled with interesting entries and, with new developments being announced almost daily, there's obviously no shortage of breaking news and talking points to cover. The author is Brett Siegel who has a property background and is clearly very passionate and knowledgeable about the subject.

One post in particular brought a smile to my face. It's about Jumeirah Lake Towers, a "city within a city" that will include 87 residential, commercial and mixed-use towers situated around man-made lakes and a promenade. It will even feature an "air conditioned buffer zone" where, in hot summer months, the outdoor temperature can be cooled (only in Dubai!).

The reason it made me laugh was because our Dubai office is at JLT and the development is not quite at that stage yet! The last time I was there, my taxi driver spent 20 minutes driving round the site on a dirt road, trying to find another dirt road that would take us to our tower. Because most of the towers are under construction, the roads are absolute bedlam with trucks, labour buses and overloaded vans jostling for space. The image of relaxing by a lake during your lunch break seems a long way off!

But that's the beauty of Dubai. Just a few years ago, the JLT site was an empty patch of land, 30 minutes from the centre. In a couple of years' time it will be a stunning, self-contained community that is a desirable place to live and work.

If you want a good overview of the main mega projects in the UAE, Brett's '10 Most Important Mega Projects in Dubai' and 'Top 10 Mega Projects in Abu Dhabi' posts are good starting points.

Labels: Global trends, Project profiles

Just come back from a trip to the Gulf and, as always, feel inspired after seeing some of the innovative and ambitious developments underway. It's easy to get jaded by the extremes being thrown around, as every project tries to out-do the next one, but the Bahrain World Trade Center is quite unique.

Although the UAE gets most of the headlines, Bahrain is carving out a niche for itself and is well on its way to becoming a tourism and financial hub. The small Kingdom has a disproportionate amount of mega projects on its books such as the Financial Harbour, Riffa Views residential-golf development, the Qatar-Bahrain Friendship Bridge, Reef Island and Health Island (yes, it is what it sounds).

But the World Trade Center is a real stand-out and will probably become the 'icon building' of the country in the same way that Burj Al Arab Hotel is for Dubai. Designed by Atkins, it has two towers, each 240 meters high, with 50 floors. No big deal so far. What makes it different is that it's the first skyscraper in the world to integrate wind turbines - it has three 29m turbines built on bridges between the towers. They aren't just for show either; they provide 15% of the power for the two towers. Unsurprisingly, it's already won several awards for sustainability. In a region that generates a sasquatch-sized carbon footprint, the BWTC will be a positive symbol for Bahrain.

Labels: Global trends, Project profiles

Here's a nice example of collaboration happening right on our doorstep. Australia's first observation wheel is nearing completion at Melbourne's docklands (a stone's throw from Aconex head office).

The construction stats are impressive. The Southern Star observation wheel stands at 120 meters high, just five meters lower than the London Eye and equal in height to a 40-storey building. It contains 1,650 tonnes of steel, 10km of steel piping, 12,500 square meters of paint and 38,000 high-tensile bolts. The cost of the project is an estimated $100 million.

Completing the Southern Star has involved some impressive collaboration between dispersed parties, which has been assisted by using an online document management tool.

ING Real Estate is the developer, the head contractor is Hansen Yuncken, the architect is Hassell and the leading contractor is Alfasi Steel Constructions. All of these companies have offices in Melbourne. Sanoyas Hishino Meisho Corporation, based in Japan, designed the wheel and is supplying a number of critical components including the hub, controls and motors as well as the 21 cabins. Haywards Steel Fabrication, the company providing the main column structures, is based in Tasmania, an Australian island and state.

So far on the project, more than 330 team members have used an online document management tool to store and manage 20,000 documents and 28,000 correspondence items. Key people on the project have stated that having fast access to files and communication between parties, at any time of the day or night, has been crucial in keeping the project on schedule.

The wheel is part of the massive, billion dollar Waterfront City development. For those of you either living in or visiting Melbourne, the cabins are being mounted over the next six months and the wheel will be open to visitors by November. The developer forecasts that it will attract around 1.5 million visitors each year.

Labels: Project profiles

There's an interesting feature on Innovative Projects in the December 3 issue of McGraw Hill's Engineering News Record magazine. The project profiled in this issue was a shopping mall and hotel development in New York state, where the developer, Cianbro, is challenging its contractors to go Green to the extreme by using 100% biodiesel fuel, recycling up to 97% of construction waste and being paper-free.

Unsurprisingly it was the paper-free part that interested me the most. On this project, drawings are replaced by whiteboards, wall-panel displays and 47-inch desktop monitors showing models of geometry, schedule and cost as well as architectural models and other modelling software. An online document management tool is used and on site paper is being replaced by pen-sensitive tablet PCs.

Although implementing this practice on all projects is still a long way off, it's a great aspiration. In the mean time, we can see projects gradually moving towards being as paper-free as possible. At the moment, most people still want to use a paper drawing out on site for the final build. But reducing the use of hard copies of drawings during the shop drawing review process significantly cuts the printing volume on a project, reducing cost and waste. This is where online document management tools can play a big part - for example, a client recently told us that they'd reduced printing by 80% on their project.

The paperless project was dismissed as a pipedream when collaboration tools first went on the market. Just like the paperless office, it seems we are not quite there yet, but online document management systems do seem to be helping the industry move in the right direction.

Labels: Good practice, Project profiles

We recently received feedback from an engineering manager about the use of online document management on an oil storage terminal development in Singapore. His comments about how his company was using our system highlighted some key differences between how construction and engineering projects use collaboration technology.

This project still enjoyed the usual benefits of collaboration technology (finding and sending files quickly, reduced admin costs, a strong audit trail, and so on), but the main benefits were in managing vendor documents and in the tendering and procurement processes. To build their oil facility, his organization needed to source components from specialist suppliers around the world. In fact, about half of the total value of their project was allocated towards purchasing equipment and materials, which were to be sourced from vendors across Europe and Asia.

Particularly for the complex, high value items, a huge amount of documentation is generated with each purchase, including drawings, data sheets, specifications, maintenance manuals, quality docs, and certificates. So, for this person, the main benefits of using online document management were in streamlining the tender process by being able to create, issue and manage tenders electronically, and in managing downstream communication with suppliers and contractors, by controlling thousands of documents more efficiently.

Labels: Good practice, Project profiles

An article in November/December's Cityscape magazine, a bi-monthly about real estate in emerging markets, has identified Singapore as a role model for emerging markets. From a construction perspective, it tells an interesting story.

Singapore's plan for land use and transportation kicked off in the early '70s and is updated every ten years. Originally, its 'ring concept plan' saw the development of a ring of small towns around the central water area. Expressways were designed to link the towns across the island and the International Airport and the Mass Rapid Transit system were built.

The next 15 years concentrated on the Central Area, resulting in 155 projects turning former neglected and squatter areas into a modern, financial hub. An urban design plan began to transform the skyline. At the same time, Singapore selectively held onto its past, with historic districts such as its Chinatown, Little India and Singapore River given conservation status.

The next stage of development aims to cope with a population of 5.5 million. There is huge demand for residential and business space, with foreign investors committing $1.6bn towards office developments. One project we're working on, the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort, which has a casino, two theatres, convention facility and a 50-storey hotel tower, typifies Singapore's planned approach. With similar developments in the pipeline, Singapore shows no signs of slowing down - a positive sign for other emerging markets.

Labels: Global trends, Project profiles

There's something great about being involved in buildings that - one way are another - have something of the icon about them. A big project for us that has recently got underway in Europe is London's The Pinnacle (also known as Bishopsgate Tower and the Helter-Skelter). You can see its planned impact on the city's skyline here.

It will be the tallest building in London (if built before the Shard of Glass) and along with Leadenhall Street, Heron Tower and the Shard, will anchor a cluster of modern skyscrapers in the generally low-rise city. The top of the 288 meter tower, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, resembles a helter-skelter. Earlier taller designs were abandoned after objections from the Civil Aviation Authority and because they would block views of St Paul's Cathedral.

Arab Investments purchased the tower, which will provide 135,511m2 of office, retail, bar and restaurant space. The restaurant on the 43rd floor will be London's highest public vantage point. Multiplex won the £500m (US$1bn) building contact.

Predictably, given the cost and profile, the timetable is tight and there are a number of public parties involved in the project. With a large team and so many moving parts, efficiently managing information will be important, so we're looking forward to working on this one.

Labels: Project profiles