Scott Wilson commended
UK-BASED consultancy Scott Wilson won a commendation at the British Expertise International Awards 2008-2009 for its work on a project in Bahrain.

The commendation certificate in the category ‘Major Consultancy Project of the Year’ was awarded for environmental consultancy, marine design and supervision reclamation work at Diyar Al Muharraq, an island development being built off the kingdom’s northern coast. Scott Wilson also won an award for the Best Consultancy Project of the Year for a landscape design for a project in China, while one of its engineers won a Young Consultant of the Year award.
Nass wins desal contract
ENERGY Central Company (ECC) has awarded Nass Contracting a contract to build infrastructure and ancillary works for a seawater desalination plant at Durrat Al Bahrain. The plant will meet the irrigation demand at the mixed-use residential resort in the south of Bahrain.
Equipment for the first phase of 12,000 cu m daily of desalinated water is already under manufacture. This contract includes buildings to house the plant together with tanks, pipelines, offices and site works.
Nass will commence work immediately with strategic areas scheduled for early completion by September. The desalination project will operate using reverse osmosis technology and the total capacity will be in excess of 32,000 cu m.
ECC has a 25-year concession to design, build, and operate the desalination plant.
Piling ready on Le Reef
BAHRAIN Foundation Construction Company (BFCC) has completed piling work on Le Reef twin towers at Reef Island in Bahrain.
La Reef’s developer Ahad Holdings says that following completion of piling, the $100-million project is moving ahead on schedule.
Al Shorooq Contracting Company is the main contractor on the project, MSCEB is the interior design consultant, while Al Jazeera is the civil consultant.
Scheduled for completion by the end of next year,the 10-storey identical towers will offer multiple-choice apartment designs based on Western and Eastern themes and an exclusive penthouse in each tower.
Training software vies for award
GRAPHISOFT'S ArchiCAD BIM Learning Studio has been nominated for the second consecutive year at the Software & Information Industry Association (SIAA) Codie Awards 2009, according to its Middle East distributor, AtOne Software.
The Codies will be awarded next month (May 4 and 5) in San Francisco, US.
The training solution helps architectural users of 2D CAD become familiar with working in 3D building information modelling (BIM) with a suite of voice-led resource learning materials.
ArchiCAD BIM Learning Studio also made it to the top list for the ‘Bigmouthmedia Marketing Strategy of the Year – Ruban D Honneur’ at the 2009 European Business Awards.
Aramco to retender key projects
SAUDI Aramco will press ahead with 144 new ventures – including eight mega projects and 80 medium enterprises – over the next five years but will retender several of them due to cheaper construction costs and lower commodity prices following the global financial crisis, according to local press reports.
The company last month invited major local contractors to explain its investment and renegotiation strategy and assure them that its financial position is strong enough to enable it to carry out planned ventures, the reports said.
BWS Middle East role for wharf
BAHRAIN-BASED real estate developer First Bahrain has appointed Baker Wilkins and Smith (BWS) Middle East as its cost consultants for its warehouse project at the Bahrain Investment Wharf (BIW).
BWS Middle East will provide preliminary cost advice and life-cycle costing advice on designs and construction approaches through strict cost control and cost planning for current and future projects.
The agreement was signed by Amin Al Arrayed, general manager of First Bahrain and Peter Makepeace, general manager of BWS Middle East.
The first warehouses at the BIW project are due to be delivered in nine months, with the entire project due for completion in 18 months.
Firm offers online design service
TECHNOGYM has launched a new online service for architects and interior designers across the world.
Users can download 2D and 3D Technogym Icon products to help create a wellness solution for customers’ interior design projects or stylish home gym solutions that change not only a home’s interior but also the customer’s lifestyle.
“The essence of interior design will always be about people and how they live. It is about the realities of what makes for an attractive, civilised, meaningful environment,” says Christian Dietrich, managing director, Technogym Emirates.
“Technogym believes that life is not living, but living in health, and goes that extra mile to help architects and interior designers in the region design a wellness space into a home interior for customers to stay healthy,” he added.
Further details can be obtained from Technogym’s website (www.technogym.com/ae/viewdoc.asp?co_id=151).
Logistics zone work progresses
INFRASTRUCTURE work at Bahrain Logistics Zone (BLZ), located at Bahrain’s new port in Hidd, is expected to be completed this month.
This will pave the way for General Organisation of Sea Ports to sign contracts with 20 tenants, who will build their businesses at the facility.
“We ran a tenant attraction and screening process to make sure we got the right companies and the right mix,” said BLZ assistant director general Hamad Fakhro.
Once the selected tenants have been signed up in June, construction work across the zone is expected to begin in the second and third quarter of this year, with the zone likely to be up and running early next year.
Arabtec sets up Saudi venture
ARABTEC Construction of the UAE, a subsidiary of Arabtec Holding, has set up a Saudi subsidiary, according to local press reports.
Called Arabtec Saudi Arabia, the venture has been set up with CPC Services Company, a member of the Saudi Binladin Group, and Prime International Group Services.
The company has a paid-up capital of SR150 million ($39.9 million) with Arabtec owning a 45 per cent stake, and CPC and Prime International owning 35 and 20 per cent respectively.
The new company will tap the ongoing growth of the Saudi construction and infrastructure market, Riad Kamal, CEO of Arabtec Holding was quoted as saying by the Emirates Business newspaper.
“The projected turnover in the first year will be in excess of SR1.5 billion ($399 million) and in the next two to three years will increase to SR3-5 billion ($799 million-$1.3 billion),” he told the newspaper.