Al Jaber LEGT Engineering & Contracting (ALEC) – established in the UAE a little over a decade ago – has boosted its rapidly-expanding portfolio of projects with the addition of the region’s first shopping centre to adopt the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (Leed) standards.

Appointed as main contractor on the Mirdif City Centre project in August 2007, the company has been executing the project under perhaps the most extreme market conditions of boom and recession. Its skills were put to a further test by having to ensure that the mall is built to conform to Leed specifications.

Alec’s scope of work on the Mirdif City Centre included the construction of the shopping mall building, the car-park and the energy centre.

Commenting on the special requirements for the project, managing director Kez Taylor says: “Since the mall is aspiring for a Gold Leed rating, it has to be built to meet the specifications by using Leed-approved products and methods during construction, for example, the glazing, lighting and timber from sustainable/managed forests and monthly review meetings were held to increase awareness.”

The construction of the project was carried out “during the inflationary period in 2008, where a massive shortage of cement and high steel prices were among the challenges. At one stage, we had to employ six readymix concrete suppliers to maintain our pour requirements,” he points out.

To ensure smooth operations of all the trades involved on the site, site layouts were arranged to accommodate the external works contractors to proceed with their work and the tenant contractors to access the car-park areas to offload materials.

“Access and egress was also manoeuvred to ensure a 100 per cent safe environment to all people working on site – safety was also a client objective. Various access and egress points from the main highways surrounding the mall have been built like elevated interchanges from the Emirates Road and Algeria Road (off Tripoli Street),” he says.

Other challenges included coordination with external works contractors with regards to installation of Dubai Municipality services and construction of external and elevated roads. The external works create restrictions to certain elements of the project as well as access restrictions onto site (logistics).

Towards the completion of the project, ALEC facilitated the logistics of removing all the tower cranes (24 tower cranes were used including the UAE’s largest heavy lift tower crane).

The building sits on concrete pad foundations (no piling) and comprises of concrete columns, hollowcore slabs and post-tensioned beams.

Approximately 337,000 cu m of concrete was used on the project for the substructure and superstructures of the mall, car-park and the energy centre, Taylor says. The project required 175,000 sq m of blockwork for internal and external walls.

The shopping mall features 30 rooflight structures, including the entrance cube, which is a spaceframe cable-tensioned structure consisting of 388 glass panels on all four elevations. About 45,000 sq m of metal roof sheeting cover these rooflights as well as the two entertainment zone roofs and cinema, while approximately 9,000 sq m of glazing covers the horizontal and vertical plane of the various rooflights. Natural stone from countries including South Africa, Brazil, Italy, Iran and India has been installed on the walls and floors on the ground, first and second floor levels.

Vertical transport consists of 35 elevators from Otis (of which 19 are FOVF model service lifts with a capacity of 4,000 kg and an operation speed of 1 m/s). Passenger lifts range from FOVF models with a 4,000 kg capacity and operation speed of 1 m/s to GEN2 models with 800 kg capacity and operation speed of 1 m/s. There are a total of 44 escalators including 40  model XO-508 escalators at a 35-degree angle and operation speed of 0.5 m/s and four model XOP-NPC travelators at a 12-degrees angle and operation speed of 0.5 m/s.

Approximately 30,000 sq m of ceilings have been installed in the basement, ground, first and second levels, involving a high degree of intricacy of work as per architectural design and depending on materials used such as plaster board, GRG (glass reinforced gypsum) panels, natural fibre boards, aluminum tiles, and acoustic and perforated ceiling boards. Also, 80-mm polyurethane spray-on foam was used for the mall roof waterproofing system, which covers an area of approximately 81,500 sq m. There is 100,000 sq m of interlocking paving on the ground level surrounding the car-park structure.

ALEC started operations in the UAE in 1999, with a firm vision to raise the level of design and construction services in the country, and has grown to become a preferred contractor for the execution of major construction projects. The company offers complete turnkey solutions from concept to completion, including project management, design management/co-ordination, procurement, construction management and delivery.

Building on its extensive experience adding value to the design process as a conventional construction contractor, ALEC has developed the capability to execute projects on a design-and-construct basis. The Shangri-La Qaryat Al Beri in Abu Dhabi was delivered on this basis and the firm is currently engaged in several other design-and-construct projects. Combining in-house project management and co-ordination expertise with external concept and design partners and an integrated supply chain has proved to be a successful method of fast-tracking developments for select clients, says the company.

ALEC currently operates in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and has delivered developments of high quality to key clients. Many of these developments have become significant landmarks in the UAE and include resort hotels, themed retail developments, high-rises, airport terminals and commercial buildings.

Other prestigious projects that are currently being executed by ALEC include Marina Plaza, Dubai Trade Centre District Phase One, Dubai International Airport Expansion and Park Hyatt Hotel – Saadiyat Island. ALEC has also seen the completion of several projects in the UAE such as Mina ‘A Salam Hotel, Souk Madinat Jumeirah Resort, Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal 1A and 2, Dubai Marina Mall Hotel & Apartments, Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort and Spa and Saadiyat Al Manara.