THE stately elegance of the Al Hamra tower, which is now being draped in its striking curtainwalling, will stand testimony to the construction prowess of Kuwaiti contracting company Ahmadiah Trading and Contracting Company, which has well over five decades of experience behind it in the contracting sector.

The office building and particularly the exquisite details of its design are now visible from miles around, as the tower stakes claim to being the world’s tallest sculpted skyscraper, standing at a height of 414 m.

Work on the project has reached the 79th floor at the height of 392 m, with only 22 m to go, says a spokesman for Ahmadiah. Construction of the five levels of the shopping centre has been completed and the exterior curtain-wall is progressing, allowing the construction of the connecting bridge between the car-park building and the mall, according to the spokesman.

Offering the largest office area in Kuwait City – at approximately 2,400 sq m of built-up of which 1,800 sq m is leasable area – it boasts a one-of-a-kind luxurious column-free lobby that spreads over an area of 900 sq m and stands 24 m high.

“Its external lighting has been designed in such a way to add an amazing glow to the exterior glass at night,” he comments.

In action ... Ahmadiah machinery at Al Jaber One and Two.

Sky lobbies on the 28th and 52nd levels, serve as transfer floors and also accommodate a fully-equipped business centre and a spacious employee lounge with a 7-m-high ceiling. Sky floors on the 71st and 72nd levels provide the highest business address in Kuwait and the Sky Lounge on the 74th level at a height of 351 m provides a unique dining experience from the highest point in Kuwait. Sky corridors connect both wings of the tower floors and offer breathtaking views.

The fibre-optic backbone of the tower was designed initially by SOM (Skidmore Ownings & Merrill) of the US and Cisco, a worldwide leader in networking, is now designing a special ‘Smart Building’ programme, which will enhance the communication services.

Meanwhile, Ahmadiah continues to be involved in other important projects in the country including Al Jaber One and Two and the Mina Abdullah water distribution project, which is claimed to be the largest of its kind in the region.

Under a KD130 million ($461.8 million) contract for the Al Jaber projects, Ahmadiah will carry out soil improvement, infrastructure work, design and build of six buildings for the Ministry of Communications, 49 electrical substations (each with four transformers) and 52 electrical substations (each with two transformers).

“The soil improvement work and the associated activities will be carried out over a total area of approximately 800 hectares using the dynamic compaction/dynamic replacement method and the use of soil replacement method (including excavation and backfilling) with dewatering,” the spokesman elaborates.

The Al Jaber project, located northwest of the intersection of Road 80 and Doha Road 605 covers an estimated area of 8.15 million sq m. Ahmadiah started work on Al Jaber One was started in October last year and on Al Jaber Two in May this year. The duration of each project is 32 months.

Turning to the Mina Abdullah water distribution project, the spokesman says Ahmadiah and the ABB Consortium was awarded this key contract this October by the Ministry of Electricity and Water. The design, procure and construct contract is valued at KD72.4 million ($256.1 million).

“This project is one of the biggest water distribution complexes in Kuwait and the rest of the Gulf,” he points out. “On completion, the plant will pump about 1.5 million cu m of water a day from two desalination plants – more than double the country’s fresh water supply. This increase in capacity will support the needs of urban development and metropolitan areas planned for the area.”

The project will supply water to the governorates of Ahmadi, Farwaniya (part) and Mubarak Al Kabeer and other locations, which are areas that are likely to see the greatest long-term increase in population in Kuwait.

It will treat the 280 million gallons per day (mgpd) of water to be produced at the Azzour North Distillation Plant and the 75 mgpd of water to be produced at the new Shuaiba North Distillation Plant and will distribute fresh water within the project area. With the addition of brackish water for blending, the quantities of water to be handled will be five to 15 per cent higher than the production from the distillation plants, he says.

The project, which should be completed in 27 months, involves a built-up area of 47,042 sq m, and comprises chemical and laboratory buildings, a pumping station, blending station, a brackish water pumping station and other related services facilities.

ABB will be responsible for the engineering, supply, installation, commissioning and testing of the electromechanical package for the new pumping plant, which is expected to be completed by 2013. The civil works will be carried out by Ahmadiah.

Some of the key products to be supplied include the control and instrumentation system, motors, low- and medium-voltage switchgear, transformers, telecommunications and fibre optic equipment as well as the integration of 23 water facilities into a newly supplied national control centre.