SAUDI-based Inex Wood (International Expertise in Wood Company) has gained a reputation as a top-notch specialist in interior woodwork having undertaken high-end projects for palaces, villas and seven-star hotels, including premier hotel chains such as the Hilton and Sheraton.

“We are specialists in tailor-made internal woodwork fabrication and installation and more often than not, this involves highly decorative and intricate work,” says Zakaria Isfenja, the company’s deputy general manager. “We provide a comprehensive range of products and services which covers basically anything that is made from wood, right from the ceiling to the floor.”

Inex Wood fabricates, supplies and installs decorative wooden works such as various types of doors (modern, Islamic and custom designs), certified fire-rated doors (with a fire rating of 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes), parquetry, ceilings, vanities, counters, panels, silkscreen, mashrabiya, traditional Islamic designs, galleries, router curving works, decorative interior and exterior works, pergolas, canopies, gazebos and terraces, among others.

“We supply all types of decorative wood for the interior of a development as part of our contract. For example, the prestigious hotel chain Hilton International is one of our major clients, and the entire remit of work that we undertake for this company is tailor-made to their requirements and to that specific project,” says Isfenja.

Inex workmanship ... seen in customised products.

According to him, all the client’s requirements in terms of woodwork is produced as customised products in accordance with his drawings and material specifications.

Design detail

Elaborating on the company’s design strategy in implementing projects, he says: “The initial pictures and innovation come from the customer and their designers, who may not be aware of all the intricacies involved in woodwork (the properties of the wood, for example). Therefore, we take the designs and furnish them with the practical elements and manufacturing details that are integral to the design. We create the shop-drawing details for fabrication – the dimensions, details, material thickness and techniques that will be necessary to execute the design.

“Typically, this means about 60 per cent of the design work is carried out by the designer and 40 per cent by Inex Wood, with our input focusing on instilling the design file with details of the woodwork to complete it.”

Prestigious projects

Inex is currently executing the complete interior and exterior wooden works (doors, panels, vanities, counters and parquets) for the Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University project in Riyadh; and doors, panels, vanities, counters and trellises for the King Abdullah International Convention Centre in Jeddah (KAICC).

“The challenge on these

projects is to provide high quality in a short period of time,” says Isfenja.

Among the major projects that the company has carried out is the newly-opened Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh. The project, involving intricately designed wooden ceilings, cladding and doors, was worth approximately $50 million.

Inex also executed woodwork for the distinctive Hilton Royal Palace Hotel, Jeddah, under a SR13.38-million ($3.56-million) contract from Haif Contracting Company. The scope of work included special work on doors with leather, mother of pearl and marquetry designs and stylish modern decorative wooden works on doors, panels, cabinets, ceilings, parquets and vanities.

Other major projects carried out by the company are the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust) in Thuwal near Jeddah; Half Moon Bay in Al Khobar; and Rawda Royal Palace, Janadriyah Royal Palace and Desert Roses Private Villas at Al Khozam, all in Riyadh.

Quality ... integral part of Inex projects.

Leading contractors Saudi Oger and Saudi Binladin Group are some of the top clients of the company, whose workforce has grown from 50 employees to a total of 600.

Quality

“Inex Wood is committed to the manufacture and delivery of quality wooden products and woodwork services. The company adheres to all quality control requirements that include international standards in the industry. We are certified to ISO 9001 standards for our quality control and assurance procedures. We also conform to the IFC (International Fire Code), with our doors certified for their fire rating,” says Isfenja.

In addition, the firm has developed and implemented its own quality control measures.

The company started operations under the banner of Al Hamzah Establishment in 1994, with 50 employees at a modest workshop and factory located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Currently, Inex operates factories in Riyadh and Jeddah. In addition, the company set up a new factory in Jebel Ali, Dubai in 2003.