CONSTRUCTION work on a luxurious five-star hotel located on Qatar’s prestigious man-made island development is being implemented on a fast track to ensure its completion by the fourth quarter of 2014.

Destined to become Qatar’s premier hotel destination, the Kempinksi Marsa Malaz Hotel at The Pearl-Qatar will set new standards for luxury in the country when it opens and will boast a number of superlatives including the nation’s largest health club and spa and largest ‘standard’ hotel room.

The hotel enjoys a secluded location on Marsa Malaz, a private island towards the north of the mega artificial island, and is set against a tranquil backdrop of a large beach with unrestricted views to the Arabian Gulf, together with the exotic and lush landscape.

“The island setting also allows the hotel’s beautiful architectural form to be experienced from a number of vantage points, including on arrival by water taxi,” a spokesman for Arab Engineering Bureau (AEB), the consultant on the project, tells Gulf Construction.

Elaborating on the architectural concept of this QR1.5-billion ($412 million) landmark project, he continues: “The language and colours take their inspiration from Venice, reminding visitors of the historical trading and cultural links between the great Ottoman and Venetian civilisations. The palazzo-like grandeur of the internal space and the carefully chosen artwork and sculptures reinforce this experience. In the evening, the carefully conceived lighting of the landscape and architectural features intensify the drama, while respecting the intimacy of the guest experience.”

Being developed by Al Fardan Properties, one of Qatar’s most successful and innovative companies, the Kempinksi Marsa Malaz Hotel is being constructed over a 46,113 sq m area and, given the scale of the development, is being implemented in zones to provide a total built-up area of 81,279 sq m. Construction Development Company (CDC), the main contractor, started mobilising for the project in April 2012 and is expected to hand over the building by the year-end.

The Kempinksi Marsa Malaz Hotel is in line with Al Fardan Properties’s focus on developing projects that enjoy benefits of location, state-of-the-art facilities, top-quality finishing and eye-catching design to ensure that they emerge as iconic property developments in Qatar.

“The project has been commended for the way in which the architectural brief and AEB’s realisation of it has taken advantage of the unique site and created a hospitality prospect that addresses the future potential of Qatar’s expanding hospitality market,” the spokesman says.

The hotel, which will be operated by the renowned international hotelier Kempinski, has 281 guest rooms spread over six levels – including basement, lower ground, ground, mezzanine and five upper levels. The rooms range in size from the 60-sq-m Grande Deluxe – the largest ‘standard’ hotel room in Qatar – to the two Royal suites, which offer more than 600 sq m of space with up to three interconnecting rooms, and a private rooftop pool with sea views.

“Each room has generous private terraces,” the spokesman points out.

There will be seven restaurants in the hotel, each with a unique interior and gastronomic theme, including a spectacular skybar with large outdoor dining and entertainment areas, while the hotel’s health club and spa stake claim to being the country’s largest with an area of more than 3,300 sq m.

“The spa includes over 20 private treatment suites, including an authentic hammam experience – another first for Doha,” he enthuses, adding that the hotel is designed to cater to the emerging health tourism markets.

The beach and jetties will offer watersports activities, while a 1-km jogging track is also included within the landscaped grounds.

The hotel has adopted the latest technology especially for the room management system (RMS), providing a touchscreen type with built-in sensor. Another highlight of the hotel is that all bathrooms have a built-in waterproof TV along with a waterproof remote control.

In addition, for the convenience of all guests, ample parking is provided within the development.

 

Construction

Foundation work on the hotel started in July 2012 and entailed a matt foundation resting on piles. The superstructure comprises post-tensioned slabs with the façade overlooking the beach and pool area featuring a 24-m-high and 10.8-m-long curtain-wall with tempered tinted glass on the outside and tempered laminated glass on the inside part.

“The post-tensioned design of the slabs has had a great impact on the project, allowing for the completion of the structural works ahead of schedule,” the spokesman points out.

He adds that formwork from Doka has been utilised to speed up the concrete pouring and maintain a high standard and quality of the completed works. Four tower cranes are currently operating on site to allow easy access to all the work areas.

In line with standard practice in the construction field, specifications were laid down based on the client/owner’s requirements and in compliance to local and international standards in order to meet the quality of works stipulated by the approved layouts/drawings. Some of these references include project specification, Qatar’s construction standards/specification, Qatar Tourism Authority standards, United Development Company (UDC)/Kahramaa (Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation) standards, Kempinski standards – operator’s requirement, and the manufacturer’s recommendations.

The challenge of the project lies in the fact that it is a unique hotel concept design that is being constructed on a fast-track basis on an island, which nevertheless needs to be easily accessible, says the spokesman.

“There have been no major difficulties encountered during construction since the project was planned in detail ahead of time in order to accomplish a smooth flow of all construction stages,” he adds. “Considering the number of parties involved such as client/owner, operator, statutory bodies, contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers, proper communication and documentation control systems had to be put in place to ensure speedy responses.”

The building has a range of high-end finishes with the main lobby, reception and front desk area featuring marble flooring and walls that combine marble with mosaic patterns. In contrast to the high ceiling of the grand staircase, chandeliers will be installed high above an aquarium on the lower ground floor level facing the beach area and swimming pool area. In addition, the columns and mouldings near the lifts in the lobby will be well decorated. All guestrooms will have mother-of-pearl inlays and special paint finishes as well as artworks – the latter is also a feature of the public areas.

AEB is an award-winning firm of architects, urban and master planners, interior, landscape and structural designers, engineers, quantity surveyors and project and design managers.

Founded in 1966 as the first architectural and engineering consulting firm in Qatar, AEB brings close to five decades of experience to the construction industry. Beginning with just six employees in 1991, when the firm was acquired by its current CEO Ibrahim Jaidah, AEB’s diversified human resource has grown to a current figure of more than 500 highly qualified professionals of 33 different nationalities.