Bahrain Precast Concrete Company (BPC) steps into its silver jubilee year on the heels of a busy year which has seen its production facilities extended, effectively doubling its output of hollowcore slabs.

'We have doubled our capacity of hollowcore slabs last May to 2,400 sq m per day on two shifts," says general manager Flemming Nielsen.

The expansion has resulted in a 50 per cent increase in turnover and the company expects a further 10 per cent growth during 2003, according to Nielsen.

BPC marks 25 years of operation this year, having been set up as a joint venture between the Haji Hassan Group of Bahrain and NTR of Denmark in 1978. The company was the first to design, manufacture and erect hollowcore slabs in Bahrain.

The manufacturing facility in Salmabad includes hollowcore equipment, tilting casting tables and carpentry and mould fabrication workshops. Hollowcore slabs are produced in thicknesses of 150, 200, 240 and 400 mm and spans of up to 19 m. The company can also manufacture 400 to 600 sq m of precast wall panelling per day.

Its extensive product range also includes long and short-span prestressed beams, columns, building systems, glass reinforced concrete (GRC) items, boundary walls, architectural components such as decorative columns, finials, copings, garden benches and bollards, double-tee slabs in spans of up to 26 m and staircases.

BPC has built most of the landmark monuments that dot Bahrain's roadways such as the Pearl sculpture at the roundabout in Manama, the 'Sails' by the Bahrain National Museum, and a map of Bahrain in Tubli. Last year, it added one more to this impressive list when it completed the clock tower in Riffa in September. The 40-m-high tower comprises a full load-bearing precast structure.

The company's main focus, however, has been on the production of the external skin for buildings as they provide a cheaper and faster way to build facades compared to conventional methods and provide a maintenance-free façade. An added benefit is that these cladding panels can be provided with insulation, offering important savings in energy consumption through reduced requirements for air-conditioning.

Last month (December), BPC completed work at Aluminium Bahrain's (Alba) medical centre where it supplied and installed 3,000 sq m of insulated wall panels in a white, sandblasted finish and 3,000 sq m of hollowcore slabs.

In November, BPC completed an order involving supply and installation of hollowcore slabs and cladding panels for the prestigious guest palace at Gudaibiya. The development comprises five separate four-storey buildings.

Insulated wall cladding panels with a special exposed aggregate finish were installed at the 16-storey Taib Bank office, which is now receiving its finishing touches. The three lower levels of the building in the Diplomatic Area feature dark green exposed surface precast panels. The dark green marble incorporated in these panels was specially imported from India, says Nielsen. The rest of the building has an ivory sandblasted/acid-washed finish.

For the newly-completed seven-storey Al Eslah Al Khairiya building in the Diplomatic area, BPC supplied external wall panels with a white, sandblasted finish.

Other major projects completed by the company include the VIP villas at Le Royal Meridien where it supplied all the GRC elements. GP Zachariades was the main contractor for the development.

Having concluded 2002 on a successful note, BPC already has a healthy order book for this year, with several projects in hand including:

* The Joslin Diabetes Centre being built by Key Construction near the Salmaniya Medical Centre where it is supplying white, sandblasted cladding panels;

* The Bahrain National Holding Company's head office building - which has GP Zachariades as the main contractor;

* A commercial complex off Exhibitions Avenue;

* A five-storey residential building for Almoayyed in the Seef District (cladding panels);

* Extension to the Ministry of Justice building in the Diplomatic area; and

* Al Zamil Tower (external cladding panels) being built by Chapo.

Describing the state of the market, Nielsen says the competition has been tough with the entry of new producers - even though the demand for precast concrete has been increasing over the past two to three years.

BPC, meanwhile, is set to open a factory in Qatar, which is expected to become operational shortly. The facility will have the capacity to initially produce 800 sq m of hollowcore slabs and 400 sq m of panels per day.

Its UAE affiliate, United Precast Concrete in Dubai, has been doing excellent business and has opened a new production facility for cladding panels in Abu Dhabi last May.