Enabling works including piling, excavation and dewatering have just been completed on the site that will house Qatar’s tallest tower and the main contractor is due start work on the prestigious development later this month.

Al Habtoor Engineering (HEE), in joint venture with Al Jaber contracting firm, has taken on the challenge of constructing the Dubai Tower, which – at 437 m upon completion – is expected to be the tallest tower in the country when completed in 2008.
The project – being developed by Dubai International Properties (DIP), a member of Dubai Holding – will occupy a prominent location along the corniche in the West Bay area of Doha and will offer magnificent views of the sea over Doha Bay, thanks to its orientation and geometry. Its bold sloping roofs and angular glass facades will make it a striking landmark and a sought-after address in Doha, according to the developer.
The mixed-use development, which will rise up to 88 storeys and enfold a built-up area of 228,000 sq m, will offer upmarket retail areas, state-of-the-art offices, a five-star hotel as well as top-quality apartments – both furnished and unfurnished. The hotel and the furnished apartments will be mainly aimed at the high-end business traveller and will offer all the amenities one might expect of a five-star hotel.
The project will comprise:
• 138 unfurnished one to four bedroom luxury apartments as well as four-bedroom penthouse apartments situated on the top floor. In addition, there are 166 furnished apartments including studios ranging from one to four bedrooms;
• A five-star boutique hotel, managed by an international luxury hotel chain, Jumeirah. It will occupy eight floors, offering162 luxuriously elegant rooms and suites, varying in size to cater for a great variety of clientele. It will include a waterfall pool on the terrace of the podium, gym, sauna, conference rooms and a business centre;
• 29 floors of offices, equipped with the highest technological standards. It will dedicate two fully-furnished and serviced “virtual” offices to new companies which require temporary business in Doha to be run by an external operator. Entire floors will be available for lease;
• Retail and restaurants: Dubai Tower-Doha will have 80 retail units and open spaces for the guests of the hotel and the tenants of the apartments and office as well as the public. The hotel will also have its own specialty restaurants from around the globe and cafés as well as outdoor terraces and cafes.
• Parking facilities, available to all of the tenants in the tower. The size of the apartments or office suite will determine the number of spaces that will be allocated. There is also parking available to the hotel guests and visitors of the shopping boulevard.
HEE has already started mobilising for the project, which is to be implemented on a fast-track basis within 28 months.
Says Nasr A Nasr, area manager for HEE in Qatar: “This is a huge challenge in terms of planning, construction and the logistics. We have to rely heavily on our pre-planning skills to ensure our success in this fast-track project. We have appointed Osama Taher as the project director on the Dubai Tower. Taher served as the project director on the Burj Al Arab, which we completed with great success in Dubai in addition to many other prestigious projects, and we expect the project to benefit immensely from his previous experience there.”
HEE has already selected both the structural steel and concrete supplier; the curtain-walling, lifts, elevators and escalators subcontractors have been nominated and HEE expects to sign the agreements shortly. Bids have also been invited for the mechanical and electrical (M&E) services, while tenders for the interior decor, furniture, fittings and equipment (FFE) are due to be issued by mid-2006.
Nasr attributes HEE’s success in clinching this highly prestigious order to its sound reputation in the market. He comments: “Negotiations started in April (last year) and we tendered and won the project based on submitting an alternative structural design.
“HEE was singled out for the construction as it is globally renowned for its projects spread across the world. It is synonymous with the highest levels of quality combined with extraordinary creativity and is an acknowledged specialist in its field. For the first time, we are redesigning the main steel frame structure of a building.”
“It is a very challenging project and a first for both Qatar as well as HEE. The support from the Dubai office has been tremendous and helps us a lot as we move along on a project of this magnitude,” he adds.
RMJM and Hyder Consulting are the design consultants, while LW Design will carry out the interior design. Hill International will be the project manager, while Al Khatib Cracknell (AKC) will handle the landscape design.