With infrastructure detail design now set for completion, the $2.6 billion Energy City Qatar (ECQ) – tagged the ‘city with a brain’, – is poised to move to the physical stage with infrastructure construction slated to commence in August this year.

Energy City Qatar – located within the proposed $5 billion Lusail development – aims to be the Gulf’s first integrated energy business centre catering exclusively to the commercial, technical and human resource needs of the oil and gas industry operating in the region, with state-of-the-art facilities and services.
It is being developed through strong regional and global partnerships. ECQ will provide a full service, technologically advanced hub for energy industry management, affording excellent access for upstream and downstream companies at the heart of the Middle East’s gas and oil industry. Being the “city with a brain”, the IT infrastructure and IT-based solutions will be fundamental in the construction of this unique project.
Following the successful response to the first phase of the project, involving an investment of $1.6 billion, the developer has launched the second phase of the overall $2.6 billion development. Designed to accommodate up to 15,000 people, the residential community within phase two will consist of over 5,000 units, aimed at providing cutting-edge accommodation for staff of companies within the premises of ECQ.
“The first phase of ECQ will comprise state-of-the-art corporate offices component, involving the construction of a total of 92 buildings and the Imex building, entailing a total built-up area of 720,000 sq m covering a land area of 72 hectares. Infrastructure construction work on this phase will begin by August this year,” Khalid Al Khudayri, the chief technical officer for ECQ, told Gulf Construction.
The $1 billion second phase, comprising the residential component, entails the construction of a housing compound with all amenities for a modern self-contained residential city with a built-up area of 900,000 sq m spread over a 49-hectare site. Infrastructure work on phase two is expected to commence by November this year,” he says.
While project has not required any reclamation, work is currently under way on the landfill and grading and levelling on the both the sites – for ECQ phases one and two – which are expected to ready for hand-over by July, after which infrastructure construction work will begin.
MZ & Partners, the lead architects for the project, has recently retained Associated Consulting Engineers (ACE) as subconsultant for the infrastructure works and Parsons International Limited (Parsons) as a design subconsultant to carry out the traffic impact study for Energy City Qatar.
The masterplan has been completed and approved by the developer of Lusail, Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, a leading local real estate investment and development company.
The overall design concept of the project is a layout based on a fossil design, featuring a spiral shape with an east-west main boulevard intersecting it. This boulevard will lead up to the campus area of Qatar Petroleum, which is also currently under development.
Energy City Qatar’s architectural concept is based on the golden ratio (phi). The concept of the design follows the organised chaos theory – from the ground level, the leaves, which shade parts of the facility, appear to fall randomly, but an aerial view reveals the leaves falling in an ordered spiral.
The Imex building will be located at the epicentre of the project with all 92 buildings around it. Each of these building will comprise a ground floor and three upper floors and will be connected by open green spaces and pedestrian paths within the complex.
According to Al Khudayri, Energy City officials are currently looking at one overall package for the infrastructure for phase one and another and one for the second phase.
“There will be a separate package for the IT infrastructure and the Integrated Operations Center (IT hub, and operations building) and another for the landscape package. There will also be separate packages for individual buildings to be developed directly by us,” he says.
One of the world’s largest Internet Protocol (IP) enabled projects, Energy City Qatar will provide sophisticated office facilities for gas and oil producers, service, infrastructure and downstream companies, located alongside specialist technical and service facilities.
Cisco, in conjunction with a team of other global technology partners led by Accelerator Technology Holdings, is charged with the responsibility to identify and design advanced technology solutions to create the IT infrastructure required to support the energy hub.
A team of over 30 technology experts from across Cisco’s global offices will work around the clock to complete and handover the technology blueprint to implementation teams within the stipulated timeframe. Cisco will provide specialist services for Internet related projects, including the design and creation of the city’s connected real estate framework, IT infrastructure network and IT and technology based products, services and operations.
“We highly value Cisco’s partnership in building a leading business and technology experience across a world-class energy city. As the Middle East’s hub for energy business expertise, Energy City Qatar must deliver access to the highest possible standards of connectivity and efficiency. Cisco’s proven expertise and ingenuity will help us to make this a reality,” says CEO of Energy City Qatar, Bob Moore. 
“Following the detailed definition of the business needs of the city’s occupants, establishing the IT infrastructure is the next and most critical component of the project.” says Al Khudayri. “Not only will it enable the city to connect and function with other global industry hubs but it will accommodate all the IT-based business solutions and service providers which together make Energy City Qatar a unique facility for the energy industry. The IT infrastructure is the cornerstone on which we will build the energy city of the 21st century.”
The residential zone of ECQ will benefit from the advanced technological infrastructure currently under development for the business hub. Phase one and two will be directly linked by underground cabling. In line with the ECQ’s business district, each plot in the residential zone will be governed by design and construction guidelines to ensure the final development matches the requirements, standards and ambience laid out in the project master plan. The properties will offer a mixture of apartment and condominium-style accommodation.

Lusail
Energy City Qatar will also benefit from its location at the heart of the Lusail development providing access to accommodation, lifestyle and entertainment facilities. A development of an unprecedented scale, Lusail will be home to up to 200,000 people in distinct residential areas.
Energy City Qatar will nestle alongside Lusail’s 10 districts: Marina, Waterfront, Golf, Corniche, Palm Alees, Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment districts, Corporate Office Park, Foxhills and Island Resorts.
Qatari Diar is selling land parcels on Lusail to sub-developers, who are then responsible for constructing their own designs, subject to the overriding conformity of the master plan. Land parcels on the first phase, The Marina, sold out to sub-developers in December 2005 and the second phase, Foxhills, was equally successfully sold out last year. Among the developments at Foxhills is The Piazza, made up of 14 low-rise buildings offering accommodation by way of studios, one, two, and three bedroom apartments and can be purchased off plan now. The first owner-occupiers should be able to take up residence some time in 2010.