The first major building is set to rise on the Dh54 billion ($14.70 billion) Al Raha Beach waterfront project following the award of a construction contract in late June by Abu Dhabi’s first and leading property developer Aldar Properties to Aldar/Laing O’Rourke joint venture.

The contract will see Aldar/Laing O’Rourke develop the Al Bandar neighbourhood in the massive Al Raha Beach project, the natural geographic gateway to Abu Dhabi which is being developed to spearhead the new vision of the city as one of the world’s greatest waterfront cities.
Designed by UK-based architect Broadway Malyan, Al Bandar will be the first mixed-use neighbourhood development in Al Raha Beach, offering retail, leisure and marine facilities on completion. Occupying a significant area of Al Raha Beach and set around an expansive central water feature, Al Bandar will comprise luxury apartments, townhouses and villas embraced by waterside restaurants, cafes, shops and a leading luxury hotel.
The main residential part of Al Bandar consists of a residential village, luxurious waterfront residential apartment complexes, an exclusive beach area and a public marina – which can also be used as a transit centre for jet cats, water taxis and abras.
“Our first contract award of this major development is a clear demonstration of Aldar’s commitment to our successful procurement approach. This is where we establish integrated teams who can work closely together to procure every essential element of our developments,” says Michael Cox, development director of Al Raha Beach.
The precinct will be accessible by bridge from the mainland with the vibrant new neighbourhood of luxury apartments set within two distinct settings.
The first section will comprise of plush glass duplexes and chic ‘New York loft’ apartments overlooking the marine piazza. The unique marine piazza will provide numerous moorings for a large variety of yachts, complemented by a promenade that will link the water taxi terminal and the entrance of the development.
The second component will be a gated community of family-orientated apartments in a garden setting with leisure and retail amenities. The apartments have been designed with large terrace balconies providing spectacular views of the Arabian Gulf and the Yas Island Ferrari theme park.
Providing a prestigious, yet informal social environment, Al Bandar also features small intimate performance areas providing street entertainment during the day, and atmospheric music during the evenings. The magnificent Entrance Gardens provide a dramatic approach to Al Bandar where residents and visitors can stroll along the canals, shop in the Market Village or Market Garden or simply put out to sea in a luxury yacht.
“We are delighted that Aldar/Laing O’Rourke has been awarded the contract to construct Al Bandar, as this is an exceptional part of this major development. Aldar is shaping Abu Dhabi and I feel we are a major part of this change after the award of a major contract for a project on Al Raha Beach,” says Christopher Wilkinson, managing director of Aldar/Laing O’Rourke.
The iconic Al Raha Beach development on the coastline adjacent to the Al Raha hotel close to the Abu Dhabi Golf Club will feature several kilometres of prime waterfront property, including 60 towers set amidst exclusive low-rise residential developments at the water’s edge. The project to be completed in 2015 will include a total retail area of 400,000 sq m and will ultimately house over 120,000 people in a self-contained new city. It will consist of eight individual, carefully-designed and landscaped precincts, covering a total area of over 500 hectares.
Dredging and reclamation activities on the eastern half of the project was completed recently
Al Raha Beach director, Michael Cox states that “the land formed can now be progressively constructed on several precincts such as Al Zeina, Al Bandar and Al Wateed, which will be managed by the Aldar/Laing O’Rourke Joint Venture Company”.
The dredging company, Dredging International, used one large and two smaller cutter suction dredgers to cut 23 million cu m of sand from the two islands – NE Al Sammaliah and Yas Island – located on the northern side of the 600-m wide ‘Airport Channel’. This was then pumped to the development area and placed in the sea to form the first three ‘precincts’ – Khor Al Raha, Al Seef and Al Wateed, producing some 3 million sq m of development land. Local company Al Jaber Transport & General Contracting has placed some 4 million cu m of land sourced filling in parallel with the marine dredging works.
Aldar has also signed up Tabreed, the Middle East’s award-winning district cooling pioneer to provide 400,000 tons of refrigeration from eight plants from December 2008 to the project.
Al Raha Beach forms the southernmost end of a water and rail transportation network that connects the whole of Abu Dhabi from the Corniche right down to the international Airport. Residents of Al Raha Beach can catch a jet cat from their waterfront villa to the Corniche in minutes or alternatively, moor their private boat in a marina and catch the high-speed rail to their office in the Al Raha Beach business precinct. This project is not only impressive because of its concept and size, but because of the infrastructure designed to support it.
Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Aldar Properties is a premier real estate development, management and investment company formed as the result of an initial public offering of shares. The company was created to fast track real estate investment opportunities, and to offer an opportunity to participate in the prosperity of this increasingly important industry in the UAE. Aldar is owned by leading Abu Dhabi institutions, founder shareholders with over 20,616 investors throughout the UAE. The company’s principle corporate shareholders include Mubadala Development Company, Abu Dhabi Investment Company, Abu Dhabi National Hotels Company, National Corporation for Tourism and Hotels and National Investor.
Aldar have sought out the finest architectural talent in the world to create outstanding buildings, and to create iconic living and working environments that will be unique to Abu Dhabi. The biggest of these projects is the magnificent Al Raha Beach development, where it has tied up with Laing O’Rourke, one of the largest privately owned construction firm in the UK with offices in the UK, Germany, India, Australia and UAE and more than 23,000 employees worldwide.
Aldar’s current project portfolio includes seaside and mountain resorts, hotels, retail centres and residential areas throughout the UAE. Some of these include the Central Market, Al Gurm Resort, Al Mamoura – the Mubadala Development Company and Environment Agency Abu Dhabi headquarters building, Imperial College London Diabetes Centre and Yas Island in Abu Dhabi; Al Jimi Mall expansion and Noor Al Ain in Al Ain, among others.