Having given a touch of class and elegance to several projects in the kingdom, Bahrain-based architectural and engineering consultancy firm Mohamed Salahuddin Consultancy Enginee-ring Bureau (MSCEB) is currently working on a series of prestigious buildings and infrastructure projects of the region.

Among the latest additions to its portfolio are the Raffles City within the prestigious Bahrain Bay development in central Manama and a large residential and commercial development in the Seef area.
The Raffles City is a residential and retail commercial project being developed by Capitaland of Singapore as part of the Bahrain Bay masterplan, which will be a combination of commercial, residential and retail spaces, all set on reclaimed land near the Diplomatic Area. MSCEB is carrying out the complete design and supervision of all mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) and structural works as well as all detailed architectural design and supervision. Rafael Vinoly Associates is the concept architect and Davis Langdon is the quantity surveyor on this project.
Meanwhile, proposed residential and commercial development, located to the immediate east of Bahrain City Centre in Seef is being spearheaded by AYA Bahrain Real Estate Investment. MSCEB is working jointly along with UK-based Aedas as the lead design and supervision consultant on the project, which includes 1,100 prestigious apartments in two 50-storey towers, a hotel and an office tower. The project is currently in the schematic design stage, with HAJ as the project manager.
Some of the other major landmarks in MSCEB’s Bahrain project portfolio are:
• Sarab Al Areen, the centrepiece of the Al Areen Resort near the Bahrain International Circuit. On this project, the practice is carrying out all the architectural detail design and supervision as well as the complete structural and MEP engineering design and supervision. Presently scheduled for progressive completion by the end of 2009, the project boasts a retail development of more than 115,000 sq m with ample parking, as well as a 300-room hotel and over 350 apartments. The project, being developed by the Kuwait-based Mena Real Estate, has US-based Callison Architecture as the concept architect, MenaPro as project manager and Davis Langdon from Ireland as the quantity surveyor.
• Riffa Views, which is set around the world-class championship Riffa Golf Course and includes more than 1,000 attractive villas. MSCEB has design all of the top-end villas, two mosques and other ancillary buildings. It has also developed a number of standard villa concepts while carrying out the detailed design and construction supervision of all the villas, a new international school for 560 pupils as well as a tennis academy. This exclusive development has Mace, one of the UK’s largest project and construction management companies, as the project manager and Bahrain-based HAJ as the quantity surveyor.
• Bahrain City Centre in the Seef area, which is set to open this year. It comprises the kingdom’s biggest multi-use development three-level shopping centre which will occupy a total built-up area of 450,000 sq m. The centre will include a 20-screen cinema – the largest of its kind in the region, the biggest indoor/outdoor water park in the region, along with a family entertainment centre, and the widest variety of restaurants and cafes. The centre adjoins two four and five-star hotels and a multi-storey parking structure with 5,500 covered car-parking spaces. MSCEB has carried out the architectural detailed design of two components of the scheme – including the four-star hotel and the multi-storey car park. It is also the architect and engineer of record for the overall project, with UK-based RTKL as the concept architect and Mott Macdonald as the lead consultant.
• Bahrain International Airport expansion, which is intended to host over 12 million passengers per annum. The Ministry of Works chose a consortium headed by Jacobs for the full design of the project. The UK-based HOK – a global architectural firm that specialises in planning, design and delivery solutions for buildings and communities – is preparing the architectural concept design while Jacobs will be carrying out all the engineering for the airport terminal. MSCEB, as part of the consortium, will carry out the detailed design and construction documentation for the entire project. Complex phasing will be required to maintain a fully-functioning and safe airport throughout construction. The project is currently in the concept design stage.
• Amwaj Island off Muharraq which will eventually house 30,000 people. Having been selected by the developer as the structural consultant for several of its key developments, MSCEB has so far undertaken various jobs such as a high-tech network operations centre, twin 20-storey apartment blocks with basement car parking and a five-star hotel for this project. Also currently under design are a major retail centre with a multi-storey car-park facility and the Amwaj Gateway project comprising of a group of residential, hotel and time-share apartments, with beach-side duplex town-houses set in a beautifully landscaped area.
• Medical University of Bahrain being developed for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) at Busaiteen. MSCEB is the lead architect and engineer for this prestigious development. Phase One of the project – which includes the main seven-storey core building, sports hall, services building and site infrastructure – is currently under construction on the site adjacent to the new King Hamad General Hospital and is targeted for completion this year. Other key players are the UK-based architect Aedas for the concept design, Davis Langdon as the quantity surveyor and Mercury Middle East as the project management contractor.
• Marriott Executive apartments in Juffair, which are slated for completion this year. The project comprises two 20-storey towers connected by a common podium at the lower level and by a sky bridge at the roof deck level. MSCEB is providing complete architectural and engineering design and supervision consultancy services for the project, which involves a gross built-up area of over 42,500 sq m.
• BBK Financial Malls, which are being built as part of the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait’s (BBK) ambitious programme to build a number of financial malls at various locations in Bahrain between 2005 and 2008. MSCEB has already designed five of these, one each at Adliya, Budaiya, Muharraq, Muharraq suq and at Riffa. The first four have already been built and the one at Riffa is presently under tender. BBK is currently also looking at other suitable locations for more such financial malls to be constructed within this year.
Established in 1970, MSCEB is a full-service, multi-disciplinary architectural/engineering consultancy firm that has completed hundreds of projects in Bahrain and other neighbouring Gulf countries that showcase its depth of expertise and breadth of services such as architecture, structural and civil engineering, planning, interiors, space planning, landscape architecture, mechanical/electrical and plumbing, project management and construction administration.
“Our strength lies in our ability to consistently deliver functional, high-quality, cost-effective and innovative designs for a variety of projects. We have kept in step with the changing architectural landscape of the region through innovation tempered with practical experience, and are currently looking forward to continued participation in the booming construction markets of Bahrain and the region as a whole,” says an MSCEB spokesperson.
“Our areas of expertise includes architecture, structural and civil engineering, interior design, landscape architecture, MEP engineering, project management and construction administration across the entire gamut of project-types, including residential, mixed-use, hospitality, commercial, governmental, healthcare, retail, entertainment, industrial and institutional building’s,” he adds.
Besides architectural and engineering-oriented projects, MSCEB also has an active interior design department, which serves a broad spectrum of client needs in as the financial, corporate, commercial, restaurant, hotel and leisure sectors.
Currently, the interior design team is involved in a number of projects for retail fit-out, branches for regional banks, new office fit-outs, office refurbishments, restaurants, health clubs and hotels. MSCEB provides complete interior design services from initial concepts, through mood-boards and space planning, down to specification, tender documentation and, finally, supervision and coordination on site.
With staff numbers currently around 300, MSCEB has a deep resource pool and an exceptional knowledge base and working in partnership with its clients, MSCEB continually aims to find solutions that meet its clients’ short and long-term goals.