With 70 per cent of the concreting works complete on the estimated $10 billion King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust), main contractor Saudi Oger has embarked on the initial mechanical and electrical works on the prestigious project.

The SR6 billion ($1.6 billion) contract entails the design, procurement and construction of the academic and administration campus facilities of the independent postgraduate, research-intensive university, over an area of 26 million sq m in Thuwal, 80 km north of Jeddah, on the west coast of Saudi Arabia.
“The construction contract for this project was signed in June last year with completion scheduled by end-August 2009,” Mazen Fayed, head of corporate communications of Saudi Oger tells Gulf Construction.
Kaust, which aims to serve as a model for innovation in energy efficiency, will support world-class research and education in areas such as energy and environment, water desalination, industrial biotechnology and scientific computing that are important to the future of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East as well as the rest of the world.
Stanford University and UC Berkeley are to help develop the major campus – Stanford is to help design and built the university’s departments of maths and computer science, while UC Berkeley will focus on mechanical engineering. Kaust will accept students of both sexes and will not discriminate on the basis of religion or race, officials said.
The university, which has one of the world’s largest educational endowments from King Abdullah, aims to be a global leader in research into energy, environmental sciences, computing, mathematics and engineering.
The university will include around 20 buildings – up to five storeys high, with an average of four storeys and a basement level each – offering a total built-up area of around 500,000 sq m.
The project includes a number of academic buildings:
Applied Mathematic and Computational Science Building: This building will house a majority of the functions for the fourth research institute of Kaust over a 25,000 sq m gross floor area. Research related to applied mathematics and computational science is the least laboratory-intensive of all the university’s disciplines. It will also comprise a scientific computing centre, being more multipurpose in nature than the other research laboratory buildings.
Research Laboratory buildings: They will accommodate three of the research institutes and their related research centres and part of the functions of the fourth research institute. These institutes will be organised to promote collaboration and interaction between researchers of all disciplines and backgrounds with no building dedicated to a single institute. The laboratory buildings will offer state-of-the-art facilities and an exceptional work environment to scientists who will drive the success of the university. The gross floor area of these four buildings is 200,000 sq m.
South High Bay Laboratory Two: This is an extension of the second research lab, offering scientists additional laboratory space and offices. The gross floor area of this building is 4,000 sq m.
Engineering and Science Building (ESB): The ESB, which has a gross floor of 21,000 sq m, will house classrooms to cater to the course requirements for students studying for the Master of Engineering degree and the Master of Science and Engineering degree as well as the offices of the dean of science and the dean of engineering.  In addition, the ESB provides space for the teaching faculty, meeting rooms for the boards of study and their related administrative offices and will also house the associated instructional/teaching laboratories along with the horizontal programmes and their administrative space.
The administrative buildings comprise:
Campus library: This library aims to provide a gateway to research information and ideas, both real and virtual, over a gross floor area of 13,000 sq m. Providing a living/learning work environment, the library will support research teams in the development of Kaust into a world-class research institution.
The Commons: The 9,000 sq m Commons includes the dining hall for faculty, students and administration staff of the university and a small gymnasium, including cardio and weight machines, located near the academic buildings. The facility will provide easy access to faculty, staff, students and university administration.
Business Data Centre: This primary administrative computing facility, with a 6,500 sq m gross floor area, will provides a secure, dedicated facility for the installation, operation, and administration of data processing equipment and services for university operations. It also contains resources, infrastructure, processing capacity and data storage that may be shared with academic users.
Administration and Conference Centre and support services building: The administration building will house the university’s administrative staff while the conference centre is the public and visitor interface to the Kaust campus. It will be the primary venue for public performances, visiting lecturers, exhibitions and tourists. The conference centre includes an auditorium and multi-purpose rooms as well as a museum and media centre. The support services building is located under the plaza level and will serve the campus buildings. The combined gross floor area of these buildings is around 32,000 sq m.
University Centre: The 7,000 sq m centre will be a link between the university campus and the community and is envisioned to have a storefront-style access to the public, easing access and making it more welcoming. It will house the bookstore, fellowship hall, clubrooms, lounge/game rooms, a café, as well as the offices for residential and retail services and faculty and student affairs. 
Auditorium: This 1,000-seat facility will cater to large gathering, lectures as well as live performances. The gross floor area of this building is around 9,500 sq m.
Parking garage: This is two-storey concrete- frame building with a 93,000 sq m gross floor area will provide parking slots for 3,000 cars of employees and visitors.
Commenting on the challenges during the construction of this prominent landmark, Fayed says: “Time restrictions, bad soil conditions and the extremely specialised nature of materials needed, have been some of the most challenging aspects on this project. Furthermore, coordination of the various elements of the project presented a challenge on its own – for example, on receipt of the design from HOK of Canada, the engineering and packages were undertaken at Oger International in Paris, our affiliated company, while the procurement was administered by the client staff stationed in Paris. By working around the clock, pursuing an aggressive mobilisation plan, a diligent procurement plan and organising intensive soil improvement measures, we have been able to deal with all the challenges posed by the nature of the project,” he adds.
Saudi Oger has recently subcontracted Multiforms, the Dubai-based architectural façade specialist and associate company of Emaar Industries & Investments (EII), to undertake stonewall cladding for six buildings and install curtain-walls, louvres, titanium, cladding and doors to four main buildings.
The external cladding will be completed within a year of commencement of work under the $68 million cladding contract. The Multiforms cladding is expected to be a valuable addition to the developers’ aim of having a minimal environmental footprint, without compromising on the aesthetic value.
The campus is expected to open its doors in September 2009.