With a growing reputation for quality of work, and an ability to compete, local consulting engineers and architects are increasingly staking their claim in the Gulf States.
With a growing reputation for quality of work, and an ability to compete, local consulting engineers and architects are increasingly staking their claim in the Gulf States.
Much of the region, which consists of countries bordering the Persian Gulf, is rapidly developing thanks to oil wealth, which was traditionally invested offshore but is now flowing back into domestic investment.
While Saudi Arabia remains the turf of US engineering and construction firms, the battle is on between Australian and British firms in other countries.
Competition is particularly strong in the United Arab Emirates – historically a British stronghold – and Qatar, which are two of the fastest developing regions.
Huge amounts of construction work, ranging from stadiums to infrastructure projects to commercial and residential towers, have been under way there for a number of years.
Large Australian construction companies such as Multiplex were among the first to target the region, while local consulting engineers and architectural firms are developing a growing reputation both for the quality of their work and the cost.
“They are half the price of the Americans,” according to one industry source.
Although some remain cautious, most are bullish in their approach to the region, establishing branch offices or joint venturing with local or experienced operators.
“Once well established, and with a good solid client base, you can only continue to grow. There is no reason to downsize,” GHD engineering technology manager Dorel Iosif said about Dubai.
“It will grow forever.
“The incentives [to establish a business] there are unimaginable in Australian terms.
“It has the largest concentration of information technology professionals in the Arab world.”
Local firm GHD is one of the more established firms in the region.
GHD’s project list in Dubai is extensive and includes the Dubai Marine City Masterplan and eight Gulf coast marinas.
It was also recently appointed as project manager for one of the world’s largest urban develop-ments, known as The Palms.
However, in Qatar it has worked on projects such as the $US300 million City Center Doha, the $US70 million Lagoon Plaza retail and hotel complex, the 15-storey Al Sulaiti Office Towers and the Beverly Hills residential compound, as well as securing $US30 million worth of urban infrastructure design work.
Mr Iosif’s comments are supported by a more recent entrant, BG&E Consulting Engineers, which established a branch office in Dubai last year.
BG&E first entered the UAE in 1997 to work on the re-engineering of office towers in the Emirates Towers, which was being constructed by a joint venture between Perth-based builder Multiplex and local UAE firm Nasser.
It went on to consult on other major tower projects as well as the mega-project, the Dubai Marina.
Currently, BG&E is designing and documenting four apartment towers as part of the Jumeriah Beach Complex, as well as six apartment towers as part of the $200 million Burj Dubai – The Residences project.
BG&E director Robert Johnson, who was involved in the establishment of the Dubai office, said while the rapid development had occurred in the past 15 years, it had increased significantly in the past three to four years.
“It is beyond comparison in Australia and from all reports it’s similar to the level of work of Shanghai,” Mr Johnson said.
“Very few projects announced don’t go ahead.”
And it shows no sign of abating, he said.
According to some newspaper reports, $82 billion worth of construction projects are planned for Dubai in the next three years.
However, Mr Johnson said while the market was buoyant, it was also highly competitive on a global scale.
It was a different operating environment to Australia that required good client connections as well as different design and engineering solutions to suit the construction conditions, he said.
One local firm that’s more cautious in approach to UAE and the Middle East is Australian firm Connell Wagner.
While the Western Australian office is doing work in the region, either through a partnership agreement with global construc-tion company Mott MacDonald, or supporting other local Australian bidders, it spends no money directly marketing itself there.
Connell Mott MacDonald is providing engineering design, construction supervision and post-contract service for the first phase of the $US200 million Dubai Marina.
Connell Wagner is also supporting Australian architecture firm Woods Bagot on the $200 million College of Technology in DOHA.
Despite this, Connell Wagner WA principal Don Phillips said it was a risky market in which it took years and significant funds to build up client bases.
“You have to pick your project,” he said.
Because of the cheaper cost of labour, fees were generally less than in Australia.
“There are great opportunities in Australia to get better value for money. We look cautiously overseas to add value to our expertise, usually through our established clients,” Mr Phillips said.
