Abu Dhabi's new Exhibition Centre completed in record time

IDEX 2007, one of the world's largest defence exhibitions takes place from 18 - 22 February in Abu Dhabi. This year's IDEX is the first ever show to take place in Phase 1 of the newly built Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Centre (ADNEC).

The schedule was so demanding because in 2006 Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company made a commitment to the Government of Abu Dhabi and to IDEX organisers, Reed Exhibitions, that IDEX 2007 would take place in the most modern Exhibitions Centre in the world.

His Excellency Ahmad Mazrouie, Managing Director of ADNEC understood from the start how important it was that the new venue opens in time for IDEX:
'When IDEX is on - the world watches Abu Dhabi and I feel a great sense of achievement that for this year's event, ADNEC has delivered a brand new state-of-the-art Exhibitions Centre. What a magnificent impression we will give as the world sees this fantastic event taking place in such a superb setting.'

'The new venue is quite superb. As well as being one of the most visually exciting buildings in Abu Dhabi, it also the most flexible Exhibitions Centre in the Middle East.'

To provide IDEX 2007 with a superb new venue, ADNEC had to ensure that the project ran smoothly right from the start. ADNEC Chief Executive, Simon Horgan, puts the remarkable speed at which the project was built down to a number of factors:

'Today, the building process from design through construction, and later on into facility management, is more complex than ever. The vast number of people involved in a project of this scale can lead to disagreements and delays. One of our solutions was to bring all the teams together into a single office onsite and split them up so a building contractor was sitting next to an architect. Communication was dramatically improved - it's hard to argue with the person you get to know and understand. It may sound simple but this approach is very unusual on construction projects of this scale where the main contractors can be adversarial and challenging with each other.'

Building contractor Al Habtoor provided more than 5000 workman who were employed on Phase 1 of the project in a concentrated programme of 24 hour construction.

Yehia Abdullah, Project Director for Al Habtoor stated: 'The success of achieving this is attributable to the close collaboration with local authorities and other offices of government.'

Mr. Bob Meikle, Project Director for architectural engineers RMJM stated: 'RMJM have been involved in many fast-track projects over the years but none as demanding as the new exhibition facilities for ADNEC.'

Mr. Zvonko Stefanposki, Project Manager of Consulting Firm Mace International added: 'In our 27 years of experience this design and total build, is by far the fastest project we have ever seen.'

Immediately after IDEX, ADNEC begins construction of Phase 2 of the Exhibitions Centre. The construction of Phase 2 will be carried out along the same principles of speed and quality. When complete in the summer of 2008 the venue will consist of 55,000sqm of interconnecting exhibition floor space spread of 12 halls and a stunning 18,000sqm visitor concourse; the site will also house 2 luxurious conference rooms and 31 specially designed meeting rooms.