Msheireb Properties awards raft foundation contract to HBK Contracting Company

The seven-month contract with HBK Contracting Company represents another milestone in the ongoing development of the Msheireb Downtown project, described as the world's first sustainable regeneration of a downtown area in a major city.

Raft foundations are used to spread the load of a building structure over a large area. The Phase 3 raft slab will be 45,500 square meters in area and 1.5 meters thick on average.

Spread over 150,000 square meters of gross floor area (GFA), Phase 3 of Msheireb Downtown Doha features 15 mixed-used buildings. These include two office blocks with 90 retail units; 11 residential buildings with 350 apartments; a mosque of more than 2,500 square meters; and a five-star Park Hyatt Hotel.

The raft foundations contract is the second contract awarded by Msheireb Properties to HBK Contracting Company, which is currently completing the superstructure for Msheireb Downtown Doha's main building works.

Mohammad Al Marri, Chief Officer for Design and Delivery at Msheireb Properties, said, "This opportunity to expand our working relationship with HBK Contracting Company, a leading local contractor, is an encouraging development and reiterates our commitment to work with local companies and further promote Qatari expertise in sustainable urban development. Msheireb Properties' long-term strategy is to raise the skills of local contractors and the Qatari workforce so that they have the capacity to independently tender, build and manage projects of the largest scope. The capabilities of local industry are progressing at a rapid rate and this latest contract is witness to its development."

Sheikh Ali Bin Hamad K Al-Thani, Chairman and Managing Director of HBK Contracting Company, said: "We are very proud to have another opportunity to strengthen our association with Msheireb Properties. Through this award, we aim to demonstrate our consistency in delivering to the highest quality standards. Moreover, we reaffirm our commitment to the developer's strict guidelines on sustainability and advanced environmental performance as we have demonstrated in the Phase 1A contract with Msheireb Properties along with our partner M/s Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co."

Construction of Msheireb Downtown Doha started in 2010 and the development will be completed in five phases. The recent agreement with HBK follows the appointment of Brookfield Multiplex Medgulf WLL for the construction of all substructure and superstructure works involved in Phase 1C of the project.

The first phase 1A construction contract of the project was awarded to a consortium of Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co and HBK Contracting Co. Carillion was also appointed in March to complete building works on Phase 1B.