Coordination brings completion for Palace

Steel fixers work to complete a section of The Palace’s exterior. Originally, the development was due to be completed last December, but resource-driven delays have put the date back, with construction due to finish in the next month. (Nemanja Seslija/ITP)

Michael Jankovich, project manager, Mirage Mille. (Nemanja Seslija/ITP)

In a city that is busy creating new centres, from Dubai Marina to Business Bay, one of the most distinguishable and encompassing is the Downtown Burj Dubai complex just off Sheikh Zayed Road. Aside from its record-breaking tower, the US $20 billion (AED73 billion) Emaar development is also home to a number of other projects, each tailored to offer a different style of living or range of amenities.

Located within the Old Town Island, one of the new quarters under construction, is Sofitel's ‘The Palace' hotel. Currently undergoing the final stages of construction, the project, which echoes the Royal Mirage and Madinat developments, is due to open its doors on 1 September 2007. With a budget of $82 million and covering an area of 39,000m2, the hotel will be located next to the Dubai Mall and features 242 rooms with direct views over the Burj Dubai Lake and Old Town Island. The main contractor is Al Naboodah Laing O'Rourke with Mirage Mille as the lead consultant.

According to Michael Jankovich, project manager, Mirage Mille, the actual construction methods used have been fairly standard, but the complexity of operating in one of the world's most active and congested construction markets has meant that the project has had to overcome numerous challenges during its building phase.

"The challenging part is the Dubai market, which is currently taking a lot of strain. We don't have skilled labourers; there is a shortage across the board, from specialist contractors right down to labourers on site."

To ensure the hotel is completed in the quickest timeframe, Jankovich explains that the project is a full fit-out package. This sees the main contractor provide the ‘shell' before the subcontractors come on board to complete the interiors. Mirage Mille's role is to coordinate with the relevant contractors, from the design development stage right through the project. And this is logistically very challenging.

"It has been a huge struggle, we are currently running behind programme. We were supposed to complete [the project] in December last year; now we are aiming for the end of this month or the beginning of next." But Jankovich is confident of meeting the revised opening target of 1 September.

Unsurprisingly, for a site located in the shadow of the Burj Dubai and in close proximity to countless other projects, access to the site has not been easy. "If you take everybody else's work around the Old Town Island, whether it be on the lake, or our neighbours, the Lake Hotel, or the residences on the left-hand side, it is very congested," adds Jankovich. "Parking has also been a major problem."

But site access is not the reason for the delay in construction. "The main delays we have experienced are resource driven. A lot of the contractors have over-extended themselves in the market. This whole hike in the market has not only caught the contractor, but it has also caught the developer. The market has to slow down for everything to catch up."

And the capacity issue is highlighted on this project by the site's dependence on the development of surrounding infrastructure before services can be connected.

All Jankovich can do, he says, is take the services up to a point, where they are then connected to the grid. And coordinating with other projects is one issue which he believes has had a big effect on construction: "Considering we only had power a month ago and we were supposed to open the hotel in December last year, it is a huge influence on us."

But Jankovich points out that this is by no means a sleight against the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority - as the applications were made more than a year ago - but that it illustrates the need for an organised infrastructure to be in place earlier.

"In terms of traffic impact studies for the entire precinct, with Business Bay right next to us, it has been extremely tricky to obtain all of this information. But logistically, the whole puzzle has come together now," he says.

Typically for the area, the water table has also had to be confronted. But Jankovich says that he is fortunate that so much dewatering is taking place on the neighbouring construction sites, that he has now been able to dispense with the pumps on The Palace plot.

However, the high-water table still affected the original plans, with the hotel's entire Thai restaurant (which will sit on a lake) having to be raised by 200mm. In fact, the decision was taken to raise the entire Old Town Island by a full metre just to ensure there would be no complications. Furthermore, a 400mm-thick concrete base has been laid as an extra precaution during construction of the lake surrounding the island.

As if construction of a hotel wasn't taxing enough, from coordinating the numerous subcontractors to ensuring the materials can be reliably sourced, The Palace neatly illustrates just how complicated, not to mention congested, building has become in the emirate. And while Jankovich has managed to juggle the various trials that have come his way admirably, there is a sense that all of these challenges will continue to present themselves as Dubai keeps its foot on the pedal of growth.

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