Crystal clear success

The explosion in demand for water features across the Middle East means big business for Canadian based crystal fountains. Diana Milne meets the company's director of overseas operations, Michael Denman, to find out how it is meeting the demand.

Visit most cities in the Middle East and you can't miss the numerous elaborate water features decorating public areas, shopping malls and hotels.

And the company behind many of the spectacular water features is Canada-based Crystal Fountains - a leading designer of water features across the world which has been operating since 1976.

The company is experiencing such huge demand from the Middle East that it has recently opened offices in Dubai and Kuwait.

It has worked on numerous projects across the region, including water features in the Burjuman Centre, Dubai and throughout the Abu Dhabi Municipality and is working with Emaar on the Burj Dubai development.

It is the construction and real estate boom that is driving demand for Crystal Fountains' products in the Middle East - but as Michael Denman, director of overseas operations explains, water features also have a unique appeal to Middle East countries establishing themselves as leisure destinations.

"One reason why water features are so popular in the Middle East is the heat," says Denman.

"The cooling effects of water make these features very appealing in the Middle East.

"As a leisure destination which places like Dubai have become, incorporating water into the property schemes is something which people are naturally attracted to."

He goes on to say that developers are increasingly incorporating water features into their real estate schemes as a way of attracting potential customers.

"More and more the water features are being used as a sophisticated marketing tool."

"That element of attraction is becoming more and more in vogue."

"In Dubai there's always this thing of people trying to do the biggest and the best."

"So people are trying to come up with new ideas that will attract people to their schemes and water is one aspect that is pretty powerful as an architectural tool."

Crystal Fountains does not install water features, however, it designs them, provides consultancy services and also has divisions which manufacture commercial and residential fountain components.

"We offer services in three areas: The first one being on projects where property developers or architects are seeking to do what one would probably describe as a more challenging water feature."

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