Surfing Muscat's Wave

Oman has a handful of developments under construction with even fewer on their way to completion. And The Wave, Muscat in one such project. Deputy editor Conrad Egbert gets onsite the residential development that is taking shape on the shores of the charming, sleepy, seaside town of Muscat.

The first thoughts that came to mind when I heard the name The Wave, Muscat, were those of tsunamis, destruction and the aftermath of cyclone Gonu that brought Muscat to a standstill last year. And then thought - why on earth would you name it that?

But Iain Liversage, senior projects manager for the development laughed it off saying the development is one of the safest in the region adding that the reason it was named that is due to the shape of the site and also due to the fact that the Arabic symbol, which is the project's brand, is in the shape of a wave.

"Actually, Gonu did us a great favour. It put our design to the test and we came out tops. Besides a few scraps of wood that were blown around the site, we weren't affected at all. We were back to work in a couple of days."

"The event of a severe cyclone is unlikely here. It's a one in 250 years chance and we've designed it to a higher standard - to a one in a 100-year storm event. This is well above the specified standard."

Oman's roughly US $100-billion-worth (AED367 billion) construction sector may not appear to be that impressive when compared to heavyweights like the UAE or Saudi Arabia, but industry experts say that this "jewel of Arabia" prefers to tread carefully.

Speaking to Construction Week, Nick Smith, CEO of The Wave, Muscat, notes that, "We call ourselves the new heart of Muscat. We are the new suburb. We're actually in the middle of the city where shopping and commercial developments are coming up. We're not racing into things as we like to take our time and make informed decisions that stand the test of time."

The Wave, Muscat, is the first Integrated Tourism Complex (ITC) in Oman and spans an area of 2.2million m², plus 600,000m² of reclaimed land.

The development is made up of more than 4000 residential units including villas, apartments and townhouses, three five-star luxury hotels including chains like the Fairmont and Kempinski, a 300-berth marina, an 18-hole golf course, a 6km stretch of natural beach front, parks, landscaped boulevards and walkways and a marina village that could include retail and commercial space.

The project has been divided into 10 suburban phases and eight urban phases.

The entire development is expected to be completed by 2013.

The residential units have been designed by three architects from different architectural backgrounds - Tombazis from Greece, Santini from Italy and Triad from Oman.

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