Shaping the future

Monaghan may be onto something. Matthew Green, head of research and consultancy at real estate firm Cluttons, gives figures relating to projected growth and Dubai and the necessary accommodation requirements.

"The Dubai population is estimated to grow by 7.6% over the next 3 years," Green says. "This should help fill the majority of new units coming online. However it is yet to be seen whether actual end-user demand is being met with an apparent over emphasis on luxury units."

This should be taken into account along with the Government of Dubai's sudden insistence on enforcing the "one villa one family" rule, which is set to see a great many middle to low income families in need of a place to live.

As a new player in the industry, it may pay for Gulf Form to aim for a controlled, steady rise in what are trying times for many. For example, GHI's Misch says that the size of his firm, which with 15 employees is by his own admission "small," makes it easier to manage.

"We are not that big which helps us to move into the market in steps which are according to our organisational form," he says. "At the end of the day these are high profile jobs that we are doing and we scale this up by providing any kind of service required on site itself."

"Onsite" could shortly include another high profile project, which Misch says his firm is in the latter stages of tendering for. It is the Saba 4 Tower, a 222m, 44-storey tower to be built in Dubai's Jumeirah Lake Towers. Despite the slowdown and cancellation of some projects, Misch is hoping that Saba 4 goes ahead as planned.

One man who has been in the industry for long enough to become accustomed to its growth cycles is Andreas Gathmann. As general manager of Ulma Formwork, Andreas is a little more cautious in the current climate.

"This last year we doubled revenue sales which was very good," he says. "But this past month we have seen - not necessarily a drop but a relative stagnation in terms of projects.

"There have not been firm cancellations but projects that we are providing assistance to have been put on hold. But then this was expected given the financial crisis."

The degree to which this was expected is questionable however. In the aftermath of Cityscape Dubai 2008, Rasmala Investments founder and CEO Ali Al Shihabi used an address to the Dubai Property Society to hit out at developers that he accused of acting irresponsibly by launching a number of mega-projects despite the forthcoming economic slowdown.

"It will soon be virtually impossible for developers to find finance for huge projects," Al Shihabi warned. And it would appear that Al Shihabi's words have borne true.

Only last week Dubai master-developer Nakheel announced it had suspended work on the Trump International Hotel and Tower, while work on other projects such as Waterfront would also be reviewed.

But despite the current problems faced by Dubai, Gathmann hopes the rise of Abu Dhabi into the construction spotlight will allow his firm to offset any fallout that may be looming.

"In Abu Dhabi it is not a booming explosion like we saw in Dubai - it's a much more controlled, steady growth. This will provide us with an alternative leg for the business," he says.

To take advantage of this ULMA Formwork is all set to open an additional warehouse in Abu Dhabi, as its Dubai storage facilities near capacity. "It will allow us to be a lot closer to our customer base in Abu Dhabi," says Gathmann.

From ancient Rome to outback Australia, and the low-cost housing projects of the Philippines to post-tsunami Sri Lanka, the formwork industry is a truly international one.

With markets beginning to stagnate in Dubai, it could be time to begin shaping another city. Abu Dhabi could well be the next big draw for the in-form players.

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