Formwork has played an important role in shaping the built environment the world over, from the rise of Rome to the rebuilding of Sri Lanka. Now Abu Dhabi could be next on the list, as Jamie Stewart finds out.
They always showed good form in Rome when pushing the boundaries of building. Concrete slabs produced by Roman engineers are among the earliest and finest examples of formwork being put to use in the construction process.
The characteristics of concrete as a material define the architectural appearance of many early Roman structures. The ability of concrete to resist high compressive loads, yet its relatively poor tensile strength, meant that early Roman structures often made use of shapes such as vaults, domes and arches.
We have evolved from a third-party component supplier to a full systems provider for some of the largest contractors in the market. – Ekkehart Misch, director, GHI Formwork.
Temporary scaffolding and formwork was built into the intended shape of the slab, vault, dome or arch and concrete was poured. Once the concrete was cured, the formwork was stripped away, leaving the slab in place. The Pantheon in Rome is considered to be one of the finest structures to make use of early formwork techniques.
However, the limited production capacity of the building material meant that concrete was placed on the back burner until the invention of Portland cement in the early 19th century, and reinforced concrete in the latter half of the 19th century.
Today, technological advances have seen the formwork industry evolve from these origins. Ekkehart Misch is director of GHI Formwork. Despite the construction slowdown, Misch says GHI has been fortunate enough to grab itself a fair slice of construction boom pie.
The group has been active in Dubai since 2003, operating out of its Al Quoz depot. “We have evolved from a third-party component supplier to a full systems provider for some of the largest contractors in the market,” Misch says.
Among GHI’s most prominent contract wins to date is its involvement in the Emirates Aluminium (Emal) smelter complex for Al Futtaim Carillion in the UAE. A range of products are being used on the project including TriTec panel formwork, GHI climbing scaffold KG 240 and GHI Multiflex.
“We picked up five different jobs in the same project because the client was happy with everything,” says Misch. “It couldn’t have been better.”
The phrase “it couldn’t have been better” is one you would expect to hear much less in the Dubai construction industry of late. Such words will therefore be encouraging to those seeking to enter into the market.
Gulf Form operations manager Mike Monaghan is one such player. Gulf Form is about to launch a new product – urban form – into the UAE market. The firm is six months into the set up of a new factory in Dubai Investment Park, which Monaghan says will be operational by mid-January.
So what exactly is urban form? “The system was developed to use manual labour to manufacture panels in the factory and to reduce the cost of machinery onsite,” says Monaghan.
“It was developed due to a need for low cost housing and for use in developing countries where there was lots of man power but little infrastructure.”
Urban form has already been introduced to Australia, the Philippines, and parts of Africa. Interestingly, it was also used during reconstruction efforts in Sri Lanka in the wake of the Asian Tsunami of 2004.
“They got kids off the side of the road to help put the panels together and install it,” says Monaghan.”That’s what it was originally designed for.”
So how has reception for the product been in the UAE? Monaghan says Gulf Form intends to move into the labour camp market, where there is a distinct and ongoing need for low cost construction.
“We will also look at villas and low cost housing,” Monagahan adds. “Looking at the economic circumstances now we think it will be very advantageous to get in on low cost housing here in the UAE. We know there’s a need for it.”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.
The system was developed to use manual labour to manufacture panels in the factory and to reduce the cost of machinery onsite. – Mike Monaghan, operations manager, Gulf Form.
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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