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FUTURISTIC RED SEA RESORT

First overwater villa installed at The Red Sea’s Sheybarah Island Resort
 
Tailor-made solutions protect delicate marine environment.
 

Mammoet welcomed the start of 2023 with the delivery of the very first batch of modularly constructed villas for Red Sea Global’s Sheybarah Island Resort. A total of four villas were loaded-in at the Port of Hamriyah, in Sharjah, and were shipped to the island be installed at the site.

A new milestone was achieved with the installation of the first prefabricated, stainless steel overwater villa orb on its foundation.

For the installation, Mammoet used its 650t capacity Demag CC3800 crawler crane positioned on top of Mammoet’s modified barge, ALE 250. The shallow draft of the barge meant that there would be minimal disturbance to the sensitive marine environment of this unique and picturesque archipelago in the Red Sea.

At the construction jetty, the crane loaded and placed the first orb on the barge deck and sailed to the installation area. Once at the location, the barge was positioned using a hyper-accurate GPS system and the barge’s own winches, for precise alignment with the foundation. The barge was then stabilized using a retrofitted 300t spud jacking system provided by Combifloat – Mammoet’s partner for floating and self-elevating marine equipment suitable for nearshore operations. Safe and efficient lifting, lowering and (re)positioning of the barge was achieved through a locally controlled jacking mechanism and a 4-point mooring system.

The crane was raised to lift the orb into place – its superlift was replaced by a system designed specifically for the project where the back mast of the CC3800 is “tied back” to the barge. This gave the crane enough capacity to skillfully place the orb onto the foundation without requiring the additional mass of a superlift tray.

Robert van Tinteren, Lead Project Engineer for Mammoet commented: “Creative engineering at its best. It has been an exciting nine months building up to this point, but it never gets tedious to see the incredible things we at Mammoet can do when we put our minds to it!”

Mammoet was awarded the contract to transport and install all 73 villa pods back in May 2022. To support the shipment of the villas from the UAE to Saudi Arabia, Mammoet teamed up with P&O Maritime Logistics, a leading provider of critical logistics and marine solutions.

About the Sheybarah Island Resort
 
Sheybarah Island is located in the southeast of the archipelago on the Red Sea. The island is home to a highly diverse environment with mangroves, white sand dune beaches and some of the most beautiful and pristine coral reefs in the world hosting many species of fish and other marine animals.

The 73-key resort, designed by Dubai-based architectural firm Killa Design, comprises uniquely shaped overwater and beach villas, arrival, front of house and F&B buildings and other facilities. The approach to the façade design was to minimize visual impact of the architecture on the environment by employing a highly reflective polished stainless-steel cladding that reflects the natural surroundings: the ocean, the sky, sand dunes and the reef below.

The resort embraces the latest sustainable technologies in all elements of its design; an eco-friendly and sustainable design that not only preserves but enhances the biodiversity and the surrounding natural habitat, while offering a luxurious experience that will attract visitors from around the globe and elevating Saudi Arabia as a top tier marine eco-tourism destination.

The resort is a LEED Platinum off grid, zero energy, zero water development that widely promotes sustainable design in every aspect of its environment, to ultimately create a hospitality benchmark for regenerative developments. It is powered by a centralized solar farm and fresh water is supplied from a solar powered desalination plant. The recycling of waste material takes place on the island which minimizes the need to bring or remove materials from or to the island.

The Red Sea destination – the world’s most ambitious regenerative tourism endeavors: a luxury destination created around one of the world’s hidden natural treasures. It is setting new standards in sustainable development, pioneering a new relationship between luxury tourism and the natural environment and will put Saudi Arabia on the international tourism map.

Offering a diverse array of seamless personalized experiences, The Red Sea will encourage visitors to explore the wonders and rich cultural heritage of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast.

First guests will be welcomed to the destination this year, when three hotels open along with the first phase of the Red Sea International airport.

Upon completion in 2030, the destination will deliver up to 8,000 hotel rooms across 22 islands and six inland sites. The project is expected to play a significant role in driving the economic diversification of Saudi Arabia by attracting one million visitors every year, capped in line with sustainability considerations.

The Red Sea destination, part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, spans 28,000 square kilometers in the Kingdom and is expected to provide a significant boost to the country’s GDP upon completion, upwards of 22 billion riyals annually. The destination will also create 70,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs.

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Living Walls Enrich Urban Spaces

Delegates at this year’s Futurebuild exhibition are being encouraged to visit stand G24 to discover how Biotecture’s living wall systems can transform urban environments and enrich spaces inside and out.

This year’s Futurebuild is being held between 7 – 9 March 2023 at ExCel, London.

Biotecture is an innovative vertical green infrastructure company with a proven track record of successfully designing, installing, and maintaining living walls both in the UK and overseas. Recent projects include the living walls across the Canary Wharf estate, 20 Fenchurch Street in London and Wimbledon Court No.1.

Urban greenery provides many benefits from reduced air pollution to better wellbeing. When space is at a premium, both literally and financially, living walls are a space efficient solution for bringing more plants into urban areas.

A recent survey commissioned by Biotecture found that two thirds (66%) of people who live in urban environments want to see more botanical beauty where they live. And 78% say greenery improves their mental wellbeing.

Recognising that space in urban areas is limited, the majority (57%) would welcome more vertical greenery, such as living walls, to make up for the lack of ground level room in their city.

The Biotecture stand will be easy to find thanks to the largescale living walls which will be on display.

Biotecture’s BioPanelTM system is a patented modular hydroponic living wall that combines efficient water management with remote sensing technology. It is the UK’s leading green wall rainscreen cladding system.

The PlantBox system is a stackable, modular living wall that is ideal for ‘quick win’ urban realm improvements. It’s modular and stackable and only requires restraint fixings. Biotecture recently installed PlantBox living walls across the Canary Wharf estate and the scheme won a prestigious BALI Award.

Rounding up the reasons to visit stand G24 is the living wall industry’s new ‘External Cladding: Living Walls and Fire Safety Best Practice Guidance’ which Biotecture was closely involved in developing. The team will be available to discuss what is essential reading for anyone looking for clarity on the National Building Regulations in relation to living walls.

Richard Sabin, Managing director at Biotecture, said: “We are encouraging as many visitors as possible to our stand at Futurebuild. We welcome discussion with clients, architects and designers on how we can enrich their projects with green walls.”

He added: “We have a solution for all types of buildings; Our patented modular hydroponic system combines efficient water management with remote sensing technology, and our freestanding PlantBox system facilitates vertical greening in smaller commercial and residential locations.”

The Biotecture suite of urban greening products are made from recycled materials and enable the incorporation of nature into the built environment.

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5 of the most expensive megaprojects in the World

A megaproject can be defined as a long term project that involves huge economic investment, vast complexity and precipitates a long-lasting impact on the economy, society and environment of the region in which it is being constructed. For profiles of five of the most startlingly expensive megaprojects currently in progress, see below:

#5 – Dubailand, UAE – $64 billion

Dubailand

When it was announced in 2003, at $64 billion, Dubailand was far and away the most ambitious and expensive leisure development ever proposed. Set to open in 2025, Dubailand plans to house everything from theme parks to science attractions to gargantuan hotels – the largest of which is purported to have 6500 rooms. It has been scaled down since its initial announcement; the recession has caused the funding for Dubailand to dip from $64 billion to $55 billion.

#4 – California High Speed Rail, USA – $68.4 billion

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By bestowing Californians with the ability to travel between Los Angeles and San Francisco in a mere 2 hours and 48 minutes, the state has hopes of generating hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in annual revenue. Estimates of funding for the construction of California’s very own bullet train have risen to as high as approximately $68.4 billion. This already enormous cost however, is likely to continue to increase. The Los Angeles Times have reported discrepancies between initial estimates and the actual cost of completing the project. For example, the construction of 119 miles of bullet train track in Central Valley was originally touted to cost $6 billion, but this number has since risen sharply to $10.6 billion.

#3 South – North Water Transfer Project, China – $78 billion

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The South-North Water Transfer Project is the one of the most ambitious feats of engineering ever undertaken. By circumventing water from the more abundant rivers of humid south and transporting it to the industrialised north, the government is aiming to prevent a water crisis from afflicting the country. However, the South-North Water Transfer Project has proved even more controversial than the Three Gorges Dam, which cost less than a third of the price of the former.

#2 Al Maktoum International Airport, Dubai, UAE – $82 billion

Al maktoum

Designed to bolster Dubai’s capacity to take passengers to 220 million, the Al Maktoum International Airport has been a costly investment for the Dubai government. If developments go as planned, it would make Al Maktoum the biggest airport in the world. As well as increasing the number of passengers the city is able to fly in and out, it also allows the airport to serve as a significant port – with over 12 million tonnes of freight being moved annually.

#1 International Space Station – $150 billion

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The International Space Station is indisputably the most expensive item ever constructed. While the project is framed as a collective effort between the world’s leading superpowers, the US/NASA bears the brunt of the exorbitant cost – contributing the lion’s share of $58 million towards the project over three decades. In 2010, the cost was estimated to be $150 billion, but it is expected to climb as staggeringly high as $1 trillion by 2020. The assembly of the ISS comprised over 40 individual missions, as each module joined the station one by one.

While megaprojects of this scale are rare in the UK, the construction of the HS2 railway, which is expected to cost close to £56 billion, began in 2017.

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Bringing beauty into the built environment

A commission to champion beautiful buildings as an integral part of the drive to build the homes communities need has been recently announced by the Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP.

The ‘Building Better, Building Beautiful’ Commission will develop a vision and practical measures to help ensure new developments meet the needs and expectations of communities, making them more likely to be welcomed rather than resisted.

This move follows the government recently rewriting the planning rulebook to strengthen expectations for design quality and community engagement when planning for development. The new rules also ensure more consideration can be given to the character of the local area.

This commission will take that work further by expanding on the ways in which the planning system can encourage and incentivise a greater emphasis on design, style and community consent. It will raise the level of debate regarding the importance of beauty in the built environment.

The commission has 3 aims:

  • To promote better design and style of homes, villages, towns and high streets, to reflect what communities want, building on the knowledge and tradition of what they know works for their area.
  • To explore how new settlements can be developed with greater community consent.
  • To make the planning system work in support of better design and style, not against it.

Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said “Most people agree we need to build more for future generations, but too many still feel that new homes in their local area just aren’t up to scratch.

“Part of making the housing market work for everyone is helping to ensure that what we build, is built to last. That it respects the integrity of our existing towns, villages and cities.

“This will become increasingly important as we look to create a number of new settlements across the country and invest in the infrastructure and technology they will need to be thriving and successful places.

“This commission will kick start a debate about the importance of design and style, helping develop practical ways of ensuring new developments gain the consent of communities, helping grow a sense of place, not undermine it. This will help deliver desperately needed homes – ultimately building better and beautiful will help us build more.”

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Art meets architecture pt.1 – Music

Architecture is a very tangible example of creativity. You can see it with your eyes, touch its exterior, feel its fabric and walk its hallways. Music however is much more visceral art form. The notes and harmonies paint vivid pictures in your mind rather than in front of you. These landscapes are unique to you because music by its very nature is subjective. Imagine then, if you could hear architecture. The way a structure is perceived would immediately change and the landscape you perceive would be a perfect combination of the visceral and the tangible. This has been achieved with a restoration project in Croatia.

Following utter devastation to Zadar in Croatia during WWII, hasty reconstruction work was carried out soon after in an earnest attempt to rebuild the area. The result (as so often following WWII around the world) was a bland and uninspiring expanse of concrete. In this case, an unbroken, monotonous concrete wall along the seafront.

Architect Nikola Bašić decided to try something different and breathe life into the area as part of a project to redesign the new city coast, Nova Riva. On 15th April 2005 he opened a wind and wave powered organ to the public – the first of its kind. As waves break against the altered shoreline, the organ creates somewhat random but harmonic sounds.

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As wind and waves pass through the organ, notes are sounded at random. Pipes within the organ have been carefully tuned so as to only produce notes that harmonise well together, meaning that despite the unpredictability and spontaneous nature of this instrument/structure, the overall sound is always pleasing on the ear.

The sculpture is 230 feet long and comprises 35 organ pipes embedded within the concrete, which sound different notes as you walk along the promenade. The pipes are an intricate system of polyethylene tubes and resonating cavities which turn the site into a large musical instrument, played by the wind and the sea.

The Sea Organ (known locally as Morske Orgulje) has become somewhat of a tourist attraction, as well as drawing regulars from the surrounding areas to enjoy its song. Since its original opening, white marble steps leading down to the water have now been added, giving people somewhere to sit and gather their thoughts.

In 2006, the Sea Organ was awarded with the prize ex-aequo of the fourth edition of the European Prize for Urban Public Space.

Listen to the organ’s beautiful music below:

Whilst this is obviously a very special and unique concept, it perhaps raises the interesting idea that architecture can actually be multi-functional and appease more senses than just sight. We all live, work and play within the built environment. Wouldn’t it be interesting if as well as us interacting with our surroundings, our surroundings could also interact with us?

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‘Forest City’ to be built in China

A city covered in one million plants and 40,000 trees will soon be built in China to help tackle the long-standing air pollution problem that plagues the country at present.

Designed by Italian architect Stefano Boeri (who was also behind the ‘Vertical Forest’ tower in Milan) the entirely fabricated metropolis will contain over 40,000 trees and one million plants.
At its heart, the scheme is intended to subvert the notion that urban areas are more prone to poor air quality, by introducing natural measures to absorb tons of CO2 and pollutants.

China has long been swamped with poor air quality. Studies show that over a million premature deaths are attributed to pollution in the country each year. Chinese power plants emit as much nitrogen oxides (NOx) as all the cars in the world combined.

In 2016, China declared red alert for air quality in the capital city of Beijing, closing schools and factories and removing 50% of cars from the road for a temporary period. This seems to have served as a wakeup call for the government, who have since introduced a series of measures aimed at curbing their alarming emissions. As well as championing renewables as a form of energy, the authorities are now looking at more innovative solutions. Could the ‘forest city’ be part of the solution to a worsening crisis?

The ‘forest city’ is planned to be built in Liuzhou, Southern China by 2020.

Here’s what it will look like:
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VIDEO: 3D printing 10 homes in 24 hours!

A private company in Shanghai used 3D printers to print 10 full-sized houses in just one day.

Many believe 3D printing could a viable solution to alleviate slum housing in the world and provide shelter to disaster-stricken communities. Is 3D printing the future of construction?

The video shows a 3D printer creating a structure using a special material, comprised of recycled rubble, fibreglass, steel, cement and binder. Once pumped into place, the material takes just 24 hours to dry completely.

Behrokh Khoshnevis, a pioneer of 3D printing at the University of Southern California, who is currently working with NASA on 3D-printed lunar structures, believes that we could one day live and work in 3D printed cities. “I think in about five years you are going to see a lot of buildings built in this way.”

He also suggested that the innovative technology could help tackle a worldwide shortage of low-income housing. “I think it is a shame that at the dawn of the 21st century, about two billion people live in slums. I think this technology is a good solution.”

Watch the video below and see for yourself. How to you think 3D housing will affect the construction industry? Will its impact be good or bad? Let us know in the comments section below!

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Britain sees increase in number of high-rise buildings

Driven by a growing population and intensifying urbanisation, the construction of high-rise buildings has increased considerably in recent years – more high-rise buildings are now being constructed than at any other time. Across the UK as a whole, there are currently over 270 existing high-rise buildings and structures, of which around 70% are in London. The UK has just 17 high-rise buildings over 150m (492ft.) in height and just one building – The Shard in London – over 300m.

High rise

Unlike other international cities, London is considered ‘low-rise’ for a global city and financial capital of the world; with the pace of high-rise development way behind other global cities. However, in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of high-rise buildings proposed and approved for construction in the UK. The UK development pipeline currently stands at around 500 buildings, of which over 85% are planned in London, while the rest are clustered in key cities such as Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Salford.

In terms of end-use sector, around 70% of high-rise buildings currently under construction or under consideration across the UK are primarily residential, but with an element of mixed-use, e.g. retail, community or leisure.

In London, the high-rise market is being driven by the buoyant private housing sector, especially at the top-end of the market, and resurgence in demand for commercial property. The concept of high rise living has changed and the majority of high-rise residential tower blocks in UK cities are now being developed as luxury accommodation, targeting a very different demographic and being developed with a mixed-use element incorporating leisure facilities, concierge services, restaurants and retail.

Key factors affecting the development of high-rise buildings include cost, space efficiency, wind & seismic considerations, structural safety, risk challenges both on site and in completed buildings, speed of elevators, new building materials to potentially replace steel and concrete and damping systems. In addition, significant technical and logistical factors include pumping and placing concrete at extreme heights, and craning and lifting items to extreme heights.

Hayley Thornley, Research Manager at AMA Research says “Going forward, the high-rise construction market is set to continue to grow, with the ever-increasing demand for housing. However, there are concerns about too many projects aimed at the luxury end of the market, which is not matched with housing demand. In addition, the uncertainties surrounding the EU referendum may influence some high-rise schemes, with many projects in the pipeline forecast to exceed stated completion dates.”

The proportion of mixed-use schemes in the high-rise buildings pipeline is set to grow, with around 18% of developments either under construction or proposed with a mixed-use function. In the office market, rising take-up, low availability of grade-A space and increasing rents in cities such as Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds and Edinburgh, is helping to boost output in the commercial office sector and has led to more speculative building.

Sustained growth in the private rented sector (PRS) is also driving the development of high-rise housing, with increasing financial backing from both domestic and foreign institutional investors. Student accommodation also forms a small, but significant proportion of high-rise building development with a number of schemes currently in planning.

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10 shocking construction projects that almost happened

From building a colossal pyramid over Tokyo Harbour to covering Manhattan with a giant dome, Planet Dolan list ten of the most shocking construction projects that almost happened!

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