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- Dubai 04:27 05:45 12:20 15:47 18:49 20:07
The Airport City project in Qatar is a 1,300 hectares extension on the side of the old Doha Airport. (SUPPLIED)
GCLA, a landscaping firm in UAE, has seen an increase in requests for proposals (RFPs) in the last month, a senior official told Emirates Business. “In the last month, we have seen a significant rise in RFPs from Abu Dhabi and Syria and it is on the lines of the queries that we received before the 2008 market crash. Since we don’t do the master planning, we don’t really get too involved in the project values, “ he said when asked for the proposed projects total values. “Our fees generally relates to the landscape construction budget and is normally around five percent,” said Steven Velegrinis, Projects Manager.
However, due to the slowdown or suspension of projects in the UAE, the firm has downsized staff and has gone down to around 30 people, he added.
Meanwhile, key projects with the practice include the Creative City, Sharjah (a large Mixed use development near the University City) and the Tunis Sports City for Sports City International.
“Tenders will be issued in the next couple of months for the first phase, infrastructure and road construction underway at the moment,” said Velegrinis. “We are also working on the White Bay Development, in Umm Al Quwain, which is a mixed use residential development (work on site is continuing). Other projects include the Sheikha Jawaher Reception and Convention Centre, Sharjah (the tender for landscape is about to be issued), the Madinat Zayed Roads in Abu Dhabi, the National Park & Visitor Center in Al Ain, the Al Bustan II Residential Resort, Riyadh, and the Dammam City Landscape Masterplan & Streetscapes in Saudi Arabia.“
The firm was recently the first runner up in the Clear Village Open International Design Competition in Amsterdam. “They asked us to design a self-sustaining city of the future and the concept was on the lines of our vertical Food City concept, that we proposed to DCCI, said Velegrinis.
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