Project Management the Burj Al-Arab

Burj Al-Arab – Project Management Dubai’s economy has been built off the oil industry; the majority of the country’s wealth has come from oil since it was first discovered in the country from the 1960’s. Although the oil industry has been booming, the oil supplies will eventually run out and countries like Dubai are forced to find other means of making money to keep their economy strong and to sustain life for the people of Dubai. It has been predicted that the oil boom will be over by the year 2016. In 1994, the crown prince of Dubai at the time Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum knew that to keep Dubai’s economy going action had to be taken. His response to the economic problem the country was facing was to turn Dubai into one of the world’s most exclusive holiday destinations, investing the petrodollars into tourist attractions and so the planning of the world’s most luxurious and at the time the tallest hotel began, the Burj Al-Arab.

Project Management A project is a task or scheme that requires a large amount of time, effort and planning to complete. And for every project there has to be someone that manages it or holds everything together. The Burj Al-Arab is not like any ordinary high rise building. It’s built 300m off the coast on its own artificial island and this alone adds complications, significant costs and time to the project. As for any project the key factors come down to the time available for the project, the scope of work and the cost. The outcome of these 3 factors is the quality of the project and any risks that may be present. For the Burj Al-Arab the subject was to create something iconic, which would be recognisable all over the world and not just in its own country. The scope of work included construction of the 56-storey seven star hotel, interior finishes of the suites, fit-out for the non-public areas of the hotel and the building’s sail feature. Several features of the hotel required complex engineering feats to achieve the final result, due to the cutting edge design of the project. The cost was not much of an issue as the client for the project was Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the prince of Dubai and had access to plenty of money. Time on the other hand was a luxury the projects team did not have. The eyes of the world were watching this innovative buildings construction. Something like this has not been done before. There was a great amount of pressure to finish within a few years as the first guests were due before the new millennium. The quality of this of kind hotel had to be impeccable, as it is built to set the bar for luxury at a new level. Minimal room for error means an increase in risk. With project management in place, the

correct tools are present to keep risk at a minimum and quality at a maximum. The Burj AlArab was something that had not been done before and was something new to engineers, pushing everything they knew about engineering to the limits. To successfully execute a project as great as this, from start to finish requires an extensive amount of planning before anything has been given the go-ahead. The project management aspect of this project is the key to success. Over-planning will lead to a waste in resources and if under-planned the project will be under poor control leading to the arise of major problems such as uncoordinated construction. There is no room for problems like this as there is little time to play with. If one trade of the project falls out of place, this could have a domino effect, affecting many other trades in the process bringing the entire project to a halt. Project management has been put in place to hold the project together, to break up the project into smaller and much more manageable tasks which are then assigned to the correct contractor. The Burj Al-Arab was ventured between 3 construction companies, Habtoor Lieghton Group, South African company Murray & Roberts and Fletcher Construction. More companies were used to reduce the amount of time it takes to construct the building, although it will increase the cost. But for this project, time was much more important than money. Each company was used for a different task of the Burj Al-Arab. It was project management’s job to assign each company to the relevant duty. As each partner had their own specialisation, the risks were restructured into the different firms that were suitable for the requirements of the task. Risks that the project manager had to take into consideration when consulting with different firms are: Labour supply Concreting Structural steel resources Assembly High rise building management experience Acquiring materials Cost control Staff management The following tasks were set to the companies below as they were best suited to the requirements of the task: Habtoor Leighton Group: To provide the project with the labour required for the quality of the concrete and block work. Murray and Roberts: To provide expertise for the detailing, production, freight and assembly of the structural steel. This was also subcontracted to a firm owned by Murray and Roberts to reduce any financial risks; Genrec Steel Fabricators based in South Africa.

Fletcher: Fletcher was well known for experience in the high-rise management and planning profession. This firm was to supply all the planning and management need to complete the complete from beginning to end. Project management consulted with the following companies/professions/roles during the period of the project: 

DSE Engineering Group - Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing Designs

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Speirs and Major Associates - Exterior Electrical Designs

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Habtoor Leighton Group - Construction

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Murray and Roberts – Construction

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Head Architect – Tom Wright

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Head Aerodynamicist – Volker Buttgeret

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Head Structural Engineer – Anthony McCarter

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Head Interior Designer – Khuan Chew from KCA International

The plan of forming a joint venture was undeniably the companies greatest idea for the success of the project. Throughout the creativity of innovative thinking, companies used their own specialties in conjunction with the use of value engineering, constructability, planning and preplanning that included all members of the group helped to keep cost down as well as keep up with the schedule that was set by the owner to finally complete an astounding iconic figure, recognized by the entire world.

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4. Author unknown, year unknown, 5. Author unknown, year unknown, 6. Tenos, 2004. “Burj Al Arab (Arabian Tower Hotel) – Dubai”. 2012,

Retrieved 5 April