Portland masterplans retail space in 1km-tall Dubai tower

Portland Design is masterplanning the 70 000m2 retail area in Dubai's proposed 1km-tall Nakheel Tower (concept image pictured).

Property developer Nakheel, which is also responsible for Dubai's Palm Islands project, appointed the consultancy in July, six months after Portland approached the developer about the project.

Portland reports that in the build-up to the tower's completion in 2012, Nakheel will be seeking lighting and wayfinding designers, among other design specialists.

'We intend to compete for the wayfinding contract when that comes along', says Portland general manager, United Arab Emirates, Stephen Walsh, wondering at the 'challenge of lighting a 1km-high building'.

The tower is being designed by architect Woods Bagot, but the plan details remain a mystery, apparently to prevent other developers beating the tower's record-breaking scale.

Nevertheless, Portland reveals that the retail area will cover several levels in the base of the tower, the foundations for which are now complete. The building will feature several independent structures joining to create one.

Portland aims to differentiate the mall from the dozens of huge shopping centres in Dubai.

'We want to help create a neighbourhood for the wider community, and fully integrate landscaping and the public realm into the retail design. We also have to bear in mind, of course, that it will be a major tourist attraction,' says the group's creative head of developments, Markham Darbyshire.

Walsh would not reveal Portland's conclusions about the shape and size of the retail offer, but he describes the group's role on the project as 'looking at who the customers are, how much space can be supported by the customer base, how the space should be distributed across the site and how it should be allocated'.

Most of the mall's customers will be drawn from the new Nakheel Harbour development, which will include more than 19 000 residential apartments.

Nakheel Harbour and Tower from Google Earth

Nakheel Harbour and Tower from Google Earth (updated Dubai version):

the circle is 130 m in diameter... more than 13,000 sqm!

Nakheel receives bids for Tall Tower

Published: 12 December 2008 12:48 GMT Author: Colin Foreman More by this Author Last Updated: 12 December 2008 12:48

Three groups submit proposals for 10-year project to build AED30bn landmark skyscraper in Dubai.

Local developer Nakheel has received proposals from three groups for the contract to build the tower at the AED140bn ($38bn) Nakheel Harbour and Tower development in Dubai.

The bidders are a joint venture of the local/Australian Al-Habtoor Leighton, South Africa's Murray & Roberts Contractors (Middle East) and Japan's Takenaka Corporation; the UK's Laing O'Rourke in joint venture with Japan's Taisei Corporation; and South Korea's Samsung Corporation (MEED 18:11:08).

Samsung is also part of a joint venture that is building the Burj Dubai, along with the local/Belgian Bel Hasa Six Construct and the local Arabtec Construction.

The AED30bn Nakheel tower will be developed over 10 years. The client plans to shortlist two groups by the end of the year and select one to provide pre-construction services by early 2009. The pre-construction period is expected to last at least one year. Enabling works on the development, which are scheduled to be completed in October 2010, are being executed by France's Soletanche Bachy. Work on the tower's superstructure is expected to follow shortly after.

In June, sources close to the project said the tower had been designed to be 1.4 kilometres tall. However, Nakheel has only confirmed that it will be more than 1km high. Even so, once finished, it will be taller than the Burj Dubai, which is expected to be about 820 metres high when completed in 2009.

The Nakheel tower was originally called the Pinnacle and was to be located on the Palm Jumeirah, before becoming part of the Dubai Waterfront scheme, when it was renamed Al-Burj. It is now known as the Tall Tower.

The consultancy team for the tower includes UK-based WSP, US-based Leslie E Robertson Associates and Australia's Woods Bagot.

The development will be built alongside the proposed Arabian Canal next to Ibn Battuta Mall and Jumeirah islands.

It will cover an area of 2.7 square kilometres and will be home to more than 55,000 people. The development will also include 250,000 sq m of hotel and hospitality space, and 100,000 sq m of retail space.

The scheme was launched in October 2008 but, given the global economic climate, doubts soon surfaced over whether it would move ahead. Nakheel has already begun to delay work on some of its other projects, such as Palm Deira and Dubai Waterfront, Gateway Towers and Trump International Hotel and Tower.

However, the developer's decision to move ahead with the Tall Tower is the latest sign that some major schemes will proceed.

The Al-Habtoor/Murray & Roberts/Takaneka joint venture was recently awarded the AED4.9bn ($1.3bn) contract to build Concourse 3 at Dubai International airport (MEED 8:12:08).

Construction giants vie for Nakheel Tower deal

TOWER DEAL: Three major construction players are vying for pre-construction contract for Nakheel's 1km-plus tower. (Supplied)

Al-Habtoor Leighton, Murray & Roberts and Al Naboodah Laing O’Rourke are among the contractors which have bid for the pre-construction phase of work on the 1 kilometre-plus tower planned by Nakheel.

The three construction firms confirmed to Arabian Business on Wednesday they placed bids before last week’s deadline for the contract which involves preliminary non-construction work on the mega-project including programme costing.

The master developer is expected to compile a shortlist of contractors by the end of the year before selecting one company by early 2009 to provide pre-construction services for the structure, which is planned to be the tallest tower in the world.

The pre-construction period is expected to last for around a year, with the tower developed over 10 years.

Nakheel chief executive Chris O’Donnell said last month funding for the $38.12 billion project, unveiled in October, would be secured by the sale of land around the tower to other developers.

The tower is part of the Nakheel Harbour & Tower development in Dubai, which will cover an area of 2.7km and be built alongside the proposed Arabian Canal.

Nakheel Harbour & Tower Photos December 6th 2008

lots of activities at the Nakheel Harbour & Tower site but it's difficult to see anything from the outside...