Construction company ZSML is in the tendering stage for up to four projects in Dubai, said its general manager in an interview with
Emirates Business.
He also said that the company currently wants to focus on Dubai but has long-term plans to explore work elsewhere in the Middle East.
"We are currently in the tendering stage and expect to work on three to four new projects this year in Dubai. They are around the same size as our current project, the Ottoman Palace Hotel and Resort," said Levent Kutulu, General Manager of ZSML Construction. "For the next year, we will continue in the Dubai market. Then we will look at other markets such as Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and other countries in the Middle East."
ZSML Construction was launched in 2007 as a joint venture between Zabeel Investments and Sembol (SML) Construction, a Turkey-based construction company.
"We started in Dubai as SML with Nakheel, where we were invited to help to finish the Shoreline apartments. Later Zabeel and SML signed up an agreement to set up ZSML as a construction company," he said.
The company has several projects in Turkey, Ukraine and Kazakhstan and has worked with renowned architects like Foster+Partners.
"In our first year as ZSML, we got three contracts – the Dh165 million Nakheel's Deira Palm Sales Centre, the Dh60m Seven Tides' Ibn Battuta Gate Spa (an Asteco project) and the Dh1.25 billion Ottoman Palace (belonging to Zabeel Investments). And we expect to double turnover in the next year," he added.
The superstructure for the Spa is ready and the project will be completed by May 2009. "As for the sales centre, the design has been revised a number of times but we believe we can finish by December 2008. This is a very important project to us because it is the first building in Palm Deira," said Kutulu.
"The Palace, which is on the crescent of the Palm Jumeirah, will be open by March or April 2009.
ZSML is specialised in design-build and has found its own solutions for issues related to fast-track project deadlines and labour in the emirates.
"Our key managerial and technical staff, related to architecture and engineering, are from Turkey. The rest of the project team is from Dubai," said Kutulu.
Thirty to 40 per cent of the staff is from Turkey, he said.
"If you analyse the construction market, you will notice that the majority of sub- and super-structure enabling works does not face any problem. If you have labour, enough cranes, batching plants and so on, you can build anything with the current advances in technology. The problem is when you start working on interior design," he said.
According to Kutulu, the delay in projects in Dubai is due to a shortage of skilled staff in mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) and interior design. "In Dubai, you do not have enough people skilled in these two areas. That is why the projects are getting delayed," he said. "So you can see many towers finished from outside but there is no work happening on the inside. Everyone is waiting to finish the MEP and the interior design (ID)."
ZSML took a decision to handle the sub and super structures with the workforce from Dubai and sometimes draw from their resources from Turkey.
"But when it comes to MEP and ID, we get our own people from Turkey. In our first year of operations, we did not trust the Dubai market resources in these two areas. We brought in experienced employees who are good on fast track projects."
The only problem was the humidity in Dubai in the initial stages he said. "Turkey is hot, but Dubai is hot and humid. But now, our people have got used to the climate and we are getting very good work out of them."
As an engineer, he said the ground realities of construction can be tackled by optimising time, money and quality. "If you want to be successful in any project you have to budget, meet deadlines and achieve the required quality. At the design stage itself, we ask our designers and engineers to sit at the same table to get optimum solutions for the specified time delivery and budgets," said Kutulu. "Again, it is as important to have skilled workers as to have supervisors who understand what they are doing. We give that authority to our people."
Attention to detail does count, he said. "One has to be very careful in terms of what one is doing on the project in terms of milestones in fast track projects," he said.
Since the architecture of two of their projects is inspired from Turkey, SML in its new avatar as ZSML in Dubai, finds it easy to work on the projects. "The 85,000 square feet spa in the Ottoman is one of the biggest in the Middle East and involves a great deal of detail on the mosaic, marble and handmade furniture, to name a few aspects. You need very skilled labour. Our workforce is familiar with the process. As SML, we have done 13 hotels and we do understand what to do and what not to do," Kutulu said.
"People ask me how we are completing a five star in 17-18 months. But we know what the hotel requires."
ZSML was set up in 2000 and has worked on many projects, including the famed Tower of Peace. "Zabeel Investments is a powerful company and hence we decided to set up a construction company with them," said Kutulu. "Our key strength is design-build projects. With most developers in Dubai, the norm is one year of design progress and two years of construction, if you are lucky. The time frame in which you expect to recover your money is also extended. With our experience in design-build, we mean it when we say that we will finish a project between 17-20 months. And it will look profitable to them."
He cites the Ottoman Palace project. "We started around July 2007 and we are completing in December 2008. The building will be ready for commissioning. This is possible because in design-build projects, the design, construction, value engineering and so on, are all happening under one umbrella and so we can sort out all the issues," said Kutulu. "As ZSML, we will like to be the Ferrari of this market and that is what Dubai needs. Three years is normal."
ZSML has quicker solutions he added. "You can develop the design while under construction. Some elements do not need to wait until design is completed. When the designers are starting on the design, we start our enabling works. The investor wins because he does not need to wait for four years," he said.
Luxury spa destinationThe Ibn Battuta Gate Spa development will be a 73,060 square foot luxury spa destination and form part of the Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel located adjacent to Ibn Battuta Mall. Designed by Arketipo, a Turkish architecture firm, the Spa concept will be derived from both Islamic and Ottoman cultures.
Also designed by Arketipo, the Palm Deira Sales Centre is a 178,142 sq ft project. The building will accommodate up to 450 staff.
The Ottoman Palace Hotel and Resort is the first Ottoman themed hotel in Dubai. Housed in a 97,000 square metre plot that includes 50,000 square metres of landscaping and associated amenities, the site is fronted by the sea on two sides.
It has been constructed by ZSML and managed by EC Harris.
Zabeel Properties appointed Rixos Hotels Group as the operator of Ottoman Palace, its new resort on the crescent of Palm Jumeirah, which will be built according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.
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