Uptown Dubai
The Uptown Tower, a 81-storey, 340-meter-tall, building will provide breath-taking views of Dubai’s waterfront and iconic skyline. Designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the Uptown Tower is designed to replicate the brilliance of diamonds through its faceted glass façade to illuminate the interior spaces with natural light while filtering out harsh glare.
DMCC, the world’s flagship Free Zone and a Government of Dubai Authority, is the master developer of Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT). DMCC awarded the construction contract to BESIX, through its Dubai-based entity Belhasa Six Construct, to build the first super tall tower in its Uptown Dubai district.
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DMCC, said in a statement, regarding the award to BESIX, “Awarding Six Construct the contract to construct Uptown Tower is an important step in bringing the much-anticipated Uptown Dubai district to life. The quality on show from the bids received was incredibly high. This reflects the level of interest from the global marketplace to partner with DMCC and be a part of an ambitious project that will add a new landmark to Dubai’s iconic skyline”.
“Winning this contract is a significant moment for Six Construct given that DMCC’s Uptown Dubai district is one of the most exciting projects in the region, and we look forward to working alongside DMCC to deliver to the emirate of Dubai a truly unique and inspiring new destination,” said Olivier Crasson, General Manager, BESIX Contracting Middle East.
This impressive tower has now exceeded the 20% completion stage and sits at the heart of the Uptown Dubai district – a 24-hour neighborhood with high-end dining and retail options, a central entertainment plaza and several high-profile hotels and businesses.
AccorHotels is set to bring its luxury hospitality and residential boutique brand to the project, with Uptown Dubai being the brand’s debut property in the Middle East.
Talking about the project development, Paul Ashton, the Executive Director – Property with DMCC said that the, “Uptown Tower will deliver a compelling proposition for employers looking to attract and retain talent due to its onsite lifestyle amenities, walkable proximity to thousands of residences in the area as well as substantial retail and entertainment options, and metro accessibility through a planned air conditioned link bridge. Strong interest has already been registered by prospective tenants”.
At a planned height of 340 meters, the Uptown Tower will push its way into 14th place on the tallest building chart for topped out buildings in Dubai, pushing back icons such as the newly completed SLS Dubai Hotel and Residences that today stands proud at 336m, and the DAMAC Residenze building that saw completion back in 2018 at a height of 335 meters. Holding this position is just a matter of time until the icon project is built.
While known as the “Uptown Dubai Tower”, the current building in construction is part of the wider Uptown Dubai project development.
BESIX is making impressive headway to the project’s construction, despite recent difficulties that the Covid-19 pandemic has thrust upon business activity. Fortunately, construction progress has remained for most construction sites in the Middle East region and the Uptown Tower is no exception.
To ensure continuous site efficiency BESIX has implemented the latest technologies of construction site digitization, technologies that have enabled superior site control and the ability to assess the construction progress in real-time – both in planning and in execution.
In a recent webinar interview with WakeCap, Luis Miguel Monterio, Project Director at BESIX explained how WakeCap has been a contributor to the digitizing success of this project, providing the ability to assess real-time site inefficiency that ensured real-time corrective action could be taken.
In a statement to WakeCap Luis explained that, “Construction and infrastructure projects must accommodate hundreds, and in some cases, several thousand workers. Having the capacity to monitor the geolocation of each, and every, worker will provide management teams with valuable information in terms of improving both workers’ health & safety, and efficiency in the workplace.
Each sensor located on-site has the capacity to provide information about temperature and humidity, allowing our HSE management teams to take real-time measures with respect to workers’ safety, particularly with respect to monitoring heat stress. Having a platform like WakeCap in our project has provided us with valuable information on workforce geolocation trends, allowing our teams to take improvement measures on the project’s logistics, especially in terms of optimization of site access, location of welfare facilities, and vertical transportation”.
Luis said, “In the current situation, through WakeCap, we can get historical data on workers’ movements if a worker tests positive for Covid-19”.
The Uptown Tower by DMCC is scheduled for completion in 2022 and with the site management that BESIX has implemented for this project - delay is not an option.
