1 Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi
and asked to quote then we have a chance of getting the job. We have enough experience – in hotels, education and hospitals – to design good buildings; we just need a chance.” David Lawlor, project management director,
adds: “Clients tend to associate the big archi- tecture names with a brand – a bit like Versace or Gucci. They feel that it helps them to sell a building. TDIC is an example of a developer that has procured some of the biggest and best-known architects, and that’s a very effective way of bringing the idea of Saadiyat to the world.” He admits that when it comes to the major
projects, a well-known name will usually come out on top. “There’s is a limit to the number of projects that size that can be won, and we wouldn’t expect to work on one of those. It’s difficult for smaller practices to compete, even though the quality of architecture is on a par and you can deliver a more personal service rather than a corporate structure. We have the capabilities to put a team together to work on big projects, as we have done in Ireland.”
BUCKING THE TREND
Yet one of the UAE’s new icons has been designed by an architect that may not be familiar to everyone in the construction industry. The upcoming Ferrari World theme park – which covers a surface area of 200,000 square metres on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island – was designed by international architectural firm Benoy. Hickey comments: “Ferrari World is a
dream project for Benoy. I think they had good contacts and were in the right place at the right time.” Lawlor adds: “It also shows that a firm that
perhaps isn’t a ‘starchitect’ in everyone’s eyes can deliver something of ultimate proportion in a minimum amount of time. The Ferrari World project has surfaced in an unbelievable timeframe and Benoy is a great example of a company that has been a real success over here.” Benoy’s Middle East director, Mike Lewis,
believes that the company’s positioning is attractive to Middle East clients. “I think that clients here have an appetite for good design. Sometimes the driver will be attaining the cheapest ‘souk’ price, but in many cases the driver is return on investment with quality design.
Ferrari World is a dream project for Benoy. I think they had good contacts and were in the right place at the right time. It also shows that a firm that perhaps isn’t a ‘starchitect’ in everyone’s eyes can deliver something of ultimate proportion in a minimum amount of time
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“In the local market, Benoy is at the mid to upper end of the spectrum, while Foster + Partners is certainly at
the top end. Pricewise, we’re not as cheap as some the local architecture practices, and we certainly wouldn’t want to be, because we’re delivering a slightly different product. “For instance, Ferrari World has taken an awful lot of our experience to deliver. I’m not saying that it’s beyond local firms,
but I’d like to think that our design demonstrates that our fees are worth paying. People come to us because they want a Benoy scheme, just as they may want a Foster or an SOM project. It’s more than just architecture – it’s a brand.” But despite Benoy’s new-found fame in the region, Lewis believes that the company still needs to strengthen
local connections. He comments: “It’s difficult for architects here to receive consistent business, unless you’re incredibly well connected locally. Benoy relies mainly on work through big name clients like Aldar and TDIC; we haven’t really broken into the local projects, but this is our aim. Small-scale work will act as infill between larger projects and will give us a consistent turnover, allowing us to grow the practice. “We’ve been here for five years – we’re well established with a team of around 60 – but I’d like to be twice
the size with a wider skill-set. However, it will take a lot of work to achieve this. The number of employees has gone up and down, and at the moment we’re playing with a very tight team. We have about 11 people working onsite at Ferrari World, making sure everything is coming together in the right way.”
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