'Heart of Doha' begins construction

The Heart of Doha

One of Qatar's major construction projects has begun as Dohaland, a subsidiary of Qatar Foundation, starts work on the 'Heart of Doha'.

The US$5.5 billion project will see a 350,000m2 area of Doha's city centre, rebuilt to showcase "a city within a city that merges the best characteristics of the past with the modern technologies". The scheme was envisaged by the Emir of Qatar, HH Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani and his wife HH Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned, and it is hoped that it will be completed by 2016.

The development will boast 226 buildings in total, ranging from three to 30 storeys, including a national archive, theatre and museum, hotels and heritage quarter. It will be located adjacent to the Emiri Diwan, Qatar's seat of government and ruler's palace and the newly developed Souk Waqif. It has a projected population of under 28,000.

"Preparation stage complete"

The foundation stone is due to be laid at a special event on Wednesday, after which the first stage of construction will commence.

According to a statement from Allies & Morrison, who are developing the first phase of the project, the initial phase of the project will be completed by February 2012.

Jawaher Al Khuzaei, Assistant Manager, Dohaland Public Affairs was quoted as saying, "Embodied in traditional Qatari architecture are the timeless aspects of beautiful proportions, robustness, simplicity, ornament, along with tried-and-tested local responses to the hot climate and intense daylight. Local traditions have been studied and analysed to distill the essence of Qatari architectural character rooted in the past, appropriate for the present and looking to the future."

The first phase infrastructure includes a central cooling plant, utilities,waste provision, basement service roads and parking. The second stage, which is expected to begin this year and conclude in 2013, will see the construction of a multimedia centre for arts, central hotel and serviced apartments, luxury shopping street, exclusive town house, a primary school, the Ferjan Square mosque and the first stage of rebirth of Al Kahraba street.

The later stages will include a connection to souq wakif, a retail mall, more hotels, offices apartment, shops, a tram system and an underground Metro station hub apart from to Nakeel Square.

Relevant articles:

Bahrain industrial city to see investment double | The Burj Dubai is now The Burj Khalifa | Tornado Tower: The 'Best Tall Building' in the Middle East

Like this article? Get the RSS feed: