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Convention Centre | EDUCATION CITY | COM

29K views 106 replies 27 participants last post by  rojni 
#1 ·
The long-running contest to build the landmark convention centre at Education City has come to an end, after Turkey’s Baytur Construction & Contracting Company received a letter of award for the landmark project. Valued at QR 2,222 million ($610 million), the 33-month design and build contract represents one of the biggest building contracts ever placed in the state. Qatar Petroleum (QP) is handling the Education City project on behalf of the client, the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science & Community Development (MEED 14:4:06). Baytur entered the race to build the convention centre in March, after being invited to submit a bid along with the two original bidders, Austria’s Strabag and Belgium’s Six Construct. In addition to carrying out the design and build work, the contractor will undertake fit-out. The main feature of the building, the sidra tree on its front façade, will be carried out by Belgium’s Victor Buyck Steel Construction under a nominated subcontract placed by QP last year. The convention centre, which will have six storeys plus a basement, will be about 250 metres long and 110 metres wide. Of the total construction area of 150,000 square metres, some 60,000 square metres will be made of reinforced concrete and 90,000 square metres from structural steel. The centre will house a 2,500-seat auditorium, a 500-seat theatre, and a 4,000 seat multi-purpose hall. In addition, it will have break-out rooms and smaller meeting rooms. The centre will host exhibitions, conferences and music and art festivals. The centre’s conceptual designs were prepared by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. Three firms are competing to act as Baytur’s design consultant: the successful bidder will carry out detailed designs.

The project manager on Education City is the local office of KEO International Consultants.

The convention centre is Baytur’s third major contract award in Doha. It is close to completing the main package on the Museum of Islamic Arts project on the corniche. It was also the main contractor on the Qatar National Library scheme, until the project was cancelled in February (MEED 17:2:06).

www.meed.com

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#66 ·
Well, the engineer told me that there are as far as i can remember 16 dynamic looking chandleries shaped as a dynamic water drop.....he also mentioned that each cost a million dollars or something....i seriously can not remember....so don't quote me on this...a million or a billion...something completely out of space........and yes, he told me that this structure is a real physical challenge coming to the Sidra tree looking facade.....its one of the kind...and he also told me that the zigzag towers as a physical structure are not much of a challenge comparing to this project....all architecture and engineering history is put in into this one.....its magnificent...........and yes the tour was amazing.....its massive from the inside....i bet i will look even bigger and spacer from the inside once its done and furnished.........i can not waittt.....
 
#68 ·
Qatar National Convention Centre appoints top operations team

Heading to one of the Middle East's newest and largest convention and exhibition venues, the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) has appointed new top operations team.



Most of them have served some of the world's leaders including His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, the Queen of England, Prince Charles & Diana, Princess of Wales, Albert II Sovereign Prince of Monaco, 42nd President of the United States of America Bill Clinton, Chancellor Dr Helmut Kohl, as well as corporate identities such as Sir Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Michael Schumacher.

QNCC's General Manager, Mr Paul D'Arcy has confirmed the appointment of some of the convention industry's most experienced and talented individuals to head up their operations and catering teams.

Mr Detlef Haupt as Director of Kitchens, Ms Cathy Neagle as Director of Operations and Mr Jeremy Hagenbach as Director of Food & Beverage will join the QNCC's Executive team in the coming months.


'The progressive nature of Qatar and the country's vision to become a world leader in science, education and research is not only gaining interest from organisers of large scale conventions, exhibitions and events, it is also attracting industry professionals such as Detlef, Cathy and Jeremy who want to be part of this growth,'

added D'Arcy.

QNCC's Director of Kitchens, Detlef Haupt has previously worked in the Middle East, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia. Detlef cannot wait to immerse himself into the Qatari culture, source local produce and create new supplier channels.

'Once you have catered for 13,500 like we did for Amway China, or prepared a 7 course vegetarian menu (without garlic or onion) for 3,200 monks as we did for the opening of the NanTien Temple, the opportunity to be part of the amazing development in Qatar was an opportunity I did not want to miss,' remarked Haupt.

On accepting the position of QNCC's Director of Operations, Cathy Neagle said that it is incredibly exciting to be part of the pre-opening team and working on such a large project in this emerging and dynamic region.


'We will develop a benchmark for Centre operations that will position QNCC as a market leader in the region and become a destination of choice,'

added Ms Neagle.

Cathy's career highlights include executive management roles in some of Sydney's most iconic tourism venues and precincts. Her history spans seven years as Director of Operations at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre (SCEC), extensive involvement in the $45m SCEC extension and venue negotiations for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Most recently Cathy was Director of Clubhouse and Deputy General Manager of the Royal Sydney Golf Club.

The third appointment, QNCC's Director of Food & Beverage, Jeremy Hagenbach said the reason he was attracted to Doha was his passion to work with people from culturally diverse backgrounds.

'My primary focus will be to establish a strong operations team and develop a service culture to match the world-class venue and food excellence. I love working with young, enthusiastic teams who have one goal in mind. That goal is to create a truly memorable experience for our guests,' Hagenbach said.

Boasting an extensive background in project, strategic, financial and operational management, Jeremy has held senior management positions in convention centres, international hotels and contract catering in both the United Kingdom and Australia. In London, Jeremy worked with corporate clients such as Business Design Centre, the BBC, British Gas, European Bank, BP Oil and HSBC.

His most recent position was Director of Food & Beverage for the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre including the opening of Convention Centre South and the strategic planning for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

When the Centre opens in 2011, it will become one of Qatar's largest employers in the hospitality sector with a core contingent of 250 employees.
 
#71 ·
World-class meeting hub by 2011
Web posted at: 7/4/2009 6:36:35
Source ::: The Peninsula/ By Joyce C Abaño

Qatar National Convention Centre coming up

DOHA: The unique Sidra tree-themed Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) is slated to come up according to schedule with groundwork for the second stage of construction starting and the QNCC team hiring executives for the operations of the meeting hub.

Designed by renowned Japanese architect, Arata Isozaki, the convention centre in Education City spread over 177,000 square metre, will offer 40,000 square metre of exhibition space in nine halls including a conference facility that will seat 4,000 people. It will include a 2,300-seat lyric-style theatre, three-tier auditoria complemented by 57 meeting rooms capable of accommodating the full range

of events.

The convention centre is slated to open in April 2011.

Sue Hockings, QNCC’s Director of Sales, said the building will be fully enclosed by the end of summer. The second phase of the construction process includes the exhibition halls spread over 35,000 square metres.

Hockings said the façade of the building has been made to look like the Sidra tree, important to the Bedouins. “They say Bedouins would sit in the shade of the Sidra tree and talk… This convention centre will bring together thousands of people under its roof.

Cathy Neagle has been recently appointed as the Director of Operations of the facility. “We will develop a benchmark for centre operations that will position QNCC as a market leader in the region and make it a destination of choice,” Neagle said.

Detlef Haupt has also been appointed as the Director of Kitchens, and Jeremy Hagenbach as Director of Food and Beverage. They will join QNCC’s Executive team in the next few months. “Once you have catered for 13,500 people like we did for Amway China, or prepared a seven-course vegetarian menu (without garlic or onion) for 3,200 monks as we did for the opening of the NanTien Temple, the opportunity to be part of the amazing development in Qatar was one I did not want to miss,” said Haupt. The new members of the QNCC team have served some of the world’s leaders including the 14th Dalai Lama, the Queen of England, Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, Prince Albert of Monaco, former US president Bill Clinton, and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, among others. The Centre, Hockings said, is the first of its kind convention and exhibition facility being built to the premium standard of an internationally recognised green building-rating system.

The facility is going for gold in the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.

For example, to capitalise on Doha’s abundant sunshine, over 3,600 square metres of solar panels on the Centre’s roof will produce 12.5 percent of our total energy requirements,” said Paul D’Arcy, QNCC General Manager.

As the world’s first high-performance green convention centre, it will have state-of-the-art systems for water conservation, energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality.

Hockings said they had combined cutting-edge design, functionality and sustainability to meet the complex needs of meeting planners, exhibitors and visitors.

“In terms of its environmentally sustainable construction, the venue is on course to achieve a Gold Standard under the LEED Green Building Rating System. To the best of our knowledge it is the first such venue of this nature to achieve such a standard in its entirety,” said Paul D’Arcy, QNCC general manager.

Hockings said the convention centre would have the first curved escalators in the Middle East and will include an air-conditioned walkway from the car park to the entrance of the building, a wireless conference management system, 108-inch (minimum) LCD screens in all meeting rooms, LED lighting for the exhibition halls (no metal halide lamps), full-colour LED lighting in Exhibition Hall 6 (designed for banqueting), 35,000 square metres of modular mobile rigging grids within the exhibition halls, 100 percent fibre optic connections for all service pits in the exhibition halls, two interactive LCD screens for public use, each measuring five metres by two metres, and 3,676 square metres of solar panels that occupy 7,080 square metres of roof area to meet 12.5 percent of the building’s total electrical requirements.

The World Petroleum Council, one of the energy industry’s most prestigious events, will be held in QNCC’s opening year.

“It will be a grand opening in 2011… Everyone will know that we are here,” said Hockings, who has been here for nine months.

Hockings said the QNCC, which is under the umbrella of Qatar Foundation, was built because the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned recognised a need for it.

“The vision of Qatar is to create an economy away from petroleum, so now they have education, science and research, and along that, they recognised there is a need to create a convention centre to create exposure for meetings and tourism… this convention centre will help create a destination,” said Hockings.

She said the convention centre could accommodate whatever event one could think of, from a gala dinner, product launch or theatre performance to weddings.

“With the completion of this stunning architectural masterpiece, Qatar is destined to be known as the world’s most prestigious destination for conferences and exhibitions,”

she said

Source
 
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