The local/UK Al-Futtaim Carillion has been awarded two contracts worth $590m.

The firm has been awarded a $349m contract by Dubai-based developer to build a mixed-use development on the Dubai Creek waterfront. The contract involves the construction of retail buildings, car parks, three hotels, a mosque, museums and a market.

The firm was also awarded another contract by Meraas, which is a $240m deal for construction work on the La Mer development in Dubai. The contract involves the building of several retail units and public buildings for the project.

Covering an area of about 950,000 square metres of existing and reclaimed land near to Dubai Drydocks, the La Mer development has four zones: a beach, a leisure and entertainment hub, North Island, and South Island. These zones will have commercial, leisure, residential and hospitality buildings. On North Island and South Island, there will be residential buildings with a total of 688 apartments and villas, as well as a 160-room hotel.

Al-Futtaim Carillion’s latest contract awards reassert its position as one of the most active construction companies in Dubai, building on a series of new orders the contractor secured in 2014.

The largest award in 2014 was for the contract to build the fourth phase of its Madinat Jumeirah development in Dubai.

The project, which is being developed by local hotel operator Juemriah Group, involves building a 435-room resort hotel with 400 parking bays, three speciality restaurants, lounges, bars, a business centre, swimming pools and a turtle lagoon. There will also be a laundry, plant rooms, chillers and cooling towers to support the hotel.

It was also awarded AED375m ($102m) contract to build the first phase of the Dubai Trade Centre District (DTCD) by Dubai World Trade Centre.  

The initial phase of the 146,000-square-metre development, which is being built between the current Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre and Emirates Towers, includes an eight-storey office building and a 588-room hotel.

That deal was secured with support from the UK government, with UK Export Finance (UKEF) providing a $110m buyer credit to support the project. Funding is playing a leading role in many of the contracts that UK firms are winning in Dubai.

Al-Futtaim Carillion also secured work from the local Al-Sharq Investment on the W Hotel & Residences project on the crescent of the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai.

The project involves building three six-storey buildings on a 90,000-square-metre plot of land on the Palm Jumeirah crescent, next to the Kempinski hotel development. One of the buildings will be a 360-room hotel and the other two will be apartment buildings with 75 luxury units.

In Abu Dhabi, Al-Futtaim Carillion was awarded a $181.1m contract by Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Properties to build a five-star Hard Rock Hotel in the UAE capital. The hotel, which will be the first of its kind in the Middle East, will comprise 378 rooms and be located on Abu Dhabi’s corniche.