Contractors have been invited to submit bids in mid-February for the deal to build the UAE Pavilion for the 2020 Expo in Dubai.

The companies that have been invited to bid include:

• Al-Shafar General Contracting (local)
• Arabtec Construction (local)
• Belhasa Six Construct (local/Belgium)
• HLG (local/Australia)
• Strabag / Ed Zuebin (Austria/Germany)

The pavilion is expected to cover up to 15,000 square metres and will include numerous exhibition areas, an auditorium, food and beverage outlets, and VIP lounges. It will be located facing Al-Wasl Plaza, which lies at the centre of the 2 million-sq-m exhibition zone.

The UAE’s National Media Council (NMC) selected Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava’s falcon-inspired design for the scheme in May last year.

The design was approved by a jury including representatives from the NMC, the Expo 2020 Dubai team, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and one of the Expo’s leading developers, Dubai-based Emaar Properties.

There will be other pavilions built by UAE clients at the Expo site. In March, Dubai appointed the UK’s Foster+Partners and Grimshaw Architects, and Denmark’s Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) to design three of the Expo 2020 pavilions.

The Expo site is one of Dubai’s most high-profile projects and includes a 1.68-square-kilometre ticketed area.

The UK’s Laing O’Rourke was selected for the contract to build the Project Star mixed-use development at the Expo site in October last year.