Contractors invited to bid for Kuwait National Bank headquarters

03 September 2012

The 300-metre-tall tower will be located in the Sharq area of Kuwait

The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has invited contractors to submit bids for the contract to build its planned 300-metre-tall headquarters building in Kuwait City.

The bank has set an initial submission date of 18 September, although this is expected to be extended.

The 70-storey tower, will be located in the Sharq area of Kuwait city. The project is being developed by the National al-Shaab Real Estate Company. In October 2010, NBK agreed to acquire the real estate company, as well as all its physical and legal assets, including the plot of land on which the new headquarters will be constructed. The headquarters will be one of the tallest towers in Kuwait when completed.

In January, the local Edrasis Middle East Contracting Company started work on the piling and excavation work for the headquarters building. Edrasis Middle East, a joint venture of the local Ahmadiah Contracting Company and Greece’s Edrasis Psalidas, was officially awarded the contract in mid-December last year.

The tower has been designed by the UK-based architecture firm Foster & Partners. Bahrain-based Projacs International is project manager and the local SSH International is providing consultancy services on the development.

The new headquarters is the second financial tower planned for construction in Kuwait City. In May this year, Kuwait’s Central Tenders Committee approved the award of a KD74.5m ($267m) contract to the local First United General Trading & Contracting build the new Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) tower in Kuwait City.

The proposed new headquarters building is a 220-metre-tall tower located in the centre of Kuwait City. It will include an auditorium and other public facilities in a six-storey podium. The structure will cover a total area of 130,000 square metres.

The building was designed by the local KEO International Consultants, which was awarded the design contract in 2007, fending off competition from five international design firms.

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