El-Seif wins Samba headquarters contract

08 June 2010

Local contractor will build corporate headquarters at King Abdullah Financial District

The local El-Seif Engineering & Contracting has won the estimated SR900m ($240m) contract to build a new headquarters of Saudi bank Samba.

The 39-floor tower will be built at King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) on the outskirts of Riyadh.

Selected Projects - King Abdullah Financial District
ProjectContract award dateValueContractor
Samba Bank HeadquartersQ2 2010$240mEl-Seif Engineering Contracting Company
CMA Headquarters Building: Phase IIQ1 2010$300mSaudi Binladin Group
Hotel & Office TowerQ3 2008$374mSaudi Oger
20 TowersQ4 2009$3.7bnSaudi Binladin Group
Four BuildingsQ3 2008$294mSaudi Constructioneers Establishment 
Source: MEED Projects

The contract involves building the structure and basic fit-out of the office building and three-storey car park. The total built-up area will be 110,000 square metres (sq m). Samba expects construction to start during the second quarter of 2010 with the final fit-out package being awarded once external construction is complete.

The other bidders were the local Saudi Oger, Lebanon’s Saudi Arabian Construction Company (ACC), and the local affiliate of UAE-based Arabtec Construction, Arabtec Saudi Arabia.

The main consultants working on the project are based in the UK. The architect is Foster + Partners, the engineer is Buro Happold and the consultant is Davis Langdon.

The project is just one of a series of towers planned for KAFD. The development will also have the headquarters of the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and the Saudi Arabian Stock Exchange (Tadawul).

In December last year, the CMA selected the local Saudi Binladin Group for the contract to build its headquarters.

The contractor will build a 400-metre-tall tower with three basement floors and 79 storeys above ground. The building will have a total built-up area of 185,000 sq m.

In February, the Tadawul appointed Japan’s Nikken Sekkei as the architect for its new tower at KAFD (MEED 7:2:10).

Other Saudi financial institutions are planning to build high-rise towers at KAFD including Alinma Bank, Al-Rajhi Bank, and the Public Investment Fund.

Located on a 1.6 million sq m site north of Riyadh, the KAFD will offer commercial and residential districts along with hospitality, retail and recreational facilities. KAFD is being developed by Al-Rayadah, which is the investment arm of the state-owned Public Pension Agency.

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